Grow Connecticut, a Super PAC indirectly funded by Sheldon G. Adelson, Wal-Mart, Koch Industries and other major corporate and conservative donors, is targeting state legislative races in Connecticut with a mix of television and digital ads boosting Republicans and attacking Democrats.
independent expenditures
Posted inPolitics
Union ad tying Petit to Trump’s ‘attack on women’ backfires
PLAINVILLE — A union Super PAC trying to help re-elect Democratic state legislators by mocking Donald J. Trump’s insensitivity to women scrambled Wednesday to defend its digital attack ad against Dr. William Petit, a home-invasion survivor who raises money for women’s groups in the memory of his murdered wife and daughters.
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Working Families, charter schools targeted Democrat primaries
The Working Families Party was the biggest outside spender on Democratic legislative primaries Tuesday, committing $70,000 for field staff in three winning races, while two charter-school groups provided late support to help Rep. Charlie Stallworth of Bridgeport defeat a prominent opponent of charters, Maria H. Pereira.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Charter school advocates playing in General Assembly primaries
Change Course CT, a political action committee associated with Democrats for Education Reform, a national group Gov. Dannel P. Malloy addressed during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week, has polled voters on two primaries in Bridgeport and one in New London. A second charter group is paying for promotional literature and T-shirts.
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CBIA targets swing districts, tries to tilt CT Senate to GOP
The state’s largest business trade group is making its first major foray into world of independent expenditures with a $400,000 campaign aimed at helping Republicans win a majority in the Connecticut Senate and narrow the Democratic majority in the House.
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Outside spending on governor’s race topped $18 million
Outside spending on Connecticut’s closely contested race for governor reached a record $18.2 million in 2014, a five-fold increase from 2010 that dwarfed the $6.5 million in public financing allotted to each of the major-party candidates. But fears of heavy independent spending on legislative races went unrealized.
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Cost of super PAC attack on Malloy reaches $7.3 million
Grow Connecticut, the Republican super PAC, is closing its effort to unseat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy with its toughest ad of the campaign, a piece that is largely based on outdated economic data and backed by a $600,000 contribution that brings the group’s total spending to $7.3 million.
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‘Dark money’ group puts up $1 million to attack Malloy
A new player entered Connecticut’s race for governor Saturday as a “dark money” group from Ohio contributed $1.17 million to Grow Connecticut, the super PAC behind a $6.7 million advertising campaign to defeat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Outside spending now is $15 million.
Posted inPolitics
Outside spending on CT’s governor race tops $10M
Outside spending on Connecticut’s deadlocked race for governor blew past $10 million Friday night as the Republican and Democratic governors associations reported another $1.4 million in expenditures, mostly for attack ads.
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Gun control PAC puts up $500K for TV time in Connecticut
A national gun-control group co-founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and funded by some of the wealthiest names in technology gave $501,000 Thursday to a political action committee to air television ads in Connecticut’s race for governor.
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Super PAC spending on CT governor’s race exceeds $7 million
Another $1.2 million flowed into Connecticut’s deadlocked race for governor over the past 48 hours as two super PACs allied with the Democratic and Republican governors’ associations fought for superiority in a war of negative advertising. Outside politicians are joining the flow of dollars into the state, with visits next week from President Obama, Bill Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Posted inPolitics
Unions, RGA pump another $1.9 million into CT governor’s race
The Republican Governors Association contributed $800,000 Friday to a super PAC backing Republican Tom Foley, while two national public-employee unions put up $1.1 million to back Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the first-term Democratic incumbent, according to filings late Friday night.
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DGA puts $1.25 million into Connecticut affiliate to oppose Foley
The Democratic Governors Association has made its first major expenditure supporting the 2014 re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, giving $1.25 million to its Connecticut affiliate for television ads attacking the Republican nominee, Tom Foley. Its first ad takes viewers back to Fusion Paperboard in Sprague, where Foley went to criticize Malloy’s economic policies, but ended up in an argument with a local official and workers.
Posted inPolitics
Independent super PAC opposing Malloy has ties to Foley
Grow Connecticut, as independent expenditure group buying air time to oppose the re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, was created last year by the campaign-finance law firm of Tom Foley, the Republican nominee for governor, after Foley’s ties to another super PAC were exposed by an elections enforcement case.
Posted inPolitics
CT GOP claims illegal coordination between Malloy, DGA
The Connecticut Republican Party has filed an elections complaint claiming illegal coordination between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s re-election campaign and Connecticut Forward, an independent expenditure group recently created by the Democratic Governors Association. It makes a novel argument, but offers no direct evidence.