U.S. Border Control

Capiello says illegal immigration is the pivot in Connecticut Congressional race

Immigration could become a pivotal issue in a Connecticut congressional race in the wake of a Republican challenger’s effective use of the issue in an unexpectedly close special election last month in Massachusetts.

Connecticut state Sen. David Cappiello (R) said he plans on highlighting illegal immigration as a major theme in his campaign against freshman Rep. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), suggesting the issue has potency even in suburban districts far from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cappiello said that the issue “runs very deep” in Murphy’s northwestern Connecticut district, which is largely affluent but also has a large share of working-class voters in Danbury and Waterbury, where immigration has become a passionate concern.

Danbury, in particular, has been facing a crisis over immigration in recent years. An influx of Latino immigrants — some of them illegal — has prompted concerns over overcrowded housing and packed public schools. The city’s Republican mayor has been cracking down on illegal immigrants, even pushing the state to deputize its police officers to enforce federal immigration law.

“There’s almost more anger among the legal immigrant population than there is among people that have been born and raised here,” said Cappiello. “Because they understand how hard it was to get here in the first place.”

The renewed GOP focus on immigration comes after Jim Ogonowski’s closer-than-expected race against Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) in a solidly Democratic district. According to Ogonowski’s pollster, Rob Autry, fighting illegal immigration was the issue where Ogonowski had a clear advantage.

“While most Republicans once thought immigration was a dead issue, it’s not,” said Autry. “It’s still an issue that Americans care about and want serious action on.”

Recent polling suggests that illegal immigration is on the minds of voters throughout the country and could carry significant weight heading into next year’s elections.

An Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted last month showed that 69 percent of voters want to see illegal immigration “decreased,” while 76 percent believed that state governments should not issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

The National Republican Congressional Committee issued a release last week criticizing Murphy for saying “he hadn’t looked into” New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposal for illegal immigrants to receive driver’s licenses.

Murphy’s campaign spokeswoman, Kristen Bossi, said that the congressman is against Spitzer’s proposal.

“Chris does not support providing driver’s license to undocumented workers,” said Bossi. “Chris thinks that it is the responsibility of the federal government to craft a strong and fair immigration bill, not the responsibility of individual states to take on this problem piece by piece.”

Murphy’s district leans Democratic but has been fairly competitive at the national level. President Bush won 49 percent of the vote there in 2004 but only 43 percent against Al Gore in 2000.

Murphy, 34, scored one of the more impressive victories among all Democratic challengers last year, ousting 12-term GOP Rep. Nancy Johnson by 12 points.

And he has gotten off to a fast start in his congressional career, taking a leading role promoting ethics reform and working to reform the mortgage lending process.

Murphy also has been one of the freshman Democrats’ more successful fundraisers. He raised $224,000 in the second quarter and had banked nearly $1 million cash on hand at the end of September.

Cappiello only raised $70,000 in the third quarter, lower than most top-tier Republican challengers. He took off two months from fundraising after the birth of his second child, he said, and will be picking up his pace.

Cappiello has staked out moderate positions on both the war in Iraq and the SCHIP legislation that would expand federally funded health care for children. He said he would have voted to override President Bush’s veto on SCHIP legislation even though he disagreed with portions of the bill.

And he has supported past Democratic measures that would set a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq.

In addition to immigration, the issue of ethics could also play a leading role in the campaign. Cappiello has emphasized that he was the first and only Republican in the state Senate to call for the party’s minority leader to resign after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

But Cappiello could be dogged by another scandal involving trash hauling executive James Galante, who was arrested last month for illegally donating bundled money to state politicians. Galante is also facing a 2006 indictment for federal racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Cappiello received $15,000 in tainted campaign cash from Galante and sent a bottle of wine to him as a token of appreciation. Cappiello has since donated the money to charity.

Cappiello noted that Galante was a major philanthropist throughout the state and contributed to Republicans and Democrats alike, as well as to Sen. Joseph I. ­Lieberman (I-Conn.).

“I never had any reason to believe they were illegal contributions,” Cappiello said. “I liked [Galante], I thought he was doing great things in my district ... and maybe being Italian, I was sensitive to the whole thing,” said Cappiello.

Connecticut-based Democratic consultant Roy Occhiogrosso said that the issue could become a liability for Cappiello.

“He’s not accused of doing anything illegal or unethical, but it looks terrible,” said Occhiogrosso. “Perception is reality.”