Congressman Courtney Re-elected for a third term

Last night, surrounded by family, staff and supporters, Congressman Joe Courtney thanked the people of eastern Connecticut for returning him to Congress for a third term.

Watch Joe’s speech (courtesy of the Norwich Bulletin):

Courtney cruises to third term in 2nd District (New London Day)

Norwich – Escaping the fate of many Democrats nationwide, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney easily won a third term Tuesday, defeating Republican Janet Peckinpaugh by more than 20 percentage points.

“Looking around this room, I see faces from all over this district, which is a wonderful part of the state of Connecticut,” Courtney told supporters who had gathered at the Holiday Inn in Norwich.

“It is an honor to travel around these 65 towns and really see what people are facing every day.”
Courtney said residents of the state’s 2nd District are tough but still need an advocate who will fight for them in Washington.

“Right now, as we’re standing here in this room, there are people working hard on factory floors, in restaurants, in hospital emergency rooms. There are people getting ready for their next shift, there are teachers planning for the next lesson,” Courtney said. “They believe in the future, and all they ask for is that they have a congressman who understands how hard they’re working and who’s there for them.”

With 86 percent of the precincts reporting, Courtney had received 122,298 votes, Peckinpaugh 79,932. Green Party candidate G. Scott Deshefy had won 2,691.

Though numbers indicated Courtney’s strong lead early in the evening, Peckinpaugh waited until after 10 p.m. to formally concede. Citing internal polling that showed a late surge in support, she had been optimistic that the race would turn around.

“We stepped forward as a non-politician to fight a machine, and it was a hard fight,” Peckinpaugh said, speaking to supporters and reporters at Water’s Edge Resort and Spa in Westbrook. “I can tell you one thing: The people in this district are fabulous and they’re hurting. I’m so glad we got to run this race, and I’m glad we did.”

Courtney will return to a different political scene in Washington, serving in the minority party for the first time since his 2006 election. Riding a tide of voter anger and uncertainty, Republicans won enough seats Tuesday to wrest control the House of Representatives from Democrats. But Courtney said he hopes neither party will retrench and refuse to cooperate.

“It would be a huge mistake for the president or Speaker Boehner to really dig in,” Courtney told reporters, referring to the presumed new Speaker of the House, John Boehner of Ohio. “That’s something that is really going to be a mistake.”

Courtney said he succeeded where other Democrats could not because he and his staff have worked hard to address the needs of eastern Connecticut.

“What we have here is different, and I think that’s because we have an alliance – our office and the people of this district,” Courtney told supporters. “And I love it.”

During her campaign, Peckinpaugh struggled to deliver a coherent message to voters and had significantly less cash than Courtney, who spent more than $2 million this year, far more than the $250,000 she raised.

“The dollars had a lot to do with it,” said Susan Gregory, Peckinpaugh’s campaign manager.
Peckinpaugh’s strong name recognition, the result of her three-decade TV career, helped her win a three-way Republican primary in August, but that was not enough to lift her campaign to victory.

“I’ve made phone calls, stood on street corners waving signs and drove her to activities so she could meet people,” said Anne Nagan of Deep River, who had only known of Peckinpaugh as a former television anchor until she became involved in the campaign. “I was interested in the fact that she went from being a reporter to being in politics, from one side of the desk to the other,” Nagan said. “I got to know her and found her attitude refreshing.”

Courtney was able to make this year’s election more than a referendum on President Obama and the Democratic Party, who are popular with only about half of the district’s voters.

Throughout his campaign, Courtney touted his work to bring jobs to southeastern Connecticut, especially his support of dairy farmers and Electric Boat, his work to increase the availability of Pell grants for college students, and his opposition to the bailout of Wall Street banks and financial institutions, a vote he claimed made him an independent voice in Washington.

That message seemed to stick, even as Peckinpaugh repeatedly asserted that Courtney voted in near-lockstep with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders.

“We believe in Joe Courtney. He’s a man of tremendous honor and integrity and energy,” said Erna Luering of Norwich. “If we had 538 of him, this country would be in really great shape. We really would.”

Joe Courtney Defeats Challenger Janet Peckinpaugh In 2nd District (Hartford Courant)

Democrat Joe Courtney coasted to an easy victory in eastern Connecticut’s 2^nd Congressional District Tuesday, defying a national trend against incumbents closely associated with the reform policies of the Obama administration.

Three hours after the polls closed Tuesday night, Courtney had 59 percent of the vote to the 40 percent won by former television anchorwoman Janet Peckinpaugh, who failed either to attract enough contributors or to build a strong political organization after she entered the race without much preparation last spring.

Peckinpaugh conceded at her campaign headquarters at the Water’s Edge Resort in Westbrook at 10:35 Tuesday night, saying that she had been “soundly defeated” by Courtney. Her campaign manager, Susan Gregory, attributed Peckinpaugh’s loss to Courtney’s superior fund-raising and organization.

“It’s hard to beat an incumbent’s machine,” Gregory said.

A few minutes later, Courtney strode into the ballroom at the Holiday Inn in Norwich to chants of “Joe! Joe! Joe!” from his supporters. He said that he had received a gracious concession” in a phone call from Peckinpaugh and praised the people of eastern Connecticut as being “tough in a caring way” during difficult economic times.

Courtney, re-elected for a third term, based his appeal to voters on his strong support for the submarine base and Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, the district’s largest employer. He also refused to run away from his record as a strong supporter of President Obama’s health care reform.

Peckinpaugh upset the GOP primary race in May when, barely two weeks before the state nominating convention, she announced her candidacy. State and local Republicans were overjoyed because, as a familiar television personality in the Connecticut market for 30 years, she enjoyed high name recognition and “outsider” status in a year that promised to be tough on professional politicians and incumbents. She easily rode that perception to enough delegate support to get on the ballot and then beat her two GOP opponents, former State Department official Daria Novak and lawyer Douglas Dubitsky, in the Aug. 10 primary.

But Peckinpaugh’s campaign since August has been a case study in the limits of name recognition. She was not able to raise more than $215,000 and could run just a meager ad schedule against the deluge financed by Courtney’s $1.75 million war chest. National Republicans were disappointed by her lackluster fund-raising and chose not to support her campaign with funding from the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee.

“Name recognition and the fact that Janet did well relating to the public wasn’t enough when you are taking on an incumbent like Joe Courtney,” said Mark Walter, the Republican first selectman of East Haddam. “Janet’s strategy was to make Joe Courtney personify everything that is wrong in Washington, which is what has people so upset this year. But you can’t do that without buying a lot of ads.”

Peckinpaugh stumbled in other ways, failing to develop the deep familiarity with issues required in a campaign against a wonky incumbent like Courtney. In a September television interview, for instance, Peckinpaugh said that she wouldn’t support federal funds “earmarked” for the Groton shipyard. Courtney’s campaign promptly pounced on that, pointing out that most federal spending to expand sub-building in Connecticut have been earmarked funds.

Peckinpaugh accused Courtney of flip-flopping on the banking bailout bill when he has consistently opposed it. And in October, Peckinpaugh announced that, if elected, she would be the first woman to represent the 2^nd District. In fact, Connecticut College professor and prominent New Dealer Chase Going Woodhouse represented the district in the 1940s.

Incumbent rolls over novice challenger (Norwich Bulletin)

Norwich, Conn. — Eastern Connecticut’s Democratic congressman bucked the Republican tide, winning a third term against two opponents including former TV newscaster Janet Peckinpaugh.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, celebrated his victory at the Holiday Inn Norwich. He entered to make his acceptance speech to chants of “Joe! Joe! Joe!”

“If you look at what’s happening around the country, tonight this is different,” Courtney said surrounded by supporters including his wife and two children.

Earlier he praised Eastern Connecticut residents for their grit during the recession and slow recovery.

Quoting Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi, Courtney said, “ ‘Tough times don’t last but those people do.’ The people of Eastern Connecticut are that way.”

Peckinpaugh, a Republican, congratulated Courtney. Courtney called her concession telephone call to him “gracious.”

“It’s been an awesome experience getting to know the people of the Second District,” she said. “We fought a good fight. I don’t know what (my) future holds.”

Courtney, a former small business lawyer who lives in Vernon, campaigned on aiding the region’s economy through things such as helping Electric Boat Corp. get more military contracting work. He touted his record on jobs and supporting small business. His advertising repeatedly cited his votes against Wall Street bailouts.

Peckinpaugh, who lives in Essex, criticized Courtney and the Obama administration for not extending George W. Bush-era tax cuts due to expire in January. Not extending the tax cuts will ensure that the nation’s economy continues to underperform, she said.

G. Scott Deshefy, an Uncasville native and Lebanon resident, was the Green Party’s nominee for the second straight election. For the second straight time, he ran third.

Deshefy said he will continue to advocate for Green Party causes.

“I’m really concerned that we don’t have a progressive movement in this country,” he said.

Plainfield resident Dan Reale, a Libertarian Party member, ran as a write-in candidate for the second straight election. It wasn’t immediately known how many votes he received. Reale said Tuesday he plans to be a candidate for Congress again in 2012.