James A. Amann came to the State Capitol today to formally end his campaign for governor and make some goodbyes. Amann, the former speaker of the House, stood with supporters in the Hall of the Flags as he ended a campaign that never gained traction. “It’s been a great 28 years,” Amann said of his […]

Republican State Chairman Chris Healy undercut Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Thursday over the Republican governor’s efforts to preserve one of her legacies: the Citizens’ Election Program. Healy issued a statement criticizing efforts by Rell and legislative Democrats to salvage a program that created a voluntary system of publicly financing campaigns. The state is under […]

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 […]

On the same day last year, the state House of Representatives took up two bills that mandated increased health insurance coverage for various medical conditions. One passed nearly unanimously and was celebrated by Gov. M. Jodi Rell at a bill-signing ceremony. The other divided the House along party lines and provoked a veto. The successful […]

On the same day last year, the state House of Representatives took up two bills that mandated increased health insurance coverage for various medical conditions. One passed overwhelmingly and was celebrated by Gov. M. Jodi Rell at a bill-signing ceremony. The other divided the House on party lines and provoked a veto. The successful measure […]

With a campaign manager and media strategist in place, Ned Lamont is preparing to launch a run for governor by promising Democrats he has the drive, message and resources to compete with a wealthy Republican frontrunner, Tom Foley. “We’re not going to be outhustled. We’re not going to be outsmarted,” said Lamont, who is expected […]

One day after its release, a key piece of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s proposed $18.9 billion budget for the next fiscal year is in trouble, a harbinger of challenges awaiting legislators. Opposition mounted Thursday as word spread that one of Rell’s top options for borrowing $1.3 billion would require diverting money from special green-technology funds […]

It was Jan. 7, 1981. Jimmy Carter was two weeks away from leaving the White House to make way for Ronald Reagan. William A. O’Neill had been governor for eight days, succeeding the dying Ella T. Grasso. A 29-year-old organizer and public-interest lobbyist named Mary M. Mushinsky entered the state House of Representatives that day […]

Is there a 20-year curse on Connecticut governors? Chief executives elected in 1950, 1970 and 1990 served only one term; will the pattern recur in 2010? Whoever is elected this fall can expect to start work in January 2011 with the same problems faced by Thomas J. Meskill in 1971 and Lowell P. Weicker Jr. […]

With a legal cloud hanging over Susan Bysiewicz’s candidacy for attorney general, the Democratic state chairwoman said Tuesday night she might ask a court to clarify Bysiewicz’s status with a declaratory ruling. Nancy DiNardo said that a legal opinion issued earlier by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal did not resolve whether Bysiewicz meets the statutory requirements […]

In her final State of the State address, Gov. M. Jodi Rell Wednesday issued a call for political civility and fiscal responsibility, then proposed a budget that leaves a huge deficit to the next governor and legislature. Her proposed $18.9 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 relies on $2.7 billion in federal […]

Tom Foley is OK with the minimum wage. Just don’t ask him to endorse paid sick days, health mandates, tax increases or other policies that he says hobble the Connecticut economy. In a far-ranging interview, Foley discussed gay marriage, abortion, gun control and the death penalty, but the early front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination […]

BETHEL — Mark Boughton struck a populist tone as he entered the race for governor Monday night, touting his record as Danbury’s mayor and needling his leading rival for the Republican nomination as offering little but a fat checkbook. “Ladies and gentlemen, elections should not be about the size of your checkbook, or who has […]

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued a legal opinion today that does nothing to diminish the questions surrounding Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz’s qualifications for attorney general. Blumenthal said that a state law requiring that the state attorney general have “at least 10 years’ active practice of law” is constitutional, but he declined to clarify […]

The retirement incentive program offered state employees last year may have cut payroll costs, but it put even more pressure on the strained pension system. One hundred and ten state employees retired with pensions of at least $100,000 last year, boosting by one-third the number retirees with six-figure state pensions. They were led by 66-year-old […]