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

For Ned Lamont, it was Joe Biden from day one

'Joe Biden is a friend to me, a friend to Connecticut.'

  • Politics
  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • November 8, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

mark pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

Joe Biden campaigning for Ned Lamont, Jahana Hayes and Chris Murphy in 2018. Lamont was the first to return the favor.

OK, it’s an obvious choice today, perhaps a brilliant one. But the story of how Connecticut’s governor quietly committed to Joe Biden on the very first day of his 2020 presidential campaign 19 months ago is not one of political calculation, guile or acumen. It’s a Ned Lamont story.

On April 25, 2019, Biden formally became a candidate for president. On the same day, Lamont sent him an unsolicited contribution of $3,000, a significant political act for a sitting governor that he failed to mention to senior staff for days, if not weeks.

“There wasn’t any real calculus,” Lamont said in an interview Friday, a day when he periodically checked his phone for updates, news that would finally come on Saturday. “I just thought he was the most real, genuine guy who represented the best values of this country.”

So, he pulled out his credit card. His contribution actually was too much, $200 over the $2,800 limit.

The contribution, and one for $2,800 sent the next day by his wife, Annie Lamont, went unnoticed. Lamont’s public endorsement of Biden didn’t come until July 2, 2019 as the Biden campaign was filing its first finance report — and the contributions by Connecticut’s governor and first lady would become a public record.

There wasn’t any real calculus. I just thought he was the most real, genuine guy who represented the best values of this country.”— Gov. Ned Lamont

“Joe Biden is a friend to me, a friend to Connecticut,” Lamont said Saturday in a congratulatory Tweet, “and our nation will be in great hands with him as the 46th president of the United States.”

He celebrated Biden as a conciliator, a man who can “recapture the soul of our country.” On Friday, Lamont said, “This is just four years of a nightmare this country could never imagine.”

Lamont, a product of Harvard and Yale, said he decided early last year he  preferred the candidate who called himself, “Middle-Class Joe.” It didn’t hurt that Biden campaigned for him in 2018, or that former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut was a mutual friend.

“You look at a Trump, pretending to be fighting for the middle class, I thought Joe measured up really well,” Lamont said. “I thought in the poisonous atmosphere in Washington, he gives us a little chance to lower the temperature.”

Lamont looks at coming re-election cycle

Even if there was no calculus to his endorsement, Lamont’s political fortunes have improved in 2020. He is on good terms with a man who will be the next president; Connecticut Democrats did well on Tuesday, and Lamont’s approval ratings have bounced from some of the worst in 2019 to among the best of 2020.

Until he signals otherwise, the default assumption among many Democrats is that Lamont will seek re-election in 2022.

For now, he is signaling nothing — other than a dislike of Washington, even if he once spent $20 million on a campaign to get there.

“I love the job. I think you can sort of sense that,” said Lamont, who became governor in January 2019. “But I hate the politics. I’ve had a little bit of an opportunity here with COVID to be above the politics.”

Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org

Gov. Ned Lamont talks about the Biden campaign and coming session in an interview Friday outside the Executive Residence in Hartford.

His posture towards re-election is politically astute. Right now, the public sees him as a governor managing a public health crisis and expected surge of COVID-19 cases as the weather cools and social life moves indoors, where transmission is easiest.

“I’m staying away from politics,” he said.

But his public and private schedules say he is, at the very least, keeping his 2022 options open. Almost every public stop is matched with a private one, a lunch or coffee with local officials. They are the networking gestures that tend to be remembered.

“I don’t do that for politics,” Lamont said. “I suppose it’s helpful.”

On Friday, Lamont had a late lunch scheduled in the Naugatuck Valley with three winners in Tuesday’s election: Sen.-elect Jorge Cabrera, Rep.-elect Mary Welander and Rep. Kara Rochelle, D-Derby, a freshman. Lamont had campaigned for all three.

“We’ve got some really big decisions you’ve got to make. And if you’re constantly worried about the next election you’re not going to get it done,” Lamont said. “So, I’m staying away from that.”

