Attorney general race closest in years

William Tong, Democratic candidate for state attorney general. William Tong, Democratic candidate for state attorney general. Photo: Cathy Zuraw / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Cathy Zuraw / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Attorney general race closest in years 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

In terms of experience — both political and legal — Democrat William Tong and Republican Sue Hatfield are far apart. But the disparate duo appear to be in a neck-and-neck battle for the attorney general’s office in the final weekend before Election Day.

Slim margins are a rarity in Connecticut attorney general races, where in the past five elections Democrats have defeated their Republican opponents by at least 10 points.

Gary Rose, chairman of the Department of Government, Politics and Global Studies at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, calls the 2018 contest “the most competitive attorney general race we can remember.”

“It is a close race and William is going all over the state talking to voters,” said Mark Bergman, spokesman for Tong, a sixth-term Stamford state representative. “He knows every vote counts.”

Recent internal polling by the campaign of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ned Lamont showed Hatfield leading Tong one week and then the reverse the next, multiple sources said.

“I did hear that the polls that they ran had us up. I haven’t seen the results first hand,” said Hatfield of Pomfret, a state prosecutor. “Our poll is the word on the street from the people in Connecticut.”

The closeness of the race mirrors that of the governor’s contest. Polls reflect a statistical dead-heat between Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski.

And like the governor’s race, Hatfield and Tong have linked each other to deeply polarizing figures, President Donald Trump and unpopular Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Tong has vowed to be a “firewall” against Trump’s policies, whereas Hatfield is a loyal supporter of the president. Hatfield pointed out that Tong was endorsed by Malloy when Tong ran for Stamford mayor in 2013. Tong and Malloy have worked closely in the legislature, where Tong is co-chairman of the law-writing Judiciary Committee. Hatfield has never run for office.

Both candidates’ teams express confidence.

Second to the governor, the Connecticut attorney general, the state’s top civil lawyer, is the most powerful office in state government, said Rose.

It is also an office that has drawn national attention to the small state. The attorney general represents the people of Connecticut in legal matters and defends state agencies in court.

Tong has the most civil law experience of the two candidates. For 15 years, he has been a commercial litigator at Finn, Dixon and Herling in Stamford, and previously worked for the international law firm of Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett.

Hatfield, a state prosecutor and registered nurse, seems to have more time in the courtroom than Tong, but she has mainly practiced criminal law, over which the attorney general has no jurisdiction. She also has a master’s of law degree in taxation.

Under Democrats Joe Lieberman, Richard Blumenthal and now George Jepsen, who is not seeking re-election, the Connecticut attorney general has become an office of sometimes national prominence, said Rose.

In 1996, Blumenthal filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry — the largest ever in the state’s history — becoming the 10th state of more than 40 to do so. The state won a multi-billion dollar settlement in return.

More recently, in June, Jepsen and New York attorney general Barbara Underwood won a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to limit ozone pollution in other states, damaging Connecticut and New York’s air quality. Jepsen and a coalition of 41 attorneys general are now investigating Stamford-based Purdue Pharma and other major opioid makers, setting the stage for another potentially landmark suit.

Both Lieberman and Blumenthal parleyed their AG profiles into higher office. Lieberman is a former U.S. Senator from Connecticut, Blumenthal is a current one.

“It does even again raise the profile of that office by those collaborative lawsuits,” said Rose. “And it does seem to elevate the political aspirations of these people by doing so.”

emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson