House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan has officially ended his scandal-plagued bid for Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District, withdrawing his name from a minor-party line on the ballot, the secretary of the state’s office confirmed Thursday. And the Connecticut Working Families Party, whose line on the ballot would have been Donovan’s only vehicle to keep his campaign […]

Within hours of Chris Donovan removing the possibility of a third-party effort that would have undermined Elizabeth Esty in the 5th Congressional District, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced she has been selected for assistance under its “Red to Blue Program.” Of course, in her case, it’s a matter of trying to keep a blue […]

Tampa, Fla. — Paul Ryan introduced himself to the nation as Mitt Romney’s running mate Wednesday, accepting the Republican vice-presidential nomination with a speech that focused on the economy, with sharp pokes at President Obama and Democrats “desperate to keep their power.” “After four years of getting the runaround, America needs a turnaround, and the […]

Tampa, Fla. — Connecticut delegates to the Republican National Convention had a big question this week: Where’s Tom Foley? The party’s 2010 gubernatorial nominee was a no-show until Day 3, though several potential competitors were here early, networking with GOP activists who could be helpful in a 2014 run against Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the Democrat […]

With three Naugatuck Valley communities conducting separate investigations of corruption allegations involving taxes and municipal finances, questions are being raised about whether tighter controls on local tax collectors’ offices are needed. “The public is wondering just what the heck is going on,” said Eugene Driscoll, editor of the Valley Independent Sentinel, a nonprofit local news […]

The gap between Connecticut’s top wage earners and others continues to grow in the aftermath of the Great Recession, according to a new study that also warns the “have-nots” make up an increasing share of the state’s population. Connecticut Voices for Children, a New Haven-based nonprofit public policy group, also used its annual Labor Day […]

New data shows Connecticut’s economy was damaged more severely than most economists originally thought in the last recession, according to a provocative new report released Wednesday by the University of Connecticut’s economic think-tank. The latest analysis from the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis warned the state “has an even steeper hill to climb” and could […]

A national anti-trust settlement with three publishers could yield $1.2 million to Connecticut consumers as compensation for price-fixing of e-books, Attorney General George Jepsen announced Wednesday. Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers and Simon & Schuster Inc., which are the three largest book publishers, have agreed to pay a total of more than $69 million to […]

An automated telephone survey by Public Policy Polling has a slightly different take than Quinnipiac University on the Connecticut Senate race: PPP has Democrat Chris Murphy with a 4-percentage point lead over Republican Linda McMahon. In a poll released Tuesday, Quinnipiac had McMahon with a 3-point lead. The bottom line is the same: With two months […]

Tampa, Fla. — The first night of the hurricane-shortened Republican National Convention was jammed with speeches that aimed to define the differences between Mitt Romney and President Obama, excite the Republican base and soften the GOP nominee’s image. It was a tall order for a single hour of prime-time television. In an introductory speech, Ann […]

Tampa, Fla. — On a day when Mitt Romney, a former governor of a neighboring state formally won the Republican nomination for president, Connecticut’s delegates to the GOP convention were torn as the party adopted a conservative platform with tough planks on abortion, gay marriage and immigration. “Social issues don’t belong in a platform,” said […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s choice of Sharon M. Palmer as his next labor commissioner helps heal political wounds with organized labor by his public embrace of Palmer, the blunt and irreverent union president who fought him over education reform. Labor leaders, administration officials and legislative staff applauded Palmer as she glided into a press conference […]