They use wrecking balls, floating boxes, and even a candidate’s brain scan. Four of the five Republican candidates for governor are on television, competing for attention with ads that offer dashes of biography with promises to cut taxes, shake up Hartford, cut state employee benefits, clean house, fight insiders, restore growth and, yes, think outside the box. All this in 30-second servings.
Politics
Stories about CT politicians, elections, state legislation, the state’s congressional delegation and the impact of federal legislation on Connecticut.
Posted inPolitics
Stefanowski, Stemerman lead GOP in spending, debt
The gubernatorial campaigns of Republicans David Stemerman and Bob Stefanowski topped the field in spending through June 30, with Stefanowski finishing the quarter with $646,155 cash on hand and a debt of $1.75 million, most of it owed to the candidate.
Posted inJustice
There’s a reason CT Dems among the first to say they’ll vote ‘no’ on Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON – When President Donald Trump nominated federal judge Neil Gorsuch to fill an open seat on the Supreme Court last year, Connecticut’s Democratic senators waited two months to decide to vote against the candidate. Not this time with Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee, They were among the first out of the gate to say they will vote “no” on Brett Kavanaugh.
Posted inPolitics
WFP backs Lamont, but opts for Bermudez Zimmerman for LG
The Connecticut Working Families Party, a labor offshoot that promotes progressive issues, announced Tuesday it was backing Eva Bermudez Zimmerman for lieutenant governor in the Democratic primary over Susan Bysiewicz, the candidate endorsed by the Democratic state convention and gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont.
Posted inPolitics
CT Democratic senators vow to fight Trump’s SCOTUS choice
Updated at 10:42 p.m.
U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy of Connecticut left no doubt Monday that President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett M. Kavanaugh, will face a bruising confirmation battle.
Posted inHealth
Drug prices keep rising despite efforts to address problem
Some days, the inflammation and pain from rheumatoid arthritis makes it almost impossible for Tracy Braun to even sit up. “Sometimes I can’t even get up on my own,” she said. Braun is among a growing number of Americans who are finding it difficult to afford needed medicines, and a solution to their problem in Washington D.C. may continue to be elusive.
Posted inPolitics
New Haven seniors pin down Lamont
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont fielded a number of pointed questions on everything from abortion rights to highway tolls from a group of well informed senior citizens in a recent campaign stop in New Haven.
Posted inPolitics
Two immigrant children in Connecticut sue over family separations
With the help of Connecticut attorneys, two children who were taken from their parents at the U.S.- Mexico border and sent to a Connecticut facility are suing the federal government for the “psychological and mental harm” caused by the separations.
Posted inPolitics
SEEC defers action on campaign grant for Obsitnik
The State Elections Enforcement Commission deferred action again Thursday on Republican gubernatorial contender Steve Obsitnik’s application for public financing while acknowledging its probe into Obsitnik’s campaign continues.
Posted inJustice
Blumenthal sounds alarm over ACA protections
Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Thursday promoted a key Democratic strategy to try to block President Donald Trump’s choice to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, warning the candidate would roll back the Affordable Care Act’s popular guarantee of health coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
Posted inPolitics
Hayes, a passionate educator running for Congress in an outsider’s year
Jahana Hayes took 19 high school students to California during Spring Break this year to help build a Habitat for Humanity house in an area decimated by forest fires and had an epiphany – she should run for Congress.“I wanted to give those kids a voice,” said Hayes, who would be the first black woman Connecticut sends to Congress.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT enrollment rose, along with premiums
WASHINGTON – A new federal report shows that enrollment in Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act marketplace increased this year, even as the cost of health insurance rose sharply. The report also said that 75 percent of those purchasing insurance through Access Health CT get federal help in paying for their premiums.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont gets an endorsement, challenges GOP on abortion
While U.S. Rep. John B. Larson endorsed fellow Democrat Ned Lamont on Monday in the race for governor, Lamont challenged the GOP rivals to pledge to defend Connecticut’s laws supporting abortion rights.
Posted inPolitics
Endorsement parade: WFP, CCDL, Larson, etc.
The Working Families made one of its periodic forays into a Democratic primary Monday, endorsing Jahana Hayes over Mary Glassman in the race for the nomination for the open 5th Congressional District seat.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont entrusts message to ‘high-risk, high-reward’ ad maker
Different races, different times, different messages. Ned Lamont hired an outsider to frame his antiwar U.S. Senate campaign in 2006 and a mainstream Democratic ad man in his more conventional run for governor in 2010. This year, Lamont has hired Mark Putnam, a big gun in political advertising with a client list topped by Barack Obama. Democrats are waiting to see if Putnam’s firm can find a fresh take on a gubernatorial candidate one Republican already has branded as “Retread Ned.”