Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

At crossroads, the CT GOP to elect its leader

  • Politics
  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • June 25, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Clarice Silber :: CTMirror.org

J.R. Romano answers questions from the media on election night in 2018, when the race for governor was unresolved for 12 hours after the polls closed.

An intimate and intense political campaign comes to a close Tuesday night at a banquet hall in Farmington: Four candidates have been campaigning to be Republican state chairman, a contest in which only 74 Republicans are eligible to vote, and the winner is guaranteed little in the way of prestige, power or resources.

J.R. Romano, 40, a political operative elected to the first of his two-year terms in 2015, faces challengers who say Romano bears significant responsibility for the disastrous 2018 election cycle in which Democrats retained every statewide and congressional seat and tightened their control of the General Assembly.

But behind the issue of Romano’s culpability are broader questions about the role of the state party and state chair in an era of increasingly decentralized politics, when Super PACs outspend candidates and parties everywhere. And in Connecticut, public financing of campaigns frees most candidates of reliance on the parties.

“At the end of the day, you are chairman of what?” asked Ben Proto, a Republican activist who briefly considered seeking the job. “What are you becoming chairman of? It’s not just the Republican Party, it’s both parties. What are you chairing? You are chairing an organization that is toothless for all intents and purposes.”

Those questions are especially acute for Republicans.

Their nominee for governor, Bob Stefanowski, bypassed the state convention and petitioned his way into a five-way primary last year — a first that calls into question the relevance of the state convention and its party structure. Stefanowski, who registered as a Democrat in October 2016 before returning to the GOP in 2017, also skipped an early series of debates sponsored by the state party.

“At the end of the day, you are chairman of what? You are chairing an organization that is toothless for all intents and purposes.”

Ben Proto
Republican activist

Tim Herbst, one of Stefanowski’s rivals, angrily blamed his one-time friend, Romano, for not exercising better control over an unwieldy field of gubernatorial candidates, the party’s failure to match the Democratic ground game, and a series of party-sponsored debates in which the candidates damaged each other.

“When you start wrong, you end wrong,” Herbst said.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the runner up to Stefanowski in the primary, said the party’s challenges are cultural, not personal. Ingrained, he said, is a tendency to form “circular firing squads,” lashing out at anyone who does not conform.

“Whoever wins should recognize the party needs work,” he said.

Romano faced three challengers: Dave Mathus of Darien, a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery; Matt O’Brien, the GOP town chair in Coventry; and Richard Foley, a lobbyist, political consultant and former state chair. Mathus withdrew Tuesday morning, saying Romano had the votes to win.

mark pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

There was five-way GOP primary for governor. From left, Mark Boughton, Timothy Herbst, Steve Obsitnik, Bob Stefanowski and David Stemerman.

Stefanowski prevailed by making his mark with early spending unavailable to publicly financed candidates, such as Herbst and Boughton. Stefanowski largely self-funded his campaign for the nomination, then turned to the state party for help in raising money for the general-election against Democrat Ned Lamont, a wealthy Greenwich businessman who self-funded his winning campaign. 

Stefanowski said he had no complaints about fundraising help, but the Democrats clearly had the better ground game, helped by unions and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.

“If I had to pick one contrast between the Republican and Democratic parties is their ability to get the ground game out,” Stefanowski said. “I’m not blaming that on the party, but being able to inherit a bit more of an infrastructure and then being able to develop it would have helped.”

Murphy underwrote a massive get-out-the-vote effort that benefitted his own re-election and down-ticket races. In the final four days of the campaign, a staff of 20 paid organizers oversaw 14,000 volunteers who Murphy says knocked on roughly 250,000 doors and made one million phone calls. 

“When you start wrong, you end wrong.”

Republican Tim Herbst

Murphy had raised $12.5 million for his re-election to a second term, compared to the paltry $173,092 that Republican Mathew Corey had to win a primary and then challenge Murphy. In the five U.S. House races, the Democratic candidates collectively out-raised the Republicans, $8.8 million to $1.1 million.

“One of the takeaways from the 2018 election for all of us is we can’t have millions and millions of unanswered dollars at the federal level,” said Liz Kurantowicz, a political consultant and former executive director for the state GOP.

Romano’s challengers agree. All, to varying degrees, promised to do a better job of convincing major GOP donors that the state party is a good investment.

For the congressional races, that may be a hard sell.

No Republican has won a congressional election in Connecticut since 2006, when U.S. Rep. Chris Shays was re-elected to the last of his 11 terms representing lower Fairfield County. It is a corner of Connecticut that had sent only Republicans to Congress for 40 years: Lowell P. Weicker Jr., Stewart McKinney and Shays.

Shays was unseated by Democrat Jim Himes, who won his sixth term last year with 61.2 percent of the vote. 

Even in Connecticut’s one open race in the 5th District of western Connecticut, Democratic newcomer Jahana Hayes won with nearly 56 percent of the vote over Republican Manny Santos, the former mayor of Meriden. She outspent him, $1.8 million to $76,037.

Santos said he and Corey ran respectable races, despite getting only token support from the state party.

“They wrote us off,” Santos said. “We can’t allow that to happen.”

But that cannot be laid exclusively at the feet of Romano. National donors, including the two PACs devoted to helping Republicans win races for the U.S. House and Senate, saw no reason to invest in any Connecticut race.

