End Is Near in the Race for Attorney General



(Editor's Note: Stay right here on New Canaan Patch for Election Day updates, as we post voter returns as they come in. Want to know where New Canaan candidates stand? Check out our .)

As Connecticut voters cast their ballots and remain glued to high-profile gubernatorial and senatorial races, Patch is covering all the races that affect our state, including the .

Democrat , who has held the post for two decades, did not seek a sixth term this year, instead running for . But his decision opened up the field for attorney general candidates for the first time since 1990.

Democratic candidate  received his party's nomination by acclimation at the state convention on May 22. Two of four vying Republicans,  and Ross Garber, qualified for a primary bid, which Dean took with 60.5 percent of the vote in August.

In a poll of 500 likely voters administered by Suffolk University Oct. 21-22, Jepsen led with 40 percent to Dean's 28.

The candidates differ over whether the attorney general's office had become overly powerful and litigious under Blumenthal's administration, but have both promised to promote policies that would boost business growth and job creation.

Dean, a private–practice attorney who ran strongly against Blumenthal in 2002, said Jepsen, a longtime state legislator in the 27th Senate District, bore some responsibility for the state's budget woes and promised to end "the job-killing practices of the attorney general and restore common sense to the office of attorney general," according to an article in the Hartford Courant. Jepsen said Dean's promise to cut the size and scope of the office would be counterproductive and promised to vigorously fight financial, mortgage and tax fraud and work to lower electricity rates.

Dean has promised to join with about 20 other states that are planning to challenge the mandatory health insurance provision of the federal health care legislation passed earlier this year. Jepsen dismissed Dean's promise as overtly political. 

The two also differ on gun rights — Jepsen has led the legislative effort to ban the ownership of assault weapons and has said he's "very proud of the 'F-minus' rating [he] received while a legislator by the National Rifle Association." Dean, on the other hand, advocates for robust gun rights.

The pair has debated twice, once at the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford on Sept. 23 and again on Oct 11 at the Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden. The former was sponsored by the Connecticut Law Tribune.

Dean filed a last-minute lawsuit questioning Jepsen's qualifications for the attorney general's office; Jepsen's campaign countered by saying his 26 years in practice and experience "in virtually every state court" more than satisfied the Connecticut Supreme Court's requirements for attorney general. Jepsen called the move "grandstanding" on Dean's part and accused her of being "willing to play fast and loose with both the law and the facts."

Jepsen has earned the endorsement of many major state newspapers, including the Connecticut Post, Hartford Courant and New London Day, in addition to several organized labor groups.  Dean has been endorsed by conservative organizations such as the Family Institute of Connecticut Action, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, and the Fairfield County Tea Party.

The attorney general's office has 185 lawyers and deals with 54,000 cases a year, nearly three-quarters of which deal with child support cases and children's advocacy. In fiscal year 2009-10, the office generated just less than $510 million in revenues — $255.6 million for the state's general fund and $253 million for individuals and businesses in addition to $1.2 million for special funds like the state employees' worker's compensation fund and the John Dempsey-University of Connecticut Hospital.