Linda McMahon, a political newcomer spending her personal fortune on campaign commercials and mailings, has taken a 10-point lead in the Republican race for U.S. Senate, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal continues to hold wide leads in matchups with each of his three Republican rivals: McMahon, former […]

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.
Health reform gets mixed reviews in new poll
With a House vote expected later this week, Connecticut voters disapprove of health reforms, 48 percent to 40 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. But the poll found 70 percent believe that Congress should keep trying to pass a health reform bill, with the heaviest support coming from Democrats (88 percent) and […]
Committee rewrites public campaign financing rules
A legislative committee Wednesday approved bills that would salvage the state’s endangered public financing system for campaigns with new rules, smaller grants and a greater reliance on private dollars. If approved by the full legislature, the bills also would preserve a ban on contributions by lobbyists and state contractors. Without the legislation, a court ruling […]
Rell: UTC under pressure to relocate manufacturing
Gov. M. Jodi Rell said that the chairman of United Technologies Corporation told her today that his company is under pressure from the federal government to move its manufacturing from Connecticut to lower-cost states. Rell said she called UTC chairman and chief executive Louis Chenevert about his company’s complaints to Wall Street analysts about the […]
Larson pushes back at UTC over relocation threats
CROMWELL – U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, said today that the state’s congressional delegation did not appreciate United Technologies’ threat last week to relocate more manufacturing out of state. UTC’s complaints to Wall Street analysts about the cost of doing business in Connecticut came as the congressional delegation is pushing for military aircraft […]
Dodd proposes sweeping financial reforms
After months of hearings and negotiation, U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Connecticut, today proposed financial legislation that he called the “most significant reform since the 1930s.” “It creates a sound economic foundation to grow jobs. It protects consumers. It reins in Wall Street. It ends too-big-to-fail, and it prevents another financial crisis of this magnitude,” […]
DeNardis joins GOP gubernatorial field
HAMDEN — It’s been a long time between races for Larry DeNardis. Twenty-eight years after leaving Congress and one week before his 72nd birthday, DeNardis declared his candidacy for governor Thursday at a museum dedicated to a bygone industrial age, bringing to seven the number of Republicans actively seeking the job. “Connecticut needs a governor […]
Malloy declares for governor touting mayoral experience
In a season when the “outsider” label is in vogue, Dannel P. Malloy touted his love of government and experience as mayor of Stamford on Wednesday in announcing his candidacy for governor. Malloy filed campaign papers in a state office across from the State Capitol, then told a waiting crowd of more than 100 supporters […]
Bysiewicz in controversy on two fronts
A Hartford Superior Court judge said Wednesday he expects to begin hearing evidence next month about whether Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz meets the statutory qualifications for attorney general. But questions about her qualifications receded in the face of a new controversy over a constituent-services data base that other candidates say appeared to be […]
$352 million UConn Health Center plan counts on the clout of two lame ducks
FARMINGTON – An upbeat Gov. M. Jodi Rell framed a $352 million plan to improve the University of Connecticut Health Center as transforming the delivery of health care for “generations to come.” But the proposal rolled out Tuesday to a standing ovation by UConn staff and students relies on the influence of two lame ducks: […]
Rell pitches $352 million plan to rebuild UConn Health Center
FARMINGTON — Gov. M. Jodi Rell and a coalition of regional hospitals announced today they are backing a $236 million investment in a new hospital at the financially troubled University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. Key to the plan is a new healthcare network involving former critics of efforts to rebuild the state’s flagship […]
Schiff serves Tea Party bullion and politics
Peter Schiff North Haven — The two worlds of Peter Schiff merged over the weekend at a Holiday Inn hard by I-91, where he pitched investment advice and his U.S. Senate candidacy to Tea Party activists. Schiff covered subjects never broached in last week’s tepid debate with two rivals for the Republican nomination, things like […]
Court opens inquiry into Bysiewicz’s qualifications for AG
A Hartford Superior Court judge opened proceedings today in a case that could determine if Susan Bysiewicz, the Democratic front-runner in the race for attorney general, is legally qualified to hold the office. Without objection from attorneys for Bysiewicz, Judge Michael R. Sheldon accepted the Connecticut Republican Party as an intervenor in the case, meaning […]
After weeks of verbal jabs, an hour of GOP amiability
The lineup promised fireworks: Linda McMahon, a WWE executive who has acted in wrestling melodramas; Peter Schiff, a CNBC pundit with a rabid following; and Rob Simmons, a former congressman, soldier and spy. But for 60 minutes Tuesday, constrained by a televised debate format that discouraged confrontation, the three Republican U.S. Senate candidates found agreement […]
Blumenthal, Alpert meet in Democratic Senate debate: Is “incrementalism” a four-letter word?
At a televised U.S. Senate debate Monday night, Merrick Alpert took the stage as an underdog trying to hook Democratic primary voters with calls for universal health care, diplomatic relations with Cuba and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, already ordained by pollsters and party regulars as the Democratic candidate-in-waiting, responded with […]