It’s free money, but it’s not easy to get. This is the last week for candidates in Connecticut primary elections to qualify for public money.
public financing
Posted inPolitics
Erin Stewart, Eva Bermudez Zimmerman win public financing
Democrat Eva Bermudez Zimmerman and Republican Erin Stewart, both 31-year-old women challenging their party’s convention-endorsed candidates for lieutenant governor, cleared a financial hurdle Wednesday by winning approval of public-financing grants.
Posted inPolitics
Four more candidates win public financing for primaries
The State Elections Enforcement Commission approved public-financing grants Monday for four statewide candidates facing primaries in three weeks: Shawn Wooden, Dita Bhargava and Art Linares for treasurer and Jayme Stevenson for lieutenant governor.
Posted inNews
Obsitnik opens ad campaign, public financing delayed again
Updated at 5:30 p.m.
Unwilling to wait further for a long-delayed public financing grant, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Obsitnik is using $100,000 of his own money to begin a video advertising campaign on cable television and social media, his campaign said Thursday.
Posted inPolitics
Boughton, Herbst granted $1.35M in public financing
The State Elections Enforcement Commission approved public financing grants Wednesday for Republicans Mark Boughton and Timothy Herbst, two of the three gubernatorial candidates participating in the voluntary Citizens’ Election Program in 2018. The third, Steve Obsitnik, will have to try again next week for a fifth time.
Posted inPolitics
Seek and ye shall find… but at SEEC, it can take a while
Steve Obsitnik’s campaign for governor will go before the State Elections Enforcement Commission on Wednesday morning to make its fourth try since May 23 for approval of $1.35 million in public financing for his Republican primary in August. Two GOP competitors, Mark Boughton and Timothy Herbst, also are on the agenda again.
Posted inPolitics
SEEC to Boughton, Herbst & Obsitnik: Come back next week
The three gubernatorial candidates seeking public financing failed to win approval of their grants Wednesday by the State Elections Enforcement Commission, the result of deficiencies in their applications for $1.35 million each to wage a primary. All three are Republicans. They will have another chance next week.
Posted inPolitics
Bysiewicz challenges Lamont over campaign financing
NEW HAVEN — A sharp moment in an otherwise collegial candidate forum Sunday probably reflected the current pecking order in the crowded Democratic race for governor: Invited to challenge any rival with a question, Susan Bysiewicz targeted Ned Lamont, the decisive winner of a recent Connecticut AFL-CIO straw poll.
Posted inPolitics
Stefanowski: Crowded field makes public financing too expensive
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski is challenging his many opponents to drop out of the voluntary public financing program that pays qualifying candidates $1.25 million for a primary and $6 million for the general election. That probably won’t impress many delegates at nominating conventions, where a candidate’s ability to qualify for public funds is a sign of credibility. But his call underscores how expensive this crowded election might be for taxpayers.
Posted inPolitics
An unlikely rebuke of the General Assembly over election laws
With a blandly titled “informational forum,” a Democratic state senator choreographed an unusual rebuke of the General Assembly and its leadership Friday, eliciting testimony about the systematic weakening of campaign finance laws in Connecticut, most recently by provisions inserted into the bipartisan budget adopted in special session last fall.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Federal judge upholds law barring Ganim from public financing
A federal judge delivered a significant blow Wednesday to the gubernatorial ambitions of Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim by upholding a state law that bars Ganim, as a felon convicted of public corruption, from obtaining public campaign financing. He did not rule out an appeal — or running without public funds.
Posted inPolitics
Ganim to sue over bar to public financing of campaign
Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim intends to file a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court challenging the constitutionality of a law that bars convicted felons like him from seeking public financing for a potential run for governor in 2018.
Posted inPolitics
Preliminary ruling: Ganim ineligible for public financing
Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim’s corruption conviction disqualifies him for public financing should he run for governor or other state office, the State Elections Enforcement Commission said in a preliminary ruling Wednesday. Ganim says he expects to appeal.
Posted inPolitics
In CT Democrats’ new campaign ad, money is the message
With a new ad and press conference, Democrats made the corporate and billionaire backers of a Republican effort to gain seats in the Connecticut House an issue Thursday. The GOP called the effort a disingenuous gambit to distract voters from the state’s economic failings under a Democratic governor and legislature.
Posted inPolitics
Democrats’ campaign finance cuts lose steam
Few trial balloons at the State Capitol have deflated as quickly as a proposal this week by Democratic legislative leaders to save $11.7 million by suspending Connecticut’s groundbreaking system of publicly financed campaigns.