Fairfield Republican Peter Lumaj is exploring another run for statewide office, his fifth.

Lumaj has created an exploratory committee for an undesignated statewide office in 2026 that does not include treasurer, according to records at the State Elections Enforcement Commission. Lumaj sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2012 and in 2022. In 2022, Lumaj qualified for the primary ballot and came in third, far behind Themis Klarides, who ran 10% behind winner Leora Levy.

Lumaj ran for governor in 2018. He failed to qualify for the primary ballot in the crowded field. His only appearance on a general election ballot came in 2014 when Lumaj was the Republican nominee for secretary of the state.

Erin Stewart, completing her sixth term as mayor of New Britain this year, has also filed an exploratory committee for statewide office and is expected to run for governor. She is the early frontrunner.

Published February 19, 2025.

“We all are caught in the middle of one long treacherous riddle. Can I trust you? Can you trust me too?

—The Riddle from The Scarlet Pimpernel

What will Governor Ned Lamont do about his Marissa Gillett problem? The chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) faces a difficult confirmation hearing for a second term on Thursday. Lamont was scrambling to reach an agreement with legislative leaders on heaving Gillett over the finish line without giving away many of his prerogatives over energy regulation.

State Senator John Fonfara (D-Hartford) and Lamont have met with no agreement on reconfiguring PURA into a quasi-public entity with five members, one of whom could be Fonfara, who served for more than a decade as co-chair of the General Assembly’s energy committee. Lamont has expressed his opposition to the idea but may have gone wobbly as opposition to a second four-year term for Gillett has hardened in a controversy that has become a significant distraction for legislators.

The Gillett nomination holds promise and danger for the shrinking ranks of Republican legislators. If they remain united in opposing Gillett they will have accomplished something rare for them: influenced a significant decision at the Capitol. It their unity cracks and Republican votes provide Gillett with a second term, they will have tagged themselves as responsible for all that follows in the next four years of energy costs. Senate Republicans appear especially susceptible to bargaining their souls away for trinkets. House Republicans seem more resolute in ushering in a new dawn in utility regulation.

Any deal comes with a pressing question each party must answer: Can they trust each other to keep their word? Will they fulfill in the future the promises they make today? That is the riddle.

Published February 19, 2025.

Another difficult day at the Legislative Office Building for beleaguered Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) Chancellor Terrence Cheng. The appearance of the leader of the state’s largest higher education system concluded with budget committee House co-chair Toni Walker (D-New Haven) with a heaping helping of scorn poured over Cheng.

Walker, a Southern Connecticut State University graduate, surveyed the state of CSCU, its potential, and Cheng’s failings. Walker, listing what alarms her, said, “The thing that scares me the most, sir, is that the people who work for you” do not have confidence in you. Cheng has been on the losing end of two votes of no confidence.

“We cannot continue to look the other way,” Walker declared in a reference to three recent critical audits of Cheng’s personal spending prompted by Hearst newspapers investigative reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas. “We don’t have to indulge in those perks.” With federal support of public education in doubt, Walker reminded Cheng, his entourage, and her colleagues, “This is not a time to turn our backs on our children.”

“I’m very disappointed,” Walker concluded. Walker is not ordinary legislator. She is prudent in her pronouncements and enjoys the respect of her colleagues. CSCU’s Board of Regents would be wise to take note of Walker’s appropriations aria. When you have lost Toni Walker on higher education, you have lost.

Walker’s remarks begin at 1:30:03 in the above YouTube video.

Published February 19, 2025.

Governor Ned Lamont appeared on Brian Shactman’s Brian & Company morning program on WTIC 1080 Tuesday morning as part of his administration’s campaign to rescue Marissa Gillett’s reappointment to lead the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). (A clip is posted above.)

Lamont said he believes Gillett will win another term. The Greenwich Democrat once more stated his opposition to complying with the 2019 legislation expanding the membership of PURA to five from three. Lamont signed that bill when it reached it desk in his first year in office.

Eversource, the governor said, wants Gillett out and enjoys a lot of influence at the legislature. Lamont pointed to Gillett’s experience at a crucial time and said he does not “want three or five rookies on that board.” This appeared to be a reference to support for placing state Senator John Fonfara and former state Representative Holly Cheeseman on PURA. Fonfara spent more than a decade as co-chair of the legislature’s energy committee. Cheeseman is widely regarded as a talented utility player who would not hesitate to exercise authority independent of Gillett.

