Final push for McMahon, Murphy

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- Connecticut's two Senate candidates were busy pressing the flesh at rallies around Connecticut Monday, hoping to swing a few last minute votes their way.

"How many of you think we're going to do this tomorrow," McMahon asked at her rally.

Among Linda McMahon's seven campaign stops today, was the small business in Southington where she kicked off this year's race last September.

"The next junior senator for Connecticut, Chris Murphy," Jim Calhoun said.

Among Chris Murphy's many stops was a rally and pep talk from Coach Jim Calhoun at Union Station in Hartford.

The Murphy campaign is red flagging a flyer, being placed on doorknobs in the major cities by McMahon workers, urging, like a previous TV commercial, votes for President Obama and McMahon.

"It's educating the voting public that they can vote, if their commitment is to President Obama...I mean I support Mitt Romney...I have endorsed him, he's my candidate but if President Obama is theirs and still like my message better, they can vote for me," McMahon said.

The Murphy campaign has launched a last minute TV ad they hope sets the record straight.

"I know the stakes are high and I need Chris Murphy as a partner in the U.S. Senate. Connecticut, I hope you support him," President Obama said in a campaign TV ad.

"I think people are really running away from McMahon in these closing days and so she's going to do everything possible to try to win this race," Murphy said.

A mailer, in an official looking envelope from the McMahon campaign, containing an absentee ballot application has gone out to hundreds of Connecticut residents, even ones that never applied for an absentee ballot, causing some confusion.

The mailer has brought a warning from the State Elections Enforcement Commission saying they've received dozens of complaints about what they described as a deceitful tactic, but it appears to be legal.

"I can tell you that our campaign has followed very strictly, by the law, the regulations and we continue to do that," McMahon said.

News 8's Mark Davis asked, "why send them to people that didn't ask for them?"

"We are running a very aggressive get out the vote campaign and this is what we are going to continue to do," McMahon said.

"We know that McMahon's been willing to say and do anything and certainly she's doing it in the new, creative ways with mailings and TV ads in these final few days," Murphy said.

But the McMahon campaign is running the largest get out the vote effort ever seen by a Republican in Connecticut. In the past, Republicans have pretty much ignored the big cities, but if it is a close race, even a few hundred votes from heavily Democratic cities could turn the election her way tomorrow.

The most recent Quinnipiac University poll showed Murphy with a 49-43 lead in the race, but McMahon's campaign said the survey undersampled Republicans.

The race has been one of the most hotly contested in the country, with plenty of money being spent by the campaigns and outside interests on television ads.

The polls open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night.