U.S. Senate candidate William Tong is calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court and a separate District court decision that allows unlimited donations by corporations, unions and individuals.
“As a lawyer, I take amending the Constitution very seriously, but this decision must be overturned before it buries our democracy in an avalanche of money. Left unchecked, our country is bound to become a full blown corporatocracy,” Tong said in a statement Thursday.
Tong, a state representative from Stamford, is one of three Democrats and three Republicans vying for their party’s nomination to take the seat now held by retiring U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn.
The Democrats — former Sec. of the State Susan Bysiewicz, U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-5th, and Tong — will participate in their first debate on Saturday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. to be held at Norwich Free Academy and sponsored by the Norwich Bulletin.
Tong said any constitutional fix should restore the previous restrictions and allow for others.
Murphy last weekend held a tutorial on Citizens United in Westport and said he favors a constitutional remedy and/or a disclosure act that will make public the names of those making these donations.
“We need to move the ball forward. Now is the moment,” Murphy said at that event.
He told the crowd that he was personally affected by the ruling when the American Future Fund spent $1 million in ten days on ads at the end of the 2010 5th District race inaccurately claiming he supported Viagra for sex offenders. 

— Mary O'Leary, Register topics editor