Democrats made net gains of two seats in the Senate and seven in the House, giving them majorities of 24-12 in the Senate and 98-53 in the House when the legislature opens its 2021 session in January.

I love the job. I think you can sort of sense that. But I hate the politics. I’ve had a little bit of an opportunity here with COVID to be above the politics.”— Ned Lamont

Tighter margins were a benefit for a governor wary of tax increases and cautious about new spending. He was non-committal when asked to assess the opportunities and challenges posed by larger Democratic majorities.

“Let’s see,” he said. 

He said the gains Democrats made in 2018 broke an 18-18 tie in the Senate that helped him deliver on promises to create a paid family and medical leave program and pass a law raising the $10.10 minimum wage in annual steps to $15 in October 2023. It rose to $11 in 2019 and $12 this year.

“Now the Democrats are so big, we’ll see what those coalitions will look like,” he said.

His one big play in 2019 — pitching highway tolls as a way to modernize Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure and stabilize a Special Transportation Fund teetering on the edge of insolvency — was a spectacular failure.

The big decisions awaiting the legislature include finding funding for the Special Transportation Fund, which relies on fuel taxes to pay for transportation debt service and operating costs at the Department of Transportation.

Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org

“I’m staying away from politics,” Lamont said when asked if he is running for a second term as governor.

Another is controlling health costs that are choking small businesses and state government. Lamont said he is working with Comptroller Kevin Lembo on bringing transparency to opaque pricing of health care.

“You ever see the difference in prices? We have guys who are 50%, 100% more than other places and there’s just no rationale for the system,” Lamont said. “So, I’m pushing very hard in terms of preferred networks and showing you where you get the best value.”

An admiration for small steps, not ‘Hail Mary passes’

Lamont said he is comfortable with Biden’s deliberate, if incremental, approach to major policy issues like health insurance. 

When Lamont sent his first contribution to Biden’s campaign, the former vice president was locked in an uncertain fight for the Democratic nomination in a large field that included two politicians popular with the party’s activist left, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Sanders and Warren both supported Medicare for All, a mandatory single-payer health care system. Biden favored a more cautious approach of preserving the Affordable Care Act and creating a public option — a government-funded insurance program that would be available as an alternative to private insurance.

“Let’s face it. On health care, he feels like moving the ball forward 10 yards at a go is not bad,” Lamont said. “You can sit around throwing Hail Mary passes — that’s what you do in a campaign — but he’s also a guy who knows how to govern.”

Lamont said incrementalism is not a bad word.

“It’s called progress,” he said.

His own approach to transportation revenue in 2021 will be incremental. Lamont said he has no intention of proposing tolls, nor does he expect lawmakers to do so. No tolls bill, including one final compromise that only would have applied to trucks, ever came to a vote.

“I don’t think they have any appetite to do something like tolls, and I want them to take a lead on something,” Lamont said of lawmakers. 

He now speaks of “intermediate solutions” that could keep the special transportation fund solvent for another couple years. With interest rates low, Lamont the debt diet he imposed on the state his first year might no longer make sense. More borrowing might be an answer.

I hated the war in Iraq. And I thought Joe Lieberman was tiresome.”— Ned Lamont

And he is staking much on Biden.

“We’re going to have an enormous transportation infrastructure opportunity coming out of the Biden administration,” Lamont said. “You’ve got interest rates as close to zero as we’ve ever had. And everybody on both sides of the aisle agrees we have to do something to fix our infrastructure, perhaps now more than ever.”

Lamont emerged during the campaign as one of the rainmakers listed by the Biden campaign as a bundler of contributions. The governor and first lady hosted a hastily organized fundraiser at their Greenwich home in October 2019. It quickly sold out, with a surprising guest list.

“You have as many Republicans and independents as you have Democrats in this room,” Lamont recalled telling Biden. “That ought to tell you something. It told me something.”

Biden intends to raise taxes on those donors.

Lamont is opposed to raising state income taxes, preferring to keep Connecticut competitive with other northeastern states at a time when thousands of New Yorkers are relocating to Connecticut. But he supports Biden’s plan to raise federal taxes on the wealthy, more than $2 trillion over a decade.

