Bernier Proposes Primary Pledge

Citing “a bloodbath” in the Republican presidential primary, Justin Bernier, a Republican candidate for U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy’s Fifth District seat, has proposed a pledge to limit the field of contenders after Connecticut’s primary.

The pledge, which Bernier says will give the Republican party the best chance of winning, asks all Republican candidates for federal office who get less than 15 percent of the vote at the party’s May 18 convention, to drop out of the race.

“Primary elections should be about the issues and who is best suited to represent us,” said Bernier.   “Republicans in Connecticut can’t afford to eat their own.”

Mike Clark, former Farmington Town Council chairman and Fifth Congressional District candidate, said in a statement this afternoon that he has no interest in signing the pledge that “takes away the right of the voters to vote for their candidate of choice.”

“The Republican candidates can ill afford to play games like this with one another when the significant issues of economic stability and job creation require utmost attention and real-world solutions,” Clark said.

My public statements will continue to concentrate on my proven solutions while in public office - something that matters to the voters who will decide the outcome of this race.  The pledge suggestion is particularly offensive coming from the candidate who made pre-convention promises in 2010 that were not kept.”

The text of the pledge reads:

“To give the Republican Party the best chance of victory on Election Day, we, the undersigned candidates for federal office, agree to not seek petition signatures for the Primary Election ballot in the event that our candidacy fails to receive 15 percent of the vote at the 2012 Connecticut Republican Convention on May 18th.”