Lake wars. Top Democrats lobby Lamont to appoint LAZ Parking Chief Impact Officer DCP commissioner. Others advise caution.
An early test of strength for the 2026 Democratic nomination for governor is playing out among two likely contenders. Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz and Attorney General William Tong are jockeying for the favor of prodigious Democratic fundraiser Alan Lazowski, Daily Ructions has learned.
Tong and Bysiewicz are each lobbying Governor Ned Lamont to appoint Nicole Lake to lead the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). Lake holds the curiously named position of Chief Impact Officer of Laz Parking. The Democrat has enjoyed many positions in and out of state government. Her Laz Parking profile highlights some of them. They include, according to her online biography, “a wide-ranging legal career. Most recently, she served as Chief Counsel to the Connecticut Attorney General, Vice President & General Counsel to a non-profit healthcare system and Associate General Counsel to a former Connecticut Governor [Dannel P. Malloy]. She has also worked as a consumer protection, labor and legal services attorney.”
The move comes after Lamont surprised legislators, administration officials, lobbyists and others by declining to reappoint Michelle Seagull to lead DCP. The Greenwich Democrat’s decision was particularly striking because he praised Seagull’s many accomplishments in implementing the governor’s policies, including his ill-judged gaming decisions, while jettisoning her.
Appointing Lake to DCP could cause Lamont uncomfortable moments. Lazowski has been in the crowded competition for cannabis licenses through Higher Purpose LLC and Let’s Grow Hartford, LLC. DCP announced in November that Let’s Grow Hartford, LLC and several other companies were approved to proceed with social equity applications for food and beverage licenses and delivery delivery licenses. DCP both issues and regulates the variety of licenses required to create a cannabis industry in Connecticut. Distance between regulators and the regulated is an essential element.
Any ambitious Democrat wants Lazowski on his or her side. Neither Tong nor Bysiewicz would be able to finance a campaign for governor with personal assets. Bysiewicz was a vocal critic of Lamont financing his 2018 campaign for governor until she became his running mate that year. A candidate participating in the state’s public campaign financing program remains vulnerable for months to a candidate with personal means or a network of generous donors. The public program provides no funds to a candidate who qualifies for them until after the spring state nominating convention. A candidate with means may have had uncontested command of the airwaves for months by then. Republican Bob Stefanowski showed Republicans in his 2018 campaign for governor what an advantage that can be.
Any Democrat wants the entrepreneurial Lazowski’s support. The candidate considering a bid for governor who wins the Lazowski primary in the early going has moved up the leaderboard. It’s not only candidates who want to remain in Lazowski’s favor. They have also been lobbying for Lake to take charge of DCP–the center of marijuana, alcohol