Arizona Sen. John McCain won the endorsement of Connecticut’s top Republican in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell called McCain a longtime friend who would be the most effective leader to grapple with national security, the economy, energy, the environment and trade policy.
“I can think of no one I would rather see leading our nation,” she said in a statement.
Connecticut’s primary is Feb. 5, along with 21 other states.
Rell and Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele chose McCain over two neighboring contenders, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In a University of Connecticut poll this month, McCain is supported by 39 percent of registered Republicans, followed by 16 percent for Giuliani and 11 percent for Romney.
McCain has also been endorsed by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who caucuses with the Democrats.
“I thank and applaud Gov. Rell and Lieutenant Gov. Fedele for endorsing John McCain for President because both Connecticut and the nation will benefit from his strong and decisive leadership,” Lieberman said ina statement. “John McCain will bring our nation together and achieve progress on our most pressing challenges.”
Romney spokesman Craig Stevens said he was confident of Romney’s message — Romney was endorsed Sunday for the Republican primary by The Hartford Courant, the state’s largest newspaper.
“We think at the end of the day we’re confident people will agree that Gov. Romney has the experience, vision and merits to lead and he’ll be their choice in the Connecticut Republican primary,” he said.
A call was placed to Guiliani and McCain’s campaigns seeking comment.
Rell is easily the state’s most recognized and powerful Republican in a predominantly Democratic state. She won many voters’ hearts in 2004 after she suddenly took office when former Republican Gov. John G. Rowland resigned amid a corruption scandal and later served 10 months in a federal prison camp. She has been credited with reviving voters’ confidence in state government.
She easily won a full term in November, picking up 63 percent of the vote against Democratic New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, even as Connecticut Republicans lost two congressional seats and enough state legislative races to give the Democrats a veto-proof majority.
