Republicans are outspending Democrats on television advertising in the race for governor of Connecticut this month, even as questions persist about the financial resources directly available to the campaign of the GOP nominee, Bob Stefanowski.
2018 campaign
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Off the main stage, Griebel pitches his deficit solution
Independent gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel, who has struggled to attract financial and political support, told reporters Thursday that he would empty the Rainy Day Fund and suspend contributions to the state’s underfunded pension system to help close a huge, post-election state budget deficit.
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A two-man debate with room for a third, Dannel P. Malloy
The first head-to-head debate by Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski ended Wednesday night without Connecticut voters learning how either man would close a $2.1 billion deficit or how Stefanowski would begin to deliver on his audacious promise to eliminate the state income tax.
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Lamont calls DMV ’emblematic of state government’
You probably think of the DMV as just a place to get your license or registration — usually after an interminable wait. Comics have long used it as a punchline. Ned Lamont on Monday became the latest politician to use it as a metaphor for what is wrong with government bureaucracy.
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Stefanowski is on the trail, looking for money and votes
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski shook hands with office workers at the pre-Labor Day picnic that real-estate developer Robert D. Scinto throws for tenants and their employees at his office park in Shelton. Then Stefanowski retired to a borrowed office in Scinto’s headquarters to make calls for money, an activity that consumes about half his working day. “It’s part of the game.”
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In first TV ads, Chris Murphy walks the walk
WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy will launch his first television ads on Wednesday in one of the quietest Senate races in the nation this year. The ads don’t mention Murphy’s challenger, Republican businessman Matthew Corey, focusing instead on the senator’s annual walk across the state.
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Oz Griebel qualifies for gubernatorial ballot
Oz Griebel, a former Republican running for governor with a former Democrat, Monte Frank, as his running mate, qualified for the ballot Tuesday, the secretary of the state’s office said. He joins Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski.
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Lamont: Property-tax relief possible, not income-tax repeal
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont said Thursday he wants to restore Connecticut’s incredibly shrinking property-tax credit: Worth about $385 million in middle-class relief nearly 20 years ago, it now provides just $50 million annually and is limited to poorer property owners.
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Q poll: Murphy’s job approval grows, would beat Corey 59-31
A new Quinnipiac poll of Connecticut voters gave Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy high job approval ratings and said Murphy would beat GOP challenger Matthew Corey by a 28-point margin if the election for the Senate seat were held today.
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Democrats line up to take a swing at Stefanowski’s tax pledge
Connecticut Democrats stepped up their campaign Tuesday to fill in the gaps of Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski’s promise to phase out the state income tax over eight years — arguing it would come at a steep cost to local schools, municipalities and property taxpayers.
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Ned & Bob’s first week: Lots of Ned, not much of Bob
Ned Lamont aired the first general-election commercial the day after his Democratic primary win, staged his first public event the same morning, and has been campaigning daily ever since, backed by a unified Democratic ticket. His Republican opponent, Bob Stefanowski, has been off the air and off the trail since winning his primary last Tuesday. His campaign promises that Lamont will have company soon enough.
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Turnout increased for both parties, Dem enthusiasm closes gap
Connecticut followed a national trend with a boost in the number of voters who cast ballots in their party’s primary election on Tuesday, and those numbers show that enthusiasm among Democratic voters has increased.
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Democrats, Republicans debate relevance of social issues
Standing outside the Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective, the Democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant governor, Ned Lamont and Susan Bysiewicz, tried Thursday to draw Republicans into a debate over abortion, gay marriage, Donald J. Trump and the Family Institute of Connecticut. The invitation was declined.
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Once again, CT GOP bets on a business outsider
Bob Stefanowski is the latest in a series of outsiders from the world of business to win a Republican primary for top-of-ticket statewide offices in Connecticut, none of whom were able to beat their conventional Democratic opponents in the fall. But those races for governor and U.S. Senate came before the ultimate outsider, Donald J. Trump, captured the White House. And none of them followed the path taken by Stefanowski.
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Hayes would be a minority within a minority in Congress
If Jahana Hayes succeeds in winning a seat in Congress, she will be in a select group of minority lawmakers who represent overwhelmingly white majority districts. Hayes garnered substantial support among white Democrats, winning towns in the district with few minority residents, like Goshen, Litchfield and Southbury, by more than 66 percent of the vote.