Tom Marsh, the Republican first selectman of Chester, announced today he is running for governor as an independent. An excerpt of his announcement: “On January 14th, after much careful consideration, my wife Kathy and I drove to Hartford and submitted the paperwork necessary to form an Exploratory Committee for statewide office. As a result of […]

The Connecticut Republican Party has reversed course and decided to accept Superior Court Michael R. Sheldon’s invitation to argue that the court has no jurisdiction to rule on Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz’s qualifications to run for attorney general. “After a trial on the merits, it is clear that plaintfiff [Bysiewicz] failed to demonstrate […]

Assistant State’s Attorney Brian J. Leslie dropped his bid Monday to become a Superior Court judge, one day after a newspaper columnist detailed a $725,000 payment that the state made to settle a wrongful prosecution complaint against Leslie. Leslie, one of 10 lawyers recently nominated by Gov. M. Jodi Rell to serve on the Superior Court, […]

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz took the witness stand today in the lawsuit she filed over her qualifications to run for attorney general. (The updated story is here.) For two hours this morning, Bysiewicz was uneventfully questioned by her attorney, Wesley Horton, about the operation of her office and legal issues she encountered as […]

Among the top three Republican candidates, former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons matches up strongest against Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in the race for U.S. Senate, a new poll found. A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted April 7 and released today shows Blumenthal leading Simmons, 52 percent to 38 percent. A month ago, the same poll […]

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz spent 10 hours over three days answering questions about her qualifications to be attorney general in a videotaped deposition, admitting she never has tried a case or appeared in court as a lawyer. A video of the deposition was released Thursday. One of the key portions is an 8-minute […]

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s U.S. Senate campaign will report next week it has raised $1.87 million from 2,300 donors since Blumenthal became a candidate January 6. Mike Cacace, Blumenthal’s campaign chairman, said in an email Thursday that the campaign has nearly $1.6 million cash on hand. The first quarter filing deadline for Senate candidates is April […]

Lisa Wilson-Foley, a Simsbury businesswoman, announced her candidacy late Tuesday for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Wilson-Foley has owned 10 small businesses in the past 20 years, half of them in the health-care field. She currently owns the Blue Fox Run golf course in Avon. “It is time for me to step forward and […]

The state House of Representatives voted unanimously Wednesday for a bill that would extend group health insurance benefits for the unemployed from 18 to 30 months under the state’s “COBRA” law. It now goes to the Senate. The federal COBRA law, named for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, allows workers at businesses with 20 […]

Transcripts of the testimony of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, being questioned under oath about her qualifications to be attorney general, have been released by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s office. The daily transcripts, covering 10 hours of testimony over three days, can be seen here, here and here. A video of her deposition is […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced today she is nominating Superior Judge Stuart D. Bear to the Appellate Court Bear, 65, a trial judge since 2003, was a lawyer at Zeldes, Needle & Cooper for 30 years. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard, graduating with honors. He will succeed Chief Judge Joseph P. Flynn, […]

Judge Alexandra D. DiPentima is the new chief judge of the Appellate Court, effective immediately, Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers announced today. DiPentima will succeed Judge Joseph P. Flynn, who took senior status effective March 26, 2010. The appointment was announced in this statement released by the court: “Judge DiPentima is an excellent […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s promised veto has prompted House Democrats to cancel today’s vote on the deficit mitigation plan approved early today by the Senate. Doug Whiting, a spokesman for House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, said that House leaders decided around 9 a.m. there was no point to bring the plan to a vote, […]

The Connecticut Supreme Court today at 11:30 a.m. is releasing a long-awaited decision in an education-funding lawsuit brought to establish that children have a right to an “adequate” education, not merely a free and public education. The decision will be accompanied by two dissenting and concurring opinions, indicating a deeply divided court. The justices have […]