Connecticut Local Politics

MetroHartford Alliance chief Nelson ‘Oz’ Griebel announced yesterday that he is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination at an event at the State Capitol in Hartford:
“We have to combat our problems and opportunities with a different attitude, with a much more private sector approach,” Griebel said.
His website can be found at http://www.ozforgovernor.com.
Mr. Griebel joins a [...]

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Former U.S. Ambassador and, according to the Q Poll, Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Tom Foley released both his Plan Forward for Connecticut and a new tv ad today.
The Plan is to create jobs, shrink the size of government, and change the culture in Hartford:
4.I will work to develop and market the ‘Knowledge Corridor’ from Enfield to [...]

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1. Another week, new faces in the race for Governor. Oz Greibel plans to announce he’s in the Governor’s race tomorrow. Griebel, who hails from Simbsbury, was the chief executive office of BankBoston’s Connecticut subsidiary from 1993 to 1999, and has been with the Metro Hartford Alliance since 2001.
2. According to the Greenwich [...]

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As if we didn’t have enough options already, Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura is the latest hopeful to eye a gubernatorial bid.
The Mayor summed up his family’s feelings on his candidacy this way:
“My family thinks I should have my head examined because the problems are mounting as every day goes by,” he said.
The announcement, as well [...]

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(h/t Lenny Grimaldi) Former State Sen. Rob Russo of Bridgeport is using his talents to help the people of Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake that hit nearly two weeks ago.
Russo, who is now a candidate for the Fourth Congressional District Republican nomination, is also a private pilot.  He is putting these skills to work [...]

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Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie has his assessment of the Massachusetts Senate race in the Courant today. His conclusion? The results will be a plague on both political parties.
For the Republicans, Mr. Rennie warns of fool’s hope:
Republicans will share the burden of Brown’s Massachusetts win. Every GOP candidate who’s 30 points behind with three weeks [...]

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Despite the fact that the state is beset by fiscal problems, almost comical Legislative ineptness, and an uphill political landscape, Republican candidates for Governor seem to be growing ever-more plentiful this week.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is running for Governor, according to his hometown paper, the Danbury News-Times.  The move comes after several weeks of speculation about [...]

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The Q Poll reveals today that Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Tom Foley are in a dead heat in the race for the Governor’s office.  In a head-to-head match up, Lamont leads Foley by a margin of 38% to 36%.
In the respective contests for the gubernatorial nomination, Q found that Lamont has a significant lead [...]

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The fall out from the “Massachusetts Miracle” is already in full swing, even here in Connecticut. 
Every Republican candidate under the sun is doing their best to enumerate the ways in which they are most similar to Senator-Elect Brown while Democrats largely heap their blame on a campaign that walked into a political ambush. 
The Washington, D.C.-based Politico [...]

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Republican State Sen. Scott Brown posts the surprising upset in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race over Democratic candidate Martha Coakley.  CT Capitol Report is summing up the situation with this banner headline: “Is Anyone Safe?”
Use this open forum to add your thoughts on Brown/Coakley, implications for Connecticut in 2010, and the future of the health [...]

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State Sen. Dan Debicella’s Congressional campaign announced today that he raised $230k during the final four months of 2009:
We accomplished this in four short months, with over 500 individuals making contributions. All of our donations come from individuals, unlike my opponent Jim Himes, who has received almost 50% of his funding from special interests.
Debicella also [...]

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Earlier this week, Republican State Rep. Bill Hamzy was a principle signatory to a letter opposing the proposed Net Neutrality regulations currently under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC):
If adopted, extensive regulatory control and uncertainties will harm innovation, stifle investment, and curtail job growth. We believe that unintended consequences stemming from the draft rules will be [...]

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Well it’s another day in CT and what does that mean? You got it… another candidate for Governor!
This time it’s on the GOP side, Chester First Selectman Tom Marsh,
Marsh is running on a platform of fiscal control and bipartisan leadership.
“There are very few purely republican or democratic issues. No political party ever [...]

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Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz may not be qualified to serve as Attorney General, according to a post yesterday on A Connecticut Law Blog.
The law requires that the AG be “an attorney at law of at least ten years’ active practice at the bar of this state”. There is some question about whether Bysiewicz’s resume [...]

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I had to check this morning if I was reading the press release of the new Quinnipiac Poll or a Marvel Comic book. (Where’s Connecticut Bob with his Mad Photoshop Skilz when I need him?) Check out this breathy opening paragraph:
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has 35 to 47-point leads over three Republican candidates [...]

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The new Q poll is out, pretty much verifies Blumenthal’s overall “deity” status.
Here’s the AP lede:
“Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal holds a hefty lead in a new poll over his three Republican rivals for the U.S. Senate, giving Democrats a renewed chance of retaining the seat now that Sen. Chris Dodd is out of the [...]

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1. Well, another day, another change in the candidates for the Governor’s race. As widely predicted yesterday, Susan Bysiewicz moved her sights from Governor to Attorney General, despite being well ahead of the pack in the latest Quinnipiac and PPP polls. She’s also opted out of public financing
believing the law to be in jeopardy with [...]

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There is perhaps no better evidence about the disconnect between the political class and average citizens than the curious case of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz.
Mrs. Bysiewicz, having aborted a prepubertal bid for Governor once before, has today done it again despite the fact that polling had demonstrated her to be the frontrunner in the race. 
Rather [...]

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You need a scorecard to keep up with all the movements in the CT political races these days. Actually, Heath, can we put one of these in the budget?

Oh yeah, I forgot – CLTP doesn’t have a budget. We’re kinda like the State of the CT that way. Anyway…back to the soap opera.
1) Looks [...]

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I had the chance to chat with Jerry Labriola, who has announced a run for the Republican nomination for the 3rd Congressional District seat held by Rosa DeLauro (D-New Haven). The district stretches from Stratford to Middletown, from Waterbury to Guilford, with Labriola residing in Wallingford. DeLauro usually wins by a landslide, but this year’s [...]

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