Smart Growth for Vernon, CT
McCoy says he'll give Senate campaign cash to state Republicans

By Don Michak
Journal Inquirer
January 31, 2012

Former Vernon Mayor Jason L. McCoy, who has abandoned his bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, says he'll donate all "excess" funds donated to that campaign to the state Republican Party.

The lawyer, who had attracted scant attention in the contest expected to end in a showdown between two significantly better-known candidates — former World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. executive Linda McMahon and former 4th District Congressman Christopher Shays — also says he soon will endorse one of his former competitors.

McCoy announced last summer that he wouldn't seek a third consecutive term as mayor and instead run for the U.S. Senate, but faced questions about his personal finances after disclosures that creditors were suing him, his wife, and his law practice.

He also was ensnared in a controversy over $8,211 in extraordinary overtime pay he collected for his work as mayor during last year's major storms.

The Journal Inquirer reported two weeks ago that Republican State Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. said McCoy had told him that he no longer would pursue their party's nomination.

Neither McCoy nor the Plainville lawyer who served as his campaign treasurer, Aaron Jainchill, had returned messages seeking confirmation of that story.

But McCoy later sent a cryptic e-mail to a JI reporter who had not reported on Labriola's comment, suggesting "that just because a message was left does not make something true."

McCoy on Monday, however, announced that he would "formally suspend" his bid and donate an unspecified amount of campaign cash to the state party in the hope that it "will help elect fiscally responsible candidates because Connecticut's future depends on it."

McCoy had said that he had raised $5,000 when he filed as a candidate with the Federal Election Commission, but has yet to file a quarterly report detailing those and any subsequent contributions.

McCoy also appeared to leave the door open for a return to elective politics.

After thanking "all of the people and groups who have supported me and my family" during his tenure as both mayor and Senate hopeful, he said he looked "forward to serving you again in the future."

"For now, I am happy to get back to my private life practicing law and spending time with my family," he added.

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