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Schlesinger, a former six-term state representative, is the GOP candidate in the increasingly convoluted race for Connecticut’s Senate seat — one that includes incumbent Democrat Joseph I. Lieberman facing a significant challenge in the Aug. 8 primary from Democratic anti-war candidate Ned Lamont, and the recent entry of state Republican Rep. Diana S. Urban as an independent anti-war candidate.
The allegations -- reported by Hartford Courant columnist Kevin F. Rennie and first published by National Journal's Hotline on Call, to which Rennie is a contributor -- came from the former commanding officer of the state police's casino licensing and operations union. Bradley Beecher alleged Schlesinger was a card counter who plays under an assumed name and has been thrown out of the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn.
Schlesinger denounced Beecher as a “disgruntled employee and said he had done nothing wrong. “It’s all innuendo.”
Schlesinger, who describes himself as a “recreational gambler,” said he gave a false name in obtaining a promotional player’s card at the casino to protect his privacy.
He also said that counting cards was “using your brain” and not illegal.
“I didn’t break any laws,” he said.
In the wake of the report, however, popular Republican Gov. Jodi Rell asked Schlesinger to seriously reassess his candidacy, state party Chair George D. Gallo said. “Alan Schlesinger’s got a little bit of an issue here,” Gallo said.
Gallo said the allegations raised serious issues, including whether Schlesinger had evaded taxes on his winnings. Schlesinger said he never gambled enough to make money, and that he did not think he gambled in Connecticut more than once a year.
Schlesinger, who served as mayor of Derby for two terms in the 1990s, easily won the party’s endorsement at its convention last month.
Gallo said the situation should resolve in the next several days, but that as of late Wednesday the Republican Party did not have an obvious successor should Schlesinger withdraw from the race.
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