The campaign to rescue Gillett from responsibility for electricity rates that are among the highest in the nation has accelerated as Lamont’s office and a handful of Democratic legislators have started counting votes. Gillett’s supporters have claimed that she is the target of sexism, signaling they have abandoned making the case for her based on her record in office.

Lamont blotted his copy when he told Shactman that Gillett is kind of, sort of a consumer advocate. State statutes provide for an independent consumer advocate at PURA who is not a member of the commission. Lamont has previously said that it is not PURA’s chair’s job to be a consumer advocate but to call balls and strikes.

Gillett’s renomination was submitted to the Senate weeks ago but has not yet been scheduled for a public hearing by the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee. The delay is unusual in the normal course of legislative business.

Published February 11, 2025.

What a difference audits and reviews of CSCU Chancellor Terrence Cheng’s promiscuous use of his student and public financed expense account make. A day after the CT State College Senate adopted a motion of “no confidence” in Cheng, the head of the 85,000 student higher education system drove himself to a legislative breakfast at Northwestern, formerly known as Northwestern Connecticut Community College, in Winsted.

In October, Hearst investigative reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas found Cheng “had expensed chauffeured despite being provided a state car, charged for pricey meals with other state employees, and collected a $2,100 monthly housing allowance while living in a New York town just across Connecticut’s border.” A review of spending by State Comptroller Sean Scanlon’s office found “troubling” expenses charged to Cheng’s expense account. State auditors found that while Cheng received a generous housing allowance to live in Connecticut he continued to live in New York. Cheng also receives a car allowance, though he also spent system funds on a chauffeur.

Cheng, whose contract ends next year, will find it difficult to make the case to legislators that they should once again contest Governor Ned Lamont’s allocation to CSCU in his budget proposal. Lamont rebuked Cheng in his Wednesday budget address, noting, higher education “should not be immune to reform and CT State in particular must reimagine how we tain our workforce for 21st century jobs.” Lamont added “student population is down 30% is down 30%, most students don’t graduate, and costs keep escalating.”

On Friday, Sen. Minority Leader Stephen Harding and House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora praised the CT State College Senate for its call to change the CSCU leadership. The two Republicans had to tread carefully on their criticism of Lamont and CSCU Regents for allowing Cheng to continue leading the system. They criticized Lamont and “most Regents” for standing by Cheng. The “most” is meant to suggest that Regent Erin Stewart, a Republican exploring a 2026 bid for governor, has called for Cheng’s resignation, which Stewart says she has. Stewart was critical of Cheng’s penchant for secrecy and successfully argued for changes when Lamont appointed a new chairman of the Regents.

Published February 7, 2025.

Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe of the Department of Economic and Community Development posted an endorsement on his LinkedIn account of a software company in which he is an investor. O’Keefe identifies himself on LinkedIn as commissioner and the state’s Chief Innovation Officer.

Daily Ructions asked O’Keefe if he had sought and obtained an opinion from the state’s ethics agency before posting the endorsement of Roam (or Ro.am).

Here, in bold and in part, is his reply:

Yes – I am an investor in Roam, as well as a number of other companies (my background prior to state service was a technology investor). All are, of course, disclosed to state ethics in my financial disclosures.

I did not seek an opinion from ethics specific to the below post. When I joined the administration, I did seek an opinion as to my (passive) involvement with those companies generally (including Roam), and was advised that (1) I cannot be paid by any of those companies (I am not) and (2) if any have business in front of the state I need to recuse myself (none do, and I would if they did). I did not ask for an opinion specific to social media posts, but did just now after receiving your email, as well as to whether any further disclosures needed if I do post about a company.

While I await that, I’ve deleted the post, and publicly disclosed that I’ve done so. Because I think you are right – while in that moment in my head I was posting as an individual (I’ve been active on LinkedIn since its founding), the reality is my title is right there, and it can’t look like I’m supporting something in my official role if I am not. While I’m curious what the above opinion ultimately suggests, regardless I don’t plan to post about companies I am invested in anymore.

I appreciate what you do, as it makes those of us in service better, and I’ll do better.

Some public officials, too many, immediately take an adversarial position when asked about obvious errors. They stonewall or escalate. Instead, they ought to adopt the O’Keefe method. Stop relying on spokesmen and give a candid answer to simple questions.

