Gov. Ned Lamont still intends to largely self-fund his reelection campaign, but his first campaign finance filing had one surprise: Others gave nearly as much to the campaign in its first weeks as did the independently wealthy Democratic governor.
“We’re trying to raise as many small dollar donations as we can to show we got broad-based support,” Lamont said Monday.
That was not a concern in 2022, when Lamont’s opponent was a wealthy Republican businessman, Bob Stefanowski, who also largely self-funded his campaign. Neither man tried to use the number of donors as a measure of support.
This year, all three of Lamont’s opponents are participants in the state’s revamped Citizens’ Election Program, which requires a broad base of small-dollar donors to qualify for public grants of about $3.2 million in a primary and $15.4 million in a general election.
“We have a lot of small money donations,” Lamont told reporters a few hours before his report was filed. “I have not done any fundraising. I got a day job. But we’re doing fine.”
His campaign reported raising $84,903 from contributors since his campaign’s launch in mid-November through Dec. 31, the end of the quarterly reporting period.
His own contribution: $105,000.
“We are really proud of how many people have joined the campaign in just six weeks since the governor announced,” said Lauren Gray, a spokeswoman for the campaign. “We believe this surge of support is one indication.”
Not all the donors were small donors, at least as defined by the public financing law. A little less than half his outside money — $38,500 — came from 11 individuals who gave the legal maximum of $3,500.
Other contributions were as modest as $5.
In 2022, Lamont contributed $25.7 million to his own campaign. Others gave $564,164. Stefanowski gave $12.98 million and raised $1.5 million from others.
Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, who is challenging Lamont for the Democratic nomination, mocked the notion of Lamont’s campaign seeking small-dollar donations.
“One of Connecticut’s richest people is out there asking working families for campaign contributions — and that tells you everything about how he governs,” Elliott said in a text Tuesday morning. “For eight years, he’s asked the middle class to pay more while sparing billionaires like himself.”
Actually, middle-class taxpayers were the primary beneficiaries of tax cuts Lamont and the General Assembly adopted, effective last year. As for his net worth, Lamont never has been publicly identified as being among the ranks of Connecticut’s billionaires.
Qualifying for public financing requires gubernatorial candidates to raise at least $250,000 in donations ranging from $5 to $250. Elliott raised $39,918 in the three-month reporting period ending on Dec. 31. His total since opening his campaign in July is $85,082.
Even as he has struggled, Elliott said his finances still show support from working-class voters. He said his average contribution is less then $70, with more than 60% giving less than $100.
“We’re funded by the people we’re fighting for,” he said.
Elliott opened Monday with another fundraising appeal, saying Lamont is not aggressive enough to face the Trump administration and incidents like the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.
“Ned Lamont is a decent person. But ‘decent’ isn’t what this moment requires,” Elliott wrote. “We need leaders who understand that dismantling unaccountable agencies isn’t radical — it’s the bare minimum. Leaders who will use the power of the office, not just occupy it.”
Lamont has denounced the shooting as “incredibly tragic and heartbreaking” and questioned the training of federal ICE agents.
The two Republicans running for governor, former Mayor Erin Stewart of New Britain and state Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, already have crossed the $250,000 public financing threshold.
Stewart’s application for public financing was approved last week. Fazio has not yet filed his application.