Democrat Chris Murphy secures U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut

Tuesday, November 6, 2012  

Democrat Chris Murphy defeated Republican Linda McMahon for the U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut, according to early election results.

The race to win the seat being vacated by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) was the most expensive in state history. McMahon, a former wrestling executive, poured a reported $44 million into what turned out to be her second unsuccessful bid for Senate.

Murphy currently represents Connecticut's 5th Congressional district. It's on the western side of the state, away from the two federally recognized tribes -- the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe on the eastern side.

As a result, Murphy doesn't have much of an Indian record but he was a co-sponsor of H.R.4271, a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, in the current 112th Congress. The bill recognized tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian domestic violence offenders but it never came up for a vote on the House floor because Republicans brought up a different bill that did not include the same provisions.

During the 111th Congress, Murphy voted for the Affordable Care Act, which includes a permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. He also voted for the $3.4 billion Cobell trust fund settlement and for the Tribal Law and Order Act.

Connecticut's other Senate seat is held by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D), who was elected in 2010 and will become the state's senior senator when the 113th Congress convenes in January 2013. As the state's attorney general, he became known for his unfavorable positions on land-into-trust, taxation, sovereignty, tobacco and tribal gaming but he has not taken an anti-Indian tack in Congress.

Get the Story:
Murphy Wins In Closely Watched Connecticut Senate Race (The Hartford Courant 11/6)