Connecticut’s First Congressional District is one blue place.   The last Republican elected to congress from CT-1 was in 1956, and he was voted out a term later.    The city of Hartford hasn’t had a Republican Mayor in more than 40 years (when Ann Uccello was re-elected in 1969), and this past November the GOP didn’t even field a candidate.  

For 2012, the party has put forth two candidates to take on Democrat John Larson, first sent to Washington at the tail end of the Clinton years.   This Sunday on Face the State we were joined by Mike McDonald, who will take on John Decker (last week’s Face the State guest) in the primary in August.

McDonald, who is half Italian, is on the Windsor Town Council, and runs a security guard company.     During the taping, McDonald told me he is well aware of the difficult race that lies ahead, but believes voters are ready for change and he cited Larson as part of the problem in Washington.  

As for Hartford, McDonald said he plans on investing considerable time in the city, that has long been ignored by his party.  

Here is the interview:

http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6876139

Here is last week’s interview with John Decker:

http://dennishouse.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/larson-gets-a-challenger-in-ct-1/