One of the great frustrations of Republicans in Connecticut is that the state is seen as an ATM for the national party. With significant exceptions (one Greenwich donor gave nearly $2 million to Super PACs that supported Stefanowski), those donors look to national races.

“The good news is the money still is in Connecticut. The bad news is a lot of it being invested elsewhere,” Mathus said. “The party has to re-engage with major donors in this state.”

Only four donors this year have given the maximum contribution of $10,000 to the state party.

“Connecticut is not unique in the sense that, nationally, state parties are a shadow of their former selves,” Kurantowicz said. “The party is the backbone. The things that the party is supposed to do are not the exciting things that get a lot of donors going in the morning. It’s not harsh attack ads — it’s the bones, it’s the roots. And getting donors to invest in those kinds of things is a challenge.”

Proto said the campaign for state chair itself is evidence of a problem: Too much time has been spent by Romano, his challengers and party activists on the question of who should lead the party. The election should be in January, freeing up the chair to recruit candidates and raise money.

Congressional Democrats already have $4.2 million cash for 2020, with most of the money in the accounts of the three Democrats from districts where Republicans have won in the past 15 years: $2.4 million is held by Himes, $615,285 by Hayes and $779,056 by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney of the 2nd District.

“The good news is the money still is in Connecticut. The bad news is a lot of it being invested elsewhere.”

 Dave Mathus
 

The Republicans have done better seeking legislative seats in Hartford, making steady gains on the argument that Democrats were poor stewards of the state’s finances and business climate. In 2016, they won an 18-18 tie in the Senate in 2016 and came within four votes of 76-75 majority in the House. 

But Democrats made their first net gains of state legislative seats in a decade in 2018, and they now hold majorities of 22-14 in the Senate and 91-60 in the House. President Donald J. Trump was an organizational catalyst for Democrats in the municipal elections of 2017 and state contests last year.

Romano said the 2018 results were disappointing, but not overwhelming. Stefanowski lost by 3.5 percentage points, and Republican legislative candidates came within two percentage points in losing 22 legislative races.

“This was no blue wave,” Romano said.

His challengers counter by the saying there are no points in politics for getting close.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t horseshoes,” Mathus said.

Romano said some of those losses came in comfortable suburbs, places where residents who regularly voted for Republicans are turned off by Trump. He called those votes “an act of self-indulgence.”

Marty Heiser Show

From left, J.R. Romano, Dave Mathus, Matt O’Brien and Richard Foley.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas Mark is a co-founder of CT Mirror, a frequent contributor to WNPR and a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer and contributor for The New York Times.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Joe Biden takes office: ‘At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.’
by Mark Pazniokas

America took a deep breath and watched Joe Biden uneventfully inaugurated outside a Capitol invaded two weeks ago by rioters.

Lamont sets the stage for a debate on marijuana taxation by mid-2022
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The governor's draft bill proposes taxing marijuana and erasing convictions for possession that occurred prior to Oct. 1, 2015.

Legislative leaders support extension of Lamont’s emergency powers during COVID
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

The governor's emergency powers expire Feb. 9 unless he asks lawmakers for an extension within 72 hours of that date.

Sunday in Hartford: Massive show of police, not protesters
by Mark Pazniokas and Dave Altimari

Reporters outnumbered protesters. Cops outnumbered everyone. Sunday at the Connecticut Capitol was peaceful and well-documented.

‘No one took us seriously:’ Black cops warned about racist Capitol Police officers for years
by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien | ProPublica

While many officers were filmed fighting off Capitol rioters, at least 12 others are under investigation for possibly assisting them.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion In the grip of a pandemic: What would Dr. King say?
by Suzanne Lagarde MD

No one can dispute that we are in the midst of a history making week —the inauguration of a new President and the departure of a President under the cloud of accusations that he incited an insurrection against American democracy. However, the coming week will prove to be a week like no other in American history for more reasons than what is happening in our country’s capital.

Opinion Connecticut’s broad access to internet making at-home work more doable
by Timothy Wilkerson

When it comes to ranking public access to broadband networks, Connecticut has been consistently among the top five U.S. states for over a decade. In 2020, Connecticut topped two lists including best broadband access by BroadbandNow and WalletHub recognized the state as No. 1 in internet access to households as part of their Best States for Working from Home report.

Opinion The elephant in the Metro-North station
by David Moyer

All over the world, businesses are discussing their revised needs for space as a result of the pandemic. White-collar professionals who have successfully adapted to working from home will have, when they do go to their companies’ offices, fewer of them, with less square footage. Exactly how much is still a matter of debate since the post-pandemic habits of and requirements for in-person face time are still in flux. One thing’s for certain. It isn’t going to increase.

Opinion Separating myth and reality in aid in dying
by Lisa Blumberg

The virus is surging and the death rate is increasing as the already overburdened health system is in crisis. Yet, there is talk of the legislature again considering a bill to permit doctors to provide lethal prescriptions to terminally ill adults requesting them. This is despite the fact that such bills have stalled in committee five times in the past and due to the pandemic, the legislature may meet virtually for much of the upcoming session. Proponents will be talking about choice and compassion. Let’s separate rhetoric from reality.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO