5th District Challenger Clay Cope Criticizes Esty for Voting in 'Lock Step' with President Obama

Last of a four-part series written by Scott Benjamin

DANBURY, CT-- Clay Cope, one of the four candidates seeking the Republican nomination in the sprawling Fifth Congressional District, is critical of incumbent two-term Democrat Elizabeth Esty’s constituent outreach, saying that he has never met her since she took office more than three years ago.

“My door is always open,” Cope said, making reference to his office at Mallory Town Hall.

In a prepared statement, Esty did not address whether she had ever met Cope.

However, she stated that she receives request every day from constituents, including those in Sherman, to cut through federal red tape.

“Since being elected, I’ve helped recover over $7 million for 5th District residents,” Esty added.

Cope said Esty hasn’t paid sufficient attention to Candlewood Lake, which borders Sherman and four other municipalities and is considered to be an economic and tourist engine.

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Esty countered by stating that last May she and U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Greenwich) and Chris Murphy (D-Cheshire) helped compel First Light, the former owners of Candlewood Lake, to restore its $50,000 contribution to the Candlewood Lake Authority (CLA) and to reach a mutually-agreeable solution to fund the CLA in the years to come.

Esty wrote, “I have actively worked to achieve a commitment from First Light to fulfill their obligations for Candlewood Lake, a stunning resource for our region, and to protect existing residence.”

Cope also criticized Esty for voting in “lock step” with Democratic President Barack Obama.

Although Esty has supported several of Obama’s initiatives, she did, for example, vote against the president when he lobbied aggressively last spring for the re-establishment of the fast-track Trade Promotion Authority provisions, which prevent Congress from amending future trade agreements, such as the pending 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The lawmakers only have the ability to approve or reject the president’s proposals.

Obama won that battle, but Republicans now say they won’t consider the TPP until after the upcoming election.

On a separate topic, Cope said he opposes Obama’s mandatory voting plan, which the president has said would do more than anything to transform American elections. USA Today has stated that Australia and about 25 other countries have mandatory voting where voters pay a $20 fine if they don’t go to the polls.

The president has said “that would counteract money more than anything.” USA Today has reported that nationally only 37 percent of the eligible voters participated in the 2014 midterm congressional elections.

The Republican nomination will be determined at the district convention in May and might go to a primary in August. Cope, who has been endorsed by several municipal leaders in the district, said he wants to avoid the summer balloting by posting a high tally at the convention and then be able to focus solely on Esty for the next six months.

He said the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation “needs balance.” Republicans have not held a seat in Congress from Connecticut since former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays (R-4) of Bridgeport left office in early 2009.

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