(Host) Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jack McMullen says incumbent Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy has not paid enough attention to creating new jobs across the state. Speaking at a press conference in the Statehouse, McMullen said Wednesday he was much better qualified to bring new, good paying jobs to Vermont because of his more than 20 years of experience in private business.
McMullen told reporters that Leahy doesn’t have the passion to work on economic development issues and failed to “pull out all the stops” to convince IBM to build a new facility in Vermont in the late 1990s:
(McMullen) “Those jobs at IBM are vital to the economy of 12 of 14 counties in Vermont, according to the Essex town manager. So there’s an example of not really understanding that. Although it wasn’t a political crisis in 1996, it was a business crisis. This major decision once made cannot be reversed. He’s not really passionate about job creation. He’s passionate about judges, he’s passionate about landmines, but job creation is something he pays attention to but not as the same level of intensity or the same background and experience.”
(Host) Leahy’s spokesman Ted Brady says McMullen’s charges are untrue. Brady says Leahy has worked tirelessly to bring new federal contracts to the state over the last six years – contracts that have resulted in thousands of new jobs.
(Brady) “It’s just a strange attack to say otherwise. The proof is through the facts and the facts are that in the past couple of months alone, Senator Leahy has been recognized by businesses, including IBM, for his support of their business and his support for making sure that Vermonters are being offered good jobs.”
(Host) McMullen faces Peter Moss and Ben Mitchell in next week’s Republican Primary.