Taxes took center stage at a Thursday night gubernatorial debate between Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy and GOP challenger Tom Foley, during which the candidates spoke heatedly of the issues and exchanged personal jabs.
While Foley continued to criticize Malloy for raising taxes in 2011 to help cover a massive budget deficit, Malloy chastised Foley for supporting past Republican governors who have raised taxes.
He argued that growth in Connecticut has outpaced other states including New Jersey, “the state whose governor you bring in,” referring to Chris Christie’s recent visit to stump for Foley.
Foley, on the other hand, bashed Malloy’s job record and said the tax incentive deal with United Technologies was a mistake and failed to create jobs.
“You’re anti-business, Gov. Malloy,” Foley accused, pointing out that the economy has only grown about 1 percent since Malloy took office.
Both candidates reiterated their promises not to raise taxes and said the small business program has been good for Connecticut.
Foley said no one should believe Malloy's pledge given his track record. But Malloy said he's already rolled back some taxes, pointing to his efforts to reinstitute the partial sales tax exemption on clothing and the exemption on non-prescription drugs.
“Every chance we get to lower taxes, we should take it,” Malloy said.
Both men also clashed over the state's recent gun control legislation. Malloy accused Foley of wanting to repeal it, which Foley denied.
On Sandy Hook, Malloy said he takes the safety of Connecticut residents seriously and pledged to uphold his gun bill, while Foley asserted that the root of the problem in Newtown was mental health related.
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The conversation then shifted to education. Foley accused Malloy of spending taxpayer dollars on failing schools.
“There’s no point in rewarding failure,” Foley said.
But Malloy argued that without the money, struggling schools have no chance of improving.
“If you want schools to fail and lose money, you should vote for Tom Foley,” Malloy said.
Things got personal toward the end of the debate when Malloy brought up Foley’s arrest in 1981 when he was accused of driving into some parked cars in Southampton, New York. Foley has been arrested twice but not convicted.
Malloy, a former prosecutor, said he brought up the incident when Foley questioned his integrity.
He later said he took issue with Foley bringing up an investigation into Malloy about whether city contractors received preferential treatment for doing work on Malloy’s house when he was mayor of Stamford. He was cleared in 2005.
Foley said he believes voters should know that Malloy was investigated. Afterward, he called for a truce from personal attacks.
