Republican gubernatorial challenger Ryan Fazio’s campaign spent $9.6 million from July 1 through September 30 as he worked furiously to raise his name recognition and sow doubt about Gov. Ned Lamont with a publicly financed outreach on television, the internet and directly to the phones of Connecticut voters.
A new quarterly campaign finance report shows that Fazio did not get his Citizens’ Election Program grant of $18 million until July 15, surprisingly late given that his application for public financing was approved Feb. 18 by the State Elections Enforcement Commission.
A Fazio spokeswoman said Tuesday night the grant was delayed while the commission investigated a complaint filed before the GOP nominating convention in May that an independent-expenditure group, Hands Off Our Schools, and the Fazio campaign appeared to share a consultant.
No wrongdoing was found, and the grant was paid, said the spokeswoman, Hannah Lemek.
The delay could have been fatal had Fazio faced a primary challenge for the Republican nomination, as did Lamont for the Democratic nomination. Fazio’s rival for the GOP nomination, Erin Stewart, quit the race a day before the convention opened over disclosures of financial improprieties, including the misuse of a city credit card, during her tenure as mayor of New Britain.
Fazio’s campaign finance report for the quarter ending Sept. 30 was filed Monday; Lamont’s was filed Tuesday night, just four hours ahead of the midnight deadline.
Over the same three month period when Fazio spent $9.6 million, Lamont spent $10.6 million: $7.4 million in July and August, and another $3.2 million in September. Counting all money spent since both campaigns opened last year, Lamont has outspent Fazio, $13.6 million to $10.6 million.
Fazio spent $7.2 million to advertise on broadcast, cable or streaming television and more than $400,000 on text messages since July 1. He paid $344,525 for texting services to Grand Old Victory, a company owned by his campaign strategist, Tyler Flanigan, and $90,000 to a second vendor, Grassroots Targeting.
Fazio, who faces a spending limit as a participant in the Citizens’s Election Program, began October with $8.4 million to spend over the last five weeks of the campaign.
The wealthy Democratic governor opted out of public financing and has largely self-funded his campaign, as he did in his two successful runs for governor in 2018 and 2022 and in his loss in the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
His campaign had nearly $2.2 million cash on hand at the end of September, compared to $8.4 million for Fazio. One difference: Lamont is free to make more contributions to his own campaign in October. Twice last month, he gave his campaign donations of $2.6 million.
Even after facing a primary, Lamont actually is spending $1.2 million less this cycle than in 2022. At the same point four years ago, Lamont had spent $14.8 million to Republican Bob Stefanowski’s $9.2 million.
Like Fazio, Lamont has spent about $7 million on television ads, including $1.9 million last month. Fazio is the first gubernatorial nominee since 2014 to use public financing. The general-election grant was raised from $7.7 million in 2022 to $18 million this year, making the option more attractive.
Lamont, who has enjoyed double-digit leads in most public polling, has not said how much he intends to spend on the rest of the campaign. With a heavy advertising blitz to close the campaign, he ultimately spent $25.7 million on the 2022 campaign.
