The One Senate Race Dividing DSCC, EMILY's List

By Sean Sullivan  //  November 30, 2011 | 12:23 p.m.

In his column today, Josh Kraushaar takes a look at Democrats' success recruiting women to run for the Senate this cycle. In nearly every competitive race involving female candidates, national Democrats and leading women's groups are united behind one candidate. The exception? Connecticut.

In Nevada, Wisconsin and Massachusetts, EMILY's List is backing Rep. Shelley Berkley, Rep. Tammy Baldwin and consumer advocate and Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren. The Democratic Senatorial Committee -- either implicitly or openly -- is also backing each of the women.

But in Connecticut, EMILY's list is backing former Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz. The DSCC has professed its neutrality in the primary, but committee chair Patty Murray has heaped praise on Murphy, signaling which candidate the committee has its sights set on.

"(Rep.) Chris Murphy, in Connecticut -- great candidate, working hard. Really enthusiastic about this, and we are excited about him," Murray said of Murphy during an April briefing with reporters, without mentioning Bysiewicz.

The explanation lies largely in the strength of Murphy's candidacy. Murphy is well-liked on the left, and has demonstrated a strong fundraising ability. Bysiewicz, by comparison, has struggled to raise money. Murphy leads in the limited polling on the Democratic race we've seen so far, but not by an insurmountable margin (he led 36-26 percent in a September Quinnipiac University poll).

When it comes to Berkley, Warren, Baldwin and incumbents like Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., there is either no active Democratic primary, or a uncompetitive one with only nominal contenders comprising the rest of the field. One more interesting race is Hawaii, where there is an active primary. EMILY's List is backing Rep. Mazie Hirono, as is the state's Democratic establishment. National Democrats have also been protective of her candidacy. She's opposed by former Rep. Ed Case, a more moderate Democrat who has little establishment support and has historically proven to be something of a thorn in the side of the state's two long-serving Democratic senators.

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