Burbank, Winn excluded from CT-5 LOWV debates

The Courant confirms my understanding that the CT-5 will have four candidates on the ballot:

Democrat Chris Murphy
Green Harold Burbank
Republican Dave Cappiello
Unaffiliated Tom Winn

The Courant's Mark Pazniokas reports:

The only thing harder than getting on the ballot for G. Scott Deshefy of the Green Party is getting on the stage of the Garde Arts Center. On Oct. 7, Deshefy will be the only ballot-certified 2nd Congressional District candidate absent from a televised debate at the Garde in New London. The League of Women Voters notified all minor-party candidates this week that they are unwelcome at the league's debates in the 2nd, 4th and 5th congressional districts. The league has no debates scheduled for the 1st or 3rd districts. In the league's view, none of the minor-party candidates met its criteria of broad voter and financial support and a sufficient effort at reaching out to voters.

With four candidates, the field is larger than I thought. And I certainly don't want to see 100 people sitting down for a one or two hour debate. That would be a waste of time.

But I assume it takes some serious effort to get your name on the ballot. And if that's true, then the League of Women Voters should include them in these debates. I don't believe that four people will dilute the value of the debates a great deal. Rather, I bet they'd only enhance the debates with more views.

Tim White