With the economy down, business interests have decided that the political environment is ripe for restricting the regulatory reach of the Department of Environmental Protection. “There is a sense this is a time, an opportunity to reset the ground rules,” said Eric J. Brown, who lobbies on environmental issues for the Connecticut Business and Industry […]

They are a hardy bunch, these political explorers. Dan Malloy has been out there the longest, opening an exploratory campaign for governor on Feb. 3, 2009.  After 54 weeks crisscrossing the state, is he really uncertain about his plans? If you ask, he might give a knowing smile, but he is legally obligated to say […]

Can a coalition of bikers, Chris Dodd haters, gun owners, Ron Paul lovers, tax protesters, Libertarians and a preacher or two find happiness under the umbrella of constitutional fundamentalism? Connecticut is about to find out. Elements of the Tea Party, the ultimate outsiders group, are moving toward the mainstream, trying to channel an edgy energy […]

Democratic chair Nancy DiNardo, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and attorney Wesley Horton at Thurday’s news conference By going to court to resolve whether she meets the minimum statutory qualifications for attorney general, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz conceded Thursday that the question has endangered her candidacy. “It is a significant question in […]

Can a coalition of bikers, Chris Dodd haters, gun owners, Ron Paul lovers, tax protesters, Libertarians and a preacher or two find happiness under the umbrella of constitutional fundamentalism? Connecticut is about to find out. Elements of the Tea Party, the ultimate outsiders group, are moving toward the mainstream, trying to channel an edgy energy […]

The battle for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination was joined Tuesday, with Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy casting themselves as the outsider and the insider. As Malloy rolled out endorsements, the fruits of retail politics that has taken him to more than 100 Democratic town committees over the past year, Lamont reprised a theme from his […]

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz intends to ask a court to clarify if she meets the minimum qualifications to run for attorney general, answering a question that threatens to derail her candidacy. Bysiewicz will explain her plans at a press conference Thursday with Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo and Wesley Horton, a lawyer who […]

Even relaxed, Chris Healy is never at rest. The Republican state chairman fidgets at his desk as he talks about the importance of intensity and intangibles in 2010. He polishes his glasses, neatens his desk, dusts a lampshade and peels a label off a knick-knack. Only as he glances at a bulletin on his BlackBerry […]

With a nod to his insurgent 2006 U.S. Senate campaign, Ned Lamont kicked off his race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination today by pitching himself as an outsider, but one focused on creating jobs in Connecticut and not ending a war in Iraq. “We stood up to the political establishment,” Lamont said of his challenge […]

As a civil rights lawyer, he sued the U.S. Navy over a bombing range in Puerto Rico. As a foundation president, he influenced the passage of a health-care reform law last year. Juan A. Figueroa is a singular candidate for governor in several respects, including being the only Latino in a crowded field. Juan Figueroa […]

As a civil rights lawyer, he sued the U.S. Navy over a bombing range in Puerto Rico. As a foundation president, he influenced the passage of a health-care reform law last year. Juan A. Figueroa is a singular candidate for governor in several respects, including being the only Latino in a crowded field. But the […]

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was grilled on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today about whether he has higher standards of integrity than the man he hopes to replace in the U.S. Senate, fellow Democrat Christopher Dodd. The cross-examination by the show’s host, former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, may have been an attempt to be even-handed, following Democratic […]

The Connecticut Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a protracted and politically charged labor case that pits Gov. M. Jodi Rell against high-ranking state police officers. At issue is whether the Rell administration must recognize a union formed by state police captains and lieutenants in 2006, as ordered by the State Board of Labor Relations […]

U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon kept smiling, but her appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” turned tense this morning as analyst Lawrence O’Donnell accused her wrestling company, the WWE, of exploiting its performers. “You make money off the blood of people who destroyed themselves for a living for you, and you did nothing as far as […]

Other candidates get to run for governor. Lt. Gov. Michael C. Fedele must walk a tightrope. Like the rest of the pack, he distances himself from the $18.9 billion budget that Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed last week, but he does so politely, almost apologetically. “In the new budget, I probably would have gone more […]