[citation needed] McDonald narrowly won election to the Connecticut State Senate in 2002, defeating his Republican opponent, Michael Fedele (who later served as Lieutenant Governor), by 53% to 47%.

[5] In 2007 McDonald opposed a special session of the General Assembly to address parole issues following the horrific home invasion murders in Cheshire, stating "Legislating by bumper sticker motto is not the way to go.

[7] McDonald relented under public pressure and a special session was held January 22, 2008, to pass laws declaring home invasion a class A felony and reforming the parole board.

McDonald opposed a Three Strikes Law favored by Governor Jodi Rell to mandate life terms to career violent criminals; that measure failed to pass.

[citation needed] Rell reiterated her call for a Three Strikes bill on March 31, 2008, following the kidnapping and murder of an elderly New Britain woman committed by a sex offender recently released from Connecticut prison.

Following the New Britain crime, McDonald lambasted the prosecutor who had handled the assailant's previous case, Waterbury State's Attorney John Connelly, who had agreed to a plea bargain which sentenced the defendant to an eight-year prison term.

[9] In March 2009, McDonald and Judiciary committee co-chair Mike Lawlor proposed a bill (SB 1098) to regulate the management of Roman Catholic parishes in Connecticut.

[10][11][12] After two years of serving as Governor Dan Malloy’s chief legal counsel, McDonald was nominated to a seat on the Connecticut Supreme Court on December 27, 2012.