Democrat George C. Jepsen announced this morning he has raised the preliminary funding necessary to qualify for a $750,000 grant from the state’s Citizens Election Program to support his bid for attorney general.

The former state party chairman and former state Senate majority leader submitted records today at State Elections Enforcement Commission headquarters showing he raised more than $75,000 in amounts of $100 or less from more than 1,300 individuals.

Public financing “is the key to keeping special interest money out of politics,” Jepsen told reporters outside of SEEC headquarters on Trinity Street immediately after his filing.

George qualifies

Jepsen qualifies. AG candidate Geroge Jepsen greets supporters before filing paperwork for public financing. (Keith M. Phaneuf)

Jepsen is unopposed for the Democratic nomination, and will face the winner of the GOP primary between Avon lawyer Martha Dean and Ross Garber of Glastonbury, former chief legal counsel to the governor’s office under John G. Rowland. Both Republican candidates have said they would not use public funds to support their candidacies.

“I think that they would be unwise to be critical of those in public financing,” Jepsen added. The public supports the program. The public supports keeping special interest money out of politics.”

Keith has spent most of his 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. He has been the state finances reporter at CT Mirror since it launched in 2010. Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, a reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

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