Elizabeth Esty made it a clean sweep for Democrats in Connecticut's five Congressional Districts.
Esty, a former state representative, defeated Republican state Sen. Andrew Roraback in the 5th Congressional Districk Tuesday night.
She will join Rep. John Larson, Rep. Joe Courtney, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Rep. Jim Himes as Democrats representing Connecticut in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Government Integrity Fund spent $1.1 million on ads attacking Esty, calling her a tax-and-spend politician, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent about $1.4 million to support Esty and attack Roraback.
Roraback said he favored extending the Bush-era tax cuts for a year for everyone while the tax code is reformed. He said raising taxes would hurt small businesses.
Esty said she wanted to extend the cuts for the middle class. She said Republicans want lower taxes for the wealthy but offer no specifics on spending.
Roraback endorsed the Keystone XL pipeline proposal to transport crude oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries, saying it would create 4,000 jobs. Esty said that the project would contribute to climate change and that the oil likely would go overseas.
Roraback called himself a fiscally prudent, socially moderate independent lawmaker, saying he would not support efforts to privatize Medicare because health care costs would exceed vouchers. But Esty repeatedly tried to tie him to national Republicans, including vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, saying he would vote to put them in leadership positions to enact their agenda.
Roraback criticized the health care law signed by President Barack Obama, saying it will cost $1 trillion over the next decade and leave 30 million people with no health care coverage. Esty expressed support for the law, saying it would allow children to remain on their parents' health insurance until age 26 and prevents insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Esty, an attorney, served one term in the Connecticut House, from 2009 to 2011. Esty and her husband, Dan, a Yale University professor and the commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection under Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy, have three children and live in Cheshire.
Roraback, an attorney, served in the state House from 1995 to 2000 and in the state Senate from 2001 until 2012, when he decided to run for the 5th District seat. He and his wife, Kara, have a son and live in Goshen.