Published February 7, 2025.

“Any matter coming before the authority may be assigned by the chairperson to [a panel of three] one or more utility commissioners.”

It is not the usual place to discover an admission against interest in high stakes litigation, but there it is in Raised Bill 1193 from the General Assembly’s energy committee. The committee bill, An Act Concerning the Composition of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), seeks to fix the mess that the husbanding of authority in its chair has caused ratepayers and utilities.

The issue of dockets decided by one member of PURA is the subject of litigation brought by utilities Eversource and Avangrid. If a court adopts the plain meaning of the law, PURA will suffer a humiliating loss. Raised Bill 1193 suggests PURA chair Marissa Gillett and her dwindling number of friends at the legislature have blotted their copy by seeking to make the plaintiffs’ point for them. And if once is not enough, a second bill, 1194, does the same.

If one member of PURA had the authority to make decisions, there would be no need for 1193. But there it is: headed for public hearing tomorrow, February 4th.

The lawsuit was dismissed by state Senator Norm Needleman (D-Essex), Senate co-chair of the energy committee, as “frivolous.” This is reckless and beneath the dignity of Needleman. Plaintiff lawyers Thomas J. Murphy and James J. Healey are widely recognized as among the state’s most talented. If anyone needs proof of this consensus, read the transcripts of Healey deposing a Department of Public Health official in the grim Stone Academy litigation.

Published February 3, 2025.

Westport First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker is preparing to seek the Republican nomination for governor, Daily Ructions has learned. Tooker has been a steady winner in vote-rich Fairfield County as fellow Republicans have been knocked over like ninepins since 2017.

Tooker has held on in Westport as the once reliably Republican town has become a Democratic stronghold, demonstrating cross-party appeal that is essential for any Republican to have a chance in a statewide contest. No Republican has won a statewide Connecticut election since incumbent Jodi Rell’s historic 2006 victory for a full term as governor.

Tooker will face Erin Stewart, the Republican mayor of New Britain serving her sixth and final term. Stewart on Tuesday announced to a gathering of well wishers that she intends to explore a race for governor. The early going will be the contest to raise $350,000 in small donations. This is always harder than it looks and requires a high tolerance for drudgery. Stewart learned in 2018 how difficult it was to raise $250,000 in qualifying contributions that a candidate for governor needed that year. She made a convention eve switch to the race for lieutenant governor, losing the convention endorsement and primary to Southington Republican Joe Markley.

Former volunteer soccer coach Tooker enjoys a loyal cadre of supporters in Westport, a town thick with campaign givers. Her husband, Mo, is connected in state business circles, though it can be difficult to squeeze even a few bucks out of the state’s politically timid corporate community. The state’s University of Notre Dame graduates may also pony up for fellow alum Tooker.

Four of the state’s five most recent governors have been from Fairfield County.

Both Stewart and Tooker will need to steer clear of soliciting local contractors for campaign dough. Republican Matthew Corey, a frequent candidate for high office, is also considering joining the race for governor.

The first campaign finance reports are due in April. The math tells the tale, as does a candidate’s array of ideas to share at local party committee meetings, where the questions can be unexpectedly penetrating.

Published January 28, 2025.

Erin Stewart has filed an exploratory committee for statewide office, expected to be a bid for governor in 2026.

Stewart, serving her 6th term as the Republican mayor of New Britain, will mark the beginning of the race as the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Grassroots East dinner.

The 39 year old New Britain native is the early frontrunner in the open race for the Republican nomination for governor. Stewart made unsuccessful runs for governor and lieutenant governor in 2018.

Party stalwart Val Marino of Waterbury is the Stewart committee’s treasurer.

Published January 23, 2025.

Governor Ned Lamont is expected to appoint Appellate Court Chief Judge William H. Bright, Jr., to the State Supreme Court, ending months of speculation.

Bright was a contender for the high court’s top spot. The competition to become Chief Justice became intense after Richard Robinson announced his intention to retire last summer. Lamont chose a member of the Supreme Court, Raheem L. Mullins, to serve as Chief Justice. Lamont announced his choice of Justice Mullins in early September and then left a seat on the Court vacant for nearly five months.

Judge Bright will be a popular choice among other judges and many lawyers.

Superior Court Judge Robin Wilson is the leading contender to fill Bright’s vacancy on the Appellate Court.

Published January 20, 2025.