The race for one of Connecticut’s U.S. Senate seats is starting to take shape, although Republicans are still uncertain about their nominee.
Beacon Falls First Selectman Gerry Smith has secured the party’s endorsement to challenge U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, but he still has at least one challenger.
Matt Corey, of Manchester, secured enough votes to qualify for an August primary and said he’s staying in the race.
Murphy, meanwhile, secured the Democratic endorsement on Saturday.
Smith is confident he’s the man to be the first Connecticut Republican elected to the U.S. Senate since 1982.
“I think we that we needed some responsible leadership and someone who could bring the fight to Senator Murphy,” he said.
He said his four victories in Beacon Falls show he can win elections. He also said he’ll run on issues like immigration, energy, independence and conservative family values.
“I’m a man of faith and I think we need to make – recognize a man’s a man and a woman’s a woman,” he said.
He also believes he can appeal to more voters as a diverse candidate.
“I’m a man of color, so I think I can resonate with a broader batch of people,” Smith said.
Corey believes he’s the “true conservative” in the race, and he said Republican voters should get a choice.
“I can bring Republicans together and I think Republicans have to see who the strongest candidate is,” he said.
Corey, who runs One Wood Pub in East Hartford, said he’d focus on the economy and immigration if elected.
“I believe I resonate with a lot of voters, a lot of independent voters, a lot of democratic voters and republican voters,” he said.
Corey is no stranger to elections, but hasn’t found success. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress three times and lost to Murphy in 2018.
Still, he thinks he can find success with more support. He also said Smith’s success in Beacon Falls won’t necessarily equate to a federal election.
“Coming from town issues to state issues to federal issues is a whole different ballgame,” he said.
A campaign spokeswoman for Murphy declined to respond to either challenger in a statement.
“He [Murphy] is staying focused on listening to people in the state, bringing Republicans and Democrats together in D.C. and doing the job the best he can,” spokeswoman Ally Livingston said.
Smith’s treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, was previously listed as treasurer for former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-New York).
Congress expelled Santos in December after he was convicted of campaign finance violations.
A spokesperson for Datwyler said last fall that he never accepted the job. Santos didn’t list him as treasurer until January 2023, after he was elected and after the violations occurred.
Smith defended his treasurer.
“Tom’s been nothing but great and he takes care of me – keeps all my paperwork filed,” he said.
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