Connecticut Local Politics

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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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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If you want to know exactly just how unpopular Senator Joe Lieberman in CT with his former party, consider this from the latest PPP poll
Barack Obama’s approval rating with Connecticut Republicans (15%) is higher than Lieberman’s with the state’s Democrats (14%). But if Joe’s thinking of running as a Republican, well, they don’t love him [...]

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Just had a breaking news announcement from the Washington Post moments ago, that Senator Chris Dodd has scheduled a press conference for later today (Wednesday) at which he is expected to announce that he will not run for re-election in November.
According to the Post’s Chris Cillizza:
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is widely expected [...]

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An internal poll for the Dodd campaign conducted December 15-17 by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research among 601 likely Connecticut voters found Dodd and McMahon locked in a dead heat with 46 percent of the vote apiece, and the Senator trailing Rob
Simmons by a margin of 46 to 51 percent.
This poll tried to feel out [...]

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This evening the Senate passed the motion for debate on the healthcare bill.
Here’s what Senator Dodd, who took over work on the HELP committee for his ailing friend and colleague, the late Senator Edward Kennedy, had to say:
if you’ve watched the debate here in the Senate over the past few days, you’ve probably [...]

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Jim Amann Still Gaining Steam
Per CT News Junkie, Former Speaker Jim Amann picked up another legislator endorsement yesterday from State Rep. Ryan Barry of Manchester.  The money quote:
“This is the kind of guy who grabs you by the lapels in the middle of a budget crisis and says, ‘Just be thankful we’re here to help [...]

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And the plot thickens. The New Haven Independent reports that during a visit to the city this morning, State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, left the door open as to whether he, too, might throw his hat into the race for governor now that Jodi Rell has declared she won’t run for re-election.

He made the [...]

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Former Speaker James Amman on Governor M. Jodi Rell’s decision not to run for re-election and how it affects his chances in the 2010 Governor’s race:
“It’s as I predicted, but no one listens to me because I’m a has-been,” Amann quipped, adding that with Rell out and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on record as not [...]

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Now that’s a headline I never thought I would read or write. But the 3rd quarter fund raising reports for the municipal elections here showed a shift in the fund raising momentum in favor of the Democrats.
Current Selectman Lin Lavery, who is running against incumbent Peter Tesei for the First Selectman spot, topped Tesei [...]

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Stamford Mayor Dannel P Malloy has raised $101, 698 for his exploratory committee for governor in the third quarter to Sept. 30th, bringing the total raised since his committee was formed Feb 3rd to $373,583 according to a press release from his campaign.
In this quarter, Malloy received contributions from 629 individuals, for a total of [...]

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Senator Chris Dodd met with a group of Connecticut bloggers over the weekend to discuss topics such as his upcoming legislative agenda, healthcare reform and the upcoming re-election fight.
It was the first time I’ve met Senator Dodd, and while I might not have seen eye to eye with him on everything in the past, his [...]

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Thank you, Waterbury, for being interesting this year.
Mayoral candidate J. Paul Vance Jr. (D) attacked Mayor Michael Jarjura (D) in a release to media today, accusing the incumbent of pursing the GOP nomination. Said Vance:
“I think it’s outrageous that the Mayor is attempting to seek this nomination,” said J. Paul Vance, Jr. “This is a [...]

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This morning Democratic selectman Lin Lavery ended months of speculation and announced that she would be running against Republican (and current officeholder) Peter Tesei for the First Selectman’s office. Attorney General Dick Blumenthal and 4th CD Congressman Jim Himes were on hand at a crowded town meeting room event.
This should be an interesting race. Two [...]

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Subscribers to Connecticut Economy are rejoicing as that quarterly publication from UCONN economists hits mailboxes this week to stimulate a whole summer of thinking (get your subscriptions here). 
Among other pieces, the magazine includes a very interesting article by Dennis Heffley and MaryJane Lenon entitled “Sizing Up Connecticut’s Public Sector” (PDF), which compares Connecticut’s state and [...]

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In addition to the end of the Legislative Session – likely without a budget agreement – Connecticut’s two major parties will host their annual fundraising galas this week. 
The Connecticut Democrats will be at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford on Monday, June 1.  The keynote speaker will be Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, whose 2008 Denver [...]

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Sen. Joseph Crisco has been fined $4,000 by the SEEC for, first, allowing his treasurer’s secretary to sign the treasurer’s signature on official campaign documents, and secondly for apparently forging several signatures himself. These ethical lapses are what disqualified him from receiving public campaign money last year.
Crisco still won his seat.
GOP state chair Chris [...]

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On Monday, Congressman John Larson and National President and CEO of Common Cause, Bob Edgar, will be having a press conference and blogger availability in Connecticut to introduce the Fair Elections Now Act. According to Common Cause and the Fair Elections Now Coalition (.pdf), under the act:
Under the Fair Elections Now Act, federal candidates [...]

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Disclosure: I interned for Representative Spallone in 2007.
I had the opportunity to interview Representative Jamie Spallone, the Co-Chair of the GAE Committee, last week and will be presenting the results of the interview here, in two parts. In yesterday’s segment, we talked about the interesting Election-related bills raised out of GAE. Part two [...]

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With a structural crisis still weighing down the nation’s economy and the State’s balance sheet getting worse by the day, Legislative Democrats took the opportunity today to show just how far out of touch they are with reality. 
Sens. Eileen Daily and Toni Harp with Reps. Cameron Staples and John Geragosian, announced a budget proposal that treats the economic recession like a [...]

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