Leora Levy for U.S. Senate
June 13, 2022
Three Republicans are in a primary fight to take on incumbent Senator Richard Blumenthal this November, Leora Levy, Peter Lumaj and Themis Klarides. On August 9, Republicans should cast their vote for Leora Levy.
Ms. Leora Levy
Her story is fascinating. Her ancestors immigrated from Lithuania to Cuba because quotas on Jewish people prohibited their entry into the United States. But when Castro took over, her family lost everything and her father became an enemy of the state. They escaped to the United States with nothing; but flourished. Ms. Levy attended Brown University and became one of the first successful woman commodities traders. She is married and has three grown sons.
Her family’s experience has made her a fierce anti-Communist and she has become a major player in Republican politics. Presently she is a Republican National Committeewoman and has been a prolific fundraiser for previous gubernatorial candidates Tom Foley and Bob Stefanowski. She has the backing of Republican powerhouse Linda McMahon (of WWF fame) and will be able to raise enough money to compete with Senator Blumenthal should she win the primary.
Her strongest opponent is Ms. Klarides, a fiscal conservative and social liberal. Both candidates plan to accurately portray Senator Blumenthal as President Biden’s lap dog. After President Trump gave us four years of peace and prosperity, the Biden-Blumenthal duo has caused gas prices to more than double, inflation to skyrocket, crime to increase and illegal immigration to flourish. Supply chain woes have resulted in shortages of many products most notably baby formula. A tanking stock market is destroying the retirement savings of millions. Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disaster and his perceived weakness caused Putin to invade Ukraine. North Korea is once again firing ballistic missiles over Japan.
But Ms. Klarides has one big problem. She admits she did not vote for President Trump in 2020. How can she make the case she is going to represent Republican values when she was one of the voters who helped put Biden in power and create this present mess? How could Ms. Klarides not see that President Trump - warts and all -was the only person with his finger in the dike to prevent incompetent Leftists from destroying the country - as they are now doing? Yet she wants to be a Republican senator.
Ms. Levy was also once skeptical of Trump, but voted for him twice. She has recognized his leadership ability and President Trump nominated her to be ambassador to Chile, although she was never confirmed.
But the two also differ on social issues. Ms. Levy is pro-life whereas Ms. Klarides has a 100% favorable voting record from NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) and recently attended a Planned Parenthood rally for abortion rights.
The conventional wisdom is that for a Republican to have a chance in Deep Blue Connecticut, a pro-choice position is required. Perhaps. But individuals who are strongly pro–choice tend to be sophisticated and politically astute voters and are brutally aware that this volatile issue is going to be litigated in the courts. They also know that no matter what Ms. Klarides says, should she become a Republican senator, she will be under tremendous pressure to vote for conservative judicial appointees should a Republican become president. After all, the supposedly pro-choice Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine cast the deciding vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Why would these voters risk having Ms. Klarides as a senator when they know that Senator Blumenthal will never vote for a conservative Republican judicial appointee and has the track record to prove it?
Ms. Levy’s pro-life position gives her a chance to invade the Democratic base of Hispanics and Blacks. Hispanic voters are among the most pro-life. Furthermore, Ms. Levy speaks fluent Spanish, unlike her two opponents, and can connect with these voters more easily.
But it is the Black vote where a real opportunity arises. While it has been ignored by the media, a spin-off of the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement is that unborn black lives matter too. This became obvious when the legislature recently voted to make Connecticut a sanctuary state for abortion seekers and even allowed physician assistants and nurse practitioners to perform surgical suction abortions - a procedure they have not been properly trained to perform.
Fourteen of the twenty members of the minority caucus – all Democrats – voted against it! During the debate Rep. Treneé McGee, a Black Democrat from West Haven, stated “I want to speak to the history of this industry [abortion] and why I think it’s destructive to my community. Black women make up 14% of child-bearing population yet obtained 36.2% of all reported abortions. Black women have the highest abortion ratio in the country — 474 abortions per 1,000 live births.” Two Black State Senators, Marilyn Moore of Bridgeport and Patricia Billie Miller of Stamford made passionate statements against the bill while criticizing Planned Parenthood for establishing abortion clinics in minority neighborhoods. And Senator Moore should know. She once worked for Planned Parenthood.
Ms. Levy is also skeptical of Planned Parenthood promoting transgender treatments in minority communities while Ms. Klarides has thus far been silent on the subject. In Hartford, the public schools are encouraging transgenderism in some students without parental involvement. It is unlikely that parents of these children view this favorably.
Ms. Levy is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment (the right to own a gun) but believes background checks should be improved. Ms. Klarides is more tepid on the issue, supporting the ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines when she was a legislator in 2013.
In should be mentioned in all fairness that there is another solid conservative in the race, Peter Lumaj. A refugee from Albania, he has the same fierce anti-Communist agenda as Ms. Levy. He is also a great guy. But it is unlikely that he can raise enough money to credibly challenge Senator Blumenthal and at this point, he could easily siphon enough votes from Ms. Levy and give Ms. Klarides the victory. Perhaps Ms. Levy and Mr. Lumaj could look at the polls in mid-July and agree for one of them to endorse the other, depending on who is ahead.
Republicans may be suspicious of Ms. Levy because she attended the liberal bastion, Brown University, as an undergraduate. But Brown University does have a Republican Club. Why? Because when Ms. Levy was a student there, she founded it.
You can donate to Ms. Levy’s campaign at this link. I already did so.
https://leoraforct.com/
