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Murphy omits some facts in fundraising bid. His re-election campaign began long ago. As of December 31st, Friends of Chris Murphy had $3.9 million in the bank. It spent $1.5 million on operating expenses in 2021 and 2022.

Nevertheless, he announced he has only just begun today:

Hey Kevin, Chris Murphy here. I just kicked off my re-election, and I need your support to make sure we’re ready for the challenges ahead.

The truth is that Senate campaigns, even in a state like Connecticut, are ridiculously expensive. But unlike a lot of my colleagues, I try to raise money the right way. 100% from people and not a dime of PAC money. I also limit my time at fundraising events and don’t spend all day begging billionaires for money. My job is to focus on the work you elected me to do.

I think raising money the right way is good for our democracy. But it means I count that much more on grassroots donations from people like you.

So if you are with me and agree that this is the way we should run campaigns, I am humbly asking you to contribute today:

Politicians have wrecked the common meaning of “humbly” and “humility.” A safe seat has caused Murphy to develop an aversion to PAC money. His attitude was different in the crunch. When the Democrat faced more competitive campaigns he was a longtime favorite of Northeast Utilities (NU) before it merged with Eversource.

Published February 6, 2023.

Campaign finance records show U.S. Representatives Joe Courtney and Jahana Hayes, as well as U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy, are favorite recipients of a campaign contributions from Eversource’s political action committee.

Freshman Hayes has received $3,500 in the last two campaign cycles, with the electricity monopoly increasing its 2018 contribution of $1,000 to $2,500 this round. The Eversource executives’ fund gave $4500 to Courtney two years ago and $2,000 so far in this round.

Murphy received $4,000 when seeking re-election in 2018. While a member of the House, Murphy cultivated a generous political relationship with Northeast Utilities, which merged with Eversource not long after hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents endured an extended power outage in 2011.

Too bad Connecticut Light and Power President Jeffrey Butler is not as reliable at restoring power as he is at making political contributions. Every two weeks, the Northeast Utilities Employees Political Action Committee receives a payroll deduction contribution from Butler, who joins other executives from the NU “family” of companies in bolstering the fund.  Last year it raised nearly $140,000 to support candidates and other political action committees.

NU PAC records reveal that the fund’s favorite Connecticut politician is 2012 United States Senate hopeful Representative Christopher Murphy. The Fifth District congressmen’s campaign and political committee have solicited and accepted tens of thousands of dollars from NU’s PAC and its $6.2 million a year leader, Charles Shivery. Murphy last week criticized CL&P’s response to the October 29th snowstorm that left 800,000 customers in the state without power for as long as 10 days.  The three term Democrat received a maximum contribution of $5,000 from NU for the first phase of his Senate campaign on March 31, 2011, the crucial last day of the year’s first campaign finance quarter.

Murphy’s the only Connecticut politician to have received a series of $5,000 in the past two years alone.  Last year, on March 31, NU PAC contributed $5,000 to Murphy’s congressional re-election campaign.

Four months later, NU’s political fund gave Murphy another $5,000, this time to his personal committee, MurphPac.  It was a rare maximum contribution to a federal official’s personal PAC from the NU committee.  The NU contribution represented more than 25% of the money Murphy raised last for his closely held committee in 2010, suggesting NU and its leader are chummy enough to the Cheshire Democrat to serve as one of only a few generous donors of first resort for Murphy. He uses the PAC to purchase sporting event tickets and make contributions to other Democrats.

Murphy has an avid supporter in Shivery, who Forbes ranks 444th in executive compensation in 2010.  In the past 4 years, Shivery has contributed $12,300 to Murphy’s campaigns. That’s more than twice as much as the NU contributed to any other candidate for federal office during the last 4 years, according to OpenSecrets.org. (Runner-up is First District Congressman John Larson at a distant $5,000.)

Shivery’s subordinate, Butler, does not make many direct political contributions. He donated $500 to Murphy’s re-election campaign last year and $250 to his Senate campaign 4 months ago, two days before the unpopular utility executive handed over $500 to Democratic Speaker of the House Christopher Donovan’s campaign for Murphy’s seat in Congress. The NU committee made a $5,000 contribution this year to the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee federal fund shortly after Governor Dannel P. Malloy took office and initiated an aggressive fundraising campaign for the party.

It’s Murphy’s chummy and lucrative relationship with NU and Shivery, however, will raise doubts among bewildered and furious state residents about the legislator’s credibility in the coming review of the state’s largest utility’s practices and plans for a merger with a Massachusetts power company.

Democrat Muad Hrezi’s campaign has been out and about during this holiday season. The palm card above was left at the door of a South Windsor Democrat a few days before Christmas.

Hrezi is challenging incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative John Larson from the left. Hrezi declared when he announced his candidacy in September, ““Politicians beholden to corporations will always protect corporate interests…Instead of being shocked at the little progress our leaders have made, it’s time for us to change our leaders.”

That defiant language suggests Hrezi has not taken a serious look at the campaign finance reports of his former employer, Senator Christopher Murphy. Northeast Utilities, the predecessor to utility behemoth Eversource, larded one of Murphy’s political action committees with contributions that provided plenty of dough for such urgent public priorities as tickets for sporting events.

There’s plenty to talk about in a vigorous Connecticut campaign, but the topics are not always what candidates prefer to address.

Published December 29, 2021.