Business groups intent on boosting the influence of Republicans in the General Assembly outspent labor allies of majority Democrats by roughly a 2-1 margin in independent expenditures reported to the State Elections Enforcement Commission through Tuesday, according to an analysis by CT Mirror.
State Elections Enforcement Commission
Posted inPolitics
Fact, fiction and dead voters: ‘There’s never been a case here’
Don’t bother to look for a case of someone voting in the name of the dead at the polls in Connecticut, even if Donald J. Trump frets that 1.8 million dead Americans are still registered to vote. Proven voter fraud is rare here, and it’s never involved impersonation at the polls.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy releases funds withheld from CT watchdog agencies
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration relented Friday in its controversial battle to cut the budgets of state government’s autonomous watchdogs — as it has other agencies’ budgets — to help balance Connecticut’s finances.
Posted inMoney
Fasano seeks AG’s opinion on cuts to watchdogs’ budget
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, requested a legal opinion from the attorney general Tuesday on the legality of the Malloy administration’s plan to cut the budgets of autonomous watchdog agencies.
Posted inPolitics
Stakes grow in Malloy’s third challenge of watchdogs’ autonomy
The latest challenge to the fiscal autonomy of state’s watchdog agencies by the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is raising unprecedented legal questions likely to eventually require Attorney General George Jepsen and Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo to publicly contradict or confirm the administration’s position.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy’s ’14 re-election yields new GOP campaign complaint
A Republican official, Trumbull First Selectman Timothy A. Herbst, filed a complaint Wednesday with the State Elections Enforcement Commission over the Connecticut Democratic Party’s acceptance of free legal representation in defending against a previous GOP complaint.
Posted inPolitics
A postscript to Malloy campaign case: Did anyone pay a legal bill?
State law does not require an accounting, and the Connecticut Democratic Party won’t provide one. But in the process of defending the party against allegations of using illegal campaign contributions to support the governor’s re-election, David S. Golub may have become its biggest benefactor. There is no record of his charging for a case that other lawyers say could easily have cost six figures.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy, Fasano challenge each other on fundraising issues
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, whose Democratic Party just reached a record $325,000 settlement to resolve allegations of improper fundraising, exchanged jabs Tuesday with Republicans over whether the Democrats owe voters the release of emails and documents related to the allegations.
Posted inPolitics
Investigator says Malloy settlement keeps voters in the dark
Near the end of his FBI career, Charles Urso helped send Republican Gov. John G. Rowland to prison in 2005. He said Thursday his second career as an elections cop ended in frustration — getting stonewalled trying to find out if Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy violated campaign finance reforms inspired by the Rowland scandal.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Malloy campaign law settlement was a mockery and a sham
The recently settled case between the State Elections Enforcement Commission, the Democratic State Central Committee and the Dan Malloy for Governor campaign needs further disclosure. The DSCC and Malloy campaign made a sham of the Citizen’s Election Program . The settlement was made without allowing the SEEC the ability to conduct a reasonable investigation.
Posted inJustice, Politics
SEEC OKs record $325,000 settlement in Malloy campaign case
The Connecticut Democratic Party and the State Elections Enforcement Commission agreed Monday to settle a case that threatened to undermine campaign finance reforms inspired by the scandal that forced Gov. John G. Rowland from office in 2004. The party will pay a record $325,000 over 27 months to settle allegations of impropriety involving use of state contractor contributions in 2014 to support the re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Posted inPolitics
A legislative mystery: Who changed a watchdog’s bill?
The State Elections Enforcement Commission was surprised Monday to find a provision added to campaign finance legislation that, arguably at least, might undermine the commission in its litigation against the Connecticut Democratic Party. One reason for the surprise was that the unwanted language appeared in a bill proposed by the commission itself.
Posted inPolitics
New leader, but same result: CT GOP trails in fundraising
The Connecticut Republican Party struggled to compete financially during J.R. Romano’s first six months as state chairman, collecting about 29 cents for every dollar contributed to the state Democratic Party, according to reports filed over the weekend.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Assistant AG: Democrats trying to ‘stonewall’
A lawyer defending the Connecticut Democratic Party against an investigative subpoena essentially told a judge Tuesday it’s nobody’s business how the party came to solicit state contractors, regulated industries and beneficiaries of state for campaign contributions in the 2014 campaign cycle.
Posted inPolitics
No resolution over SEEC’s authority in Malloy case
A Superior Court judge was disinclined Thursday to resolve whether federal law preempts state authorities from investigating if the Democratic Party illegally supported the re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy with contributions from state contractors. The party wants him to halt the investigation with a ruling about jurisdiction.
