Gov. Dannel P. Malloy departs Wednesday for Nantucket to attend the Democratic Governors Association’s annual summer fundraising retreat. He will return to Connecticut on Sunday.
Malloy is chairman of the DGA for 2016, when there are a dozen gubernatorial elections. Democrats are defending eight of their 18 gubernatorial seats, the Republicans four.
The DGA and Republican Governors Association are major sources of independent expenditures in gubernatorial campaigns, underwriting multi-million-dollar advertising buys in competitive races.
In 2014, the DGA and RGA topped the list of outside groups that spent about $18 million on the Connecticut race for governor. An affiliate of the Republican governors spent nearly $8.9 million, while an affiliate of the Democratic governors spent $6 million. Other groups spent about $3 million supporting Malloy.