Senate to vote on gay chief justice pick despite lacking votes

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Democratic state Senate leaders are expected to push ahead with a vote on Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's nominee for chief justice of Connecticut's highest court, despite an apparent lack of support.

Republican Senate Leader Len Fasano has told Malloy that none of his 18 colleagues planned on Tuesday to support the confirmation of Andrew McDonald, currently an associate justice of the State Supreme Court.

McDonald's nomination cleared the House of Representatives this month by a single vote. In the Senate, there are an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, but one Democrat is recusing herself, requiring GOP support.

Republicans have accused McDonald of being an activist jurist, a claim he's denied.

Democrats have accused the GOP of opposing him because he's gay and a Malloy friend, which Republicans deny.

Malloy said there were multiple reasons for the opposition to McDonald, a former Democratic state senator for eight years.

“I think that part of [the block] may be addressed to me, part of it may be addressed to the fact that they don’t like opinions he wrote, part of it has been addressed by people who don’t believe that a gay person should be on the Supreme Court,” Malloy said.

Copyright Associated Press, all rights reserved.

The Gayly. March 27, 2018. 10:25 p.m. CST.