Figueroa to go from ‘explorer’ to candidate

Democrat Juan Figueroa said Sunday he will end his exploratory campaign and become a declared candidate for governor by the end of the month. “I feel good about what we have been able to put together,” said Figueroa, who intends to bypass the Democratic convention and qualify for a primary by petitioning. Figueroa said he […]

Leaders of the state legislature’s Democratic majority reached a tentative deal late Friday afternoon to close the $371 million deficit projected for this fiscal year, Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said, adding the agreement reflects a new plan submitted by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. House Democratic Caucus spokesman Douglas Whiting also […]

Leaders of the state legislature’s Democratic majority reached a tentative deal late this afternoon to close the $371 million deficit projected for this fiscal year, Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said, adding the agreement also reflects a new plan submitted by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. House Democratic Caucus spokesman Douglas Whiting […]

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 […]

The first commercial of Ned Lamont’s gubernatorial campaign reminds voters of his antiwar challenge of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in 2006 and casts him as business savvy and “fiercely independent.” With a 60-second spot that goes on the air Friday, Lamont joins the Republican front-runner, Tom Foley, in reaching for the attention of Connecticut’s television […]

Richard Blumenthal showed signs of finding his voice Thursday as a candidate for U.S. Senate by answering the question that flummoxed him a month ago: As a crusading attorney general for nearly 20 years, has he been bad for business, discouraging investment and fueling unemployment? Standing at a forum sponsored by some of the companies […]

With just 12 weeks left in the fiscal year, Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the Democrat-controlled legislature moved closer Thursday to agreement on eliminating the current $371 million deficit–without tax hikes–based on a compromise plan offered Monday by Rell, sources close to the administration and the Democratic caucuses said. But those sources also said Democrats […]

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 […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell pledged Thursday to veto a bill that would require Connecticut consumers to pay $1.8 billion on their electric bills over the next decade to balance the last budget of her tenure – even though her budget office released a similar plan in February. Rep. Cameron C. Staples, D-New Haven and co-chairman […]

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 […]

Richard Blumenthal promised today to fight in the U.S. Senate for an insurance industry he has sued repeatedly as Connecticut’s attorney general. “They’re reasonable and responsible employers,” Blumenthal said. “I would fight for them to recognize their needs in Washington.” Blumenthal made his remarks at a business-sponsored forum in Hartford attended by a half-dozen candidates […]

According to her Democratic critics, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has spent much of the past 15 months dodging difficult budget decisions while piling up deficits for the next governor to close. But when a legislative committee recommended Tuesday that Connecticut consumers pay $1.8 billion on their monthly electric bills over the next decade to balance […]

The State Board of Education backed away Wednesday from a labor dispute over seniority for Hartford schoolteachers, avoiding for the moment an issue that is part of a volatile debate over school quality. Is seniority a hard-won union right that protects experienced teachers against indiscriminate layoffs or arbitrary dismissals? Or is it a roadblock to […]

With an anemic 28-percent approval rating, the General Assembly has been a handy target in the race for governor. Republican candidates have blamed the Democratic majority for Connecticut’s stagnant economy and its staggering deficit projections, and some Democrats have mildly chimed in. Now, with Gov. M. Jodi Rell and legislators struggling over how to even […]

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 […]