HARTFORD — US Representative Chris Murphy sought to refocus Connecticut’s increasingly personal and contentious Senate race, challenging his Republican rival Linda McMahon to talk about the issues he said voters care about, such as women’s health care, Medicare, and taxes.
Murphy, a Democrat under fire in recent weeks from McMahon about his personal finances, acknowledged Tuesday he has made mistakes with late rent and mortgage payments. But he called McMahon’s televised attacks ‘‘baseless’’ and ‘‘despicable,’’ and said the voters want an election that is about issues affecting them.
‘‘They want this campaign to be about their access to health care, they want it to be about who’s going to create more jobs. They want this campaign to be about who’s going to balance the budget,’’ Murphy told a group of supporters and reporters, as well as some McMahon backers with signs, at a press conference at Bushnell Park in downtown Hartford.
But McMahon’s campaign showed no signs of letting up. McMahon’s campaign manager, Corry Bliss, issued a scathing statement accusing Murphy of being a hypocrite for demanding an issues-focused campaign while refusing to release personal financial documents concerning a home equity loan that McMahon has questioned.
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‘‘Chris Murphy clearly doesn’t want to acknowledge it, but the fact that he is a corrupt, career politician in full cover-up mode has become one of the biggest issues of this campaign,’’ said Bliss, adding how Murphy should ‘‘stop playing games’’ and release a detailed plan to reverse Connecticut’s unemployment rate.
Recent public opinion polls show that the two candidates seeking to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Senator Joe Lieberman are in a statistical dead heat. The race has become increasingly testy, with both candidates accusing one another of hypocrisy, telling lies, and attempting to distract the voters to duck issues.
Much debate has focused on personal finances. McMahon recently filed an ethics complaint with the US House accusing Murphy of using his congressional position to obtain a favorable credit line, months after defaulting on his mortgage. Murphy denied Tuesday that he received a special deal, but did not release any documents, saying Webster Bank and newspapers have verified his claim.
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‘‘I’ve made mistakes with my personal finances but I’ve paid back what I owed,’’ Murphy said.
Murphy accused McMahon Tuesday of being hypocritical for criticizing him while making late property tax payments herself.. Murphy also has a new TV ad accusing McMahon of supporting antiabortion Republicans if she is elected.
McMahon’s campaign shot back, with Bliss accusing Murphy of intentionally misrepresenting McMahon’s support for women’s issues to distract voters.
He said McMahon supports abortion rights.