It was a stunningly swift cycle of gaffe, controversy and apology in the Internet age: An adjunct professor insults Republicans on Monday, only to find his words recorded and posted online, drawing a denunciation from the floor of the state House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Mark Pazniokas
Mark 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.
Posted inPolitics
CT donors more generous to GOP governors in 2014
Connecticut donors gave $800,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2014, money the state GOP hopes will flow back to its campaign to unseat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a vulnerable first-term Democrat. Donors include an executive of a company promised $115 million in aid by Malloy.
Posted inMoney
CT Labor Department: ‘Moderate’ jobs growth has resumed
Connecticut added 4,900 non-farm jobs in March, an indication the state has resumed the moderate growth apparent at the end of 2013 and interrupted by the snows of January, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. Unemployment was unchanged at 7 percent, ending a seven-month string of monthly decreases.
Posted inPolitics
Foley follows a unique playbook in GOP race for governor
One of six candidates seeking the GOP nomination for governor, Tom Foley is alone in keeping secret how he intends to finance his campaign, just as he was the only candidate to skip last week’s televised debate in Hartford or to decline invitations to attend any other debate before nominating convention on May 17.
Posted inPolitics
CT House GOP minority grows to 54 as Zawistowski takes oath
Tami Zawistowski, the Republican winner of a special election last week, took the oath of office Wednesday as a member of the state House of Representatives, giving the GOP minority its biggest caucus in 10 years.
Posted inPolitics
McKinney promises ‘deference’ to gun-control repeal
Sen. John P. McKinney, a Republican who helped pass a bipartisan gun-control law after the Newtown school massacre in his district, tells a conservative audience in a video Democrats posted Wednesday that he would not block the law’s hypothetical repeal if elected governor.
Posted inPolitics
Boughton releases tax return, Malloy to follow
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, one of six Republican candidates for governor, released his tax returns Tuesday, a step the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, promises to also take.
Posted inPolitics
Politics and policy intersect on I-84 in Waterbury
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy flexed the powers of incumbency Tuesday in a rain-swept commuter lot by I-84. Malloy couldn’t stop the rain, but he could command a supportive audience of political, union and business leaders.
Posted inMoney
Connecticut’s plan to defend power grid from cyber attacks
Terrorists seize control of the electric grid and natural gas distribution, using only computers. It’s the stuff of Hollywood, so far. But state officials released a report Monday that reflects a growing concern that utilities must harden their defenses against cyber attacks.
Posted inEducation, Money
Hartford to host ’15 American Conference men’s basketball tourney
The University of Connecticut’s national championship men’s basketball team won’t have far to go for its conference tournament next year: Hartford’s XL Center was selected Monday to host the 2015 American Athletic Conference tourney.
Posted inPolitics
As the curtain goes up, Rowland promises a different ending
On Friday, the curtain went up on what John G. Rowland’s lawyer promised will be a show, a story that ends with a trial and a verdict, not a negotiated plea. Rowland pleaded not guilty to a seven-count indictment, and trial was set for June 10.
Posted inPolitics
Jeb Bush in Stamford: Immigration reform ‘huge opportunity’
STAMFORD – Four days after sparking an outcry, Jeb Bush delivered a kinder, gentler call for immigration reform Thursday night at a Republican awards dinner named for an icon of moderate GOP politics: his late grandfather, U.S. Sen. Prescott S. Bush of Connecticut.
Posted inPolitics
Federal grand jury indicts former Gov. John Rowland
A federal grand jury Thursday indicted John G. Rowland on seven counts, accusing the former Republican governor, congressman and conservative radio host of soliciting two congressional campaigns in 2010 and 2012 to secretly pay him as a political consultant.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
CT Senate votes to ban sales of genetically engineered grass seed
The state Senate voted 25 to 11 Wednesday night for legislation that would ban grass seed that is genetically engineered to resist pesticides and herbicides, an issue that the Senate leader calls necessary to protect the environment. Opponents call the bill an overreaction to a product not yet on the market.
Posted inPolitics
GOP candidate Boughton quits Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton resigned Wednesday from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an affiliation that has brought him grief from gun owners in the six-way race for the Republican nomination for governor.