Governor Debate Gets Heated

A bad-tempered debate between the gubernatorial candidates brought sharp exchanges on the state budget and education plans Tuesday. But as WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports, Dan Malloy and Tom Foley broke very little new ground in their first televised face-off.

In the wake of the Steven Hayes verdict, the two candidates were first put on the spot about their views on the death penalty. Foley says he would veto any legislation to repeal the death penalty, while Malloy says he would sign it, but would ensure the defendants in the Cheshire case could not benefit.

“Under the legislation that was proposed in the past, and any legislation that I would sign, if these two gentlemen are sentenced to death that sentence will be carried out – period.”

As they have for many weeks, both men accused each other of lying in attack ads, and of misrepresenting each other’s record.  

Things also became heated over plans to tackle the state’s fiscal crisis.

The two agreed that jobs are a top priority for the state, but disagreed about how to create them, with Foley saying there’s a need to cut red tape and regulations.

“We have an out of control legislature that changes the rules of the game every year, and puts mandates on businesses. We have a DoT and DEP where it can take up to 24 months to get a permit to expand a plant. This doesn’t make any sense. Other states do a much better job. When I’m governor, I will fix these things.”

When asked about the record of Governor Jodi Rell, Malloy said she has restored decency to a state troubled by corruption, but that she has failed Connecticut on every other measure. Foley says Rell’s hands have been tied by the heavily democratic legislature, but says he would have vetoed the recent budget as Rell did not. This race has tightened in recent weeks, with the latest polls indicating Malloy has a lead of around 3 percentage points, within the margin of error. The two will meet for several more televised debates in the weeks before election day.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.