Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a prominent Republican candidate for governor who underwent surgery last summer to remove a benign, lemon-sized tumor from his brain, collapsed Thursday night at a crowded campaign event in Avon from an apparent seizure. His campaign reported he was resting comfortably at the UConn Health Center in Farmington.
Mark Boughton
Posted inPolitics
Boughton: Income tax phase-out is one piece of 10-year plan
DANBURY — As he explores a third campaign for governor, Republican Mayor Mark Boughton is testing a message not seriously proffered in two decades: a call for elimination of the state’s tax on wages. He says it’s not a stunt, but voters will have to wait to hear how he thinks Connecticut could get by without nearly half its revenue.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Municipalities fear big CT deficits will nix promised state aid
In light of surging state budget deficits, municipal leaders were skeptical Tuesday that their communities would receive the hundreds of millions of dollars in state sales tax receipts owed them over the next three years. The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities also used their annual lobbying day at the Capitol to urge legislators to spare them from new mandates and to postpone and reform a new municipal spending cap.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Connecticut mayors looking for money, ideas in Washington
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Conference of Mayors is part carnival, part money chase and part serious networking. It has drawn a baker’s dozen of Connecticut mayors and selectmen this year, all of them with money on their minds.
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GOP mayor gets taste of ‘candy’ denounced by Foley
A day after Republican Tom Foley denounced Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s election-season grant-making as distributing political “candy,” the Democratic governor delivered $3.8 million to a city run by a GOP mayor working for Foley’s election.
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Foley speaks softly, so read his bumper sticker
Tom Foley travels to campaign events in a black Audi A4 with a green bumper sticker that says, “Don’t blame me, I voted for Tom Foley.” It’s cute, a little cheeky, even. But the sticker reflects a serious vibe that resonates through Foley’s second run for governor in four years.
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A post-script: Lauretti officially denied ballot access
His running mate threw in the towel last week, but it took the secretary of the state’s office until Tuesday to formally declare Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti ineligible for the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.
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Boughton quits race, calls for GOP to unite behind Foley
Struggling to qualify for public financing, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton ended his campaign for governor Wednesday with a call for Republicans to unite behind the convention-endorsed candidate, Tom Foley.
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Boughton-Lauretti ‘cautiously optimistic’ on petitions
Mark Boughton’s gubernatorial campaign was “cautiously optimistic” Tuesday it had filed sufficient signatures by the 4 p.m. deadline to qualify his running mate, Mark Lauretti, for the Republican primary in August. But there were glitches, including no one present at Bridgewater town hall to accept the petitions.
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Visconti ends GOP campaign to run as independent
Joe Visconti ended his campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination Friday and opened a petition drive to get on the November ballot as an independent candidate.
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GOP’s Tom Foley commits to public financing
Tom Foley, the Republican businessman who largely self-funded his $12.8 million campaign for governor in 2010, will accept the public financing and spending limits of the voluntary Citizens Elections Program this year. He will be limited to $1.6 million in the GOP primary, less than half what he spent four years ago.
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Joe Visconti and the gun issue are both sticking around
Joe Visconti’s path to the Republican gubernatorial primary runs past Hoffman Guns, where his campaign sets up under a red canopy most mornings, collecting signatures on a clipboard and cash donations in a big jug. He captured only 1.76 percent of the convention vote, but he’s a lot like the gun issue. Neither will go away, and no one is quite sure what that means for the rest of the GOP field.
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Foley’s former lawyer wants to pre-check Boughton petitions
The Republican gubernatorial campaign of Tom Foley denies any involvement, but a lawyer for his 2010 campaign is demanding to examine the ballot-qualifying petitions of a competitor before they are certified, prompting the rival to complain of an effort to “bully.”
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Boughton offers $2 a signature, only GOPers need apply
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Boughton needs to collect 8,190 signatures by June 10 to get his running mate, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, on the GOP primary ballot. He’s offering petition circulators $2 a valid name.
Posted inPolitics
Boughton loses running mate, looks to Lauretti
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and Senate Minority Leader John P. McKinney of Fairfield, who finished second and third in balloting for governor at the GOP state convention Saturday, filed papers Thursday that place them on the ballot for a Republican primary on Aug. 14. But Boughton’s running mate, Heather Bond Somers, declared herself a free agent.