“Part of that, he’s doing it so states don’t have to raise taxes. And he’s doing that so that he can provide state and local support we need to make up for our lost revenues, right?” Lamont said, referring to COVID’s impact on state budgets. “For us, that’s a billion and a half bucks on an annual basis, for probably a couple of years.”

Lamont said Biden’s insistence on reversing some of Trump’s tax cuts, which were not offset by spending cuts, is a necessary corrective.

“Trump was running a trillion-dollar deficit before there was COVID. So I don’t want to take any fiscal conservative grief from any Republicans,” Lamont said, bemoaning how the GOP’s deficit hawks have fallen mute under Trump. “I didn’t hear one of them speak out, except perhaps for Paul Ryan, who promptly retired.”

Lamont ran for U.S. Senate in 2006, briefly become a national icon of the anti-war left as he challenged Joe Lieberman in a Democratic primary.  He was miscast. At national governors’ meetings, Lamont said he gravitates to the governors with similar backgrounds, a mix of Democrats and Republicans.

“It’s all the business guys that get together. It’s me and Larry Hogan and Charlie Baker and Gina Raimondo,” Lamont said.

His own effort to go to Washington seems mystifying to him today.

“I hated the war in Iraq,” Lamont said. Then he smiled and added, “And I thought Joe Lieberman was tiresome.”

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 is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, 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
Current K-12 students could claim religious exemption to vaccines under amended bill
by Jenna Carlesso

The legislation, which is expected to pass the House, would remove the religious exemption beginning in September 2022.

Feds will not be placing migrant children in Connecticut
by Mark Pazniokas

The closed Juvenile Training School had been under consideration as a shelter

Lamont closed the restaurants. Now he is their promoter.
by Mark Pazniokas

A year after Gov. Ned Lamont banned indoor dining due to COVID-19, the industry has welcomed him as its savior.

CT lawmakers call for funding to stop ‘mass killing’ of Black and brown children
by Kelan Lyons

Lawmakers identified a $5 billion proposal by the Biden administration, and marijuana and sports-betting legalization efforts, as potential funding.

Lamont faults CDC on J&J vaccine pause: ‘I would have handled it differently’
by Mark Pazniokas

Gov. Ned Lamont and other governors expressed dismay to the White House over pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Redistricting in Connecticut 2021: It is worth your attention
by Patricia Rossi

This is the year for redistricting in the United States. Maps drawn in 2021 will define which voters can vote for which candidates for the next ten years.  That means ensuring that the 2021 maps are fair and representative of their communities is critically important.

Opinion Lembo: Legislators should let constituents share the success of their health plan.
by Comptroller Kevin Lembo

The health care crisis in Connecticut continues. Bills under consideration in Connecticut expand subsidies, attempt to lower prescription drug costs and address long-standing health care inequities. There is room to incorporate the best of each if it helps make health care in our state more affordable, equitable and accessible. But Senate Bill 842 is the only bill that provides short and long-term help for small businesses, nonprofits and certain labor unions.

Opinion Will the Comptroller open the state-run healthcare plan’s books?
by Wyatt Bosworth

What choices do you have when you cannot defend a policy issue on its merits? One path is that chosen by former New Britain Democratic Town Committee chair Bill Shortell in his April 14 Viewpoints opinion piece, “Debunking the CBIA’s takedown of the public option healthcare bill.” Instead of defending any perceived merits associated with the proposed expansion of state-run healthcare in Connecticut, Shortell attacks the messenger. In this case, two organizations that have raised legitimate —and unanswered— questions about that proposal.

Opinion Climate action now to insure Connecticut’s future
by Commissioners Andrew Mais and Katie Dykes

Connecticut has had nine weather-related federal disaster declarations in the past 11 years, totaling more than $362 million in damages. For Storms Irene, Sandy, and the 2011 October Nor’easter, insurers paid out more than $1 billion to cover insured damages in Connecticut. The climate crisis is upon us. The science is clear. We must act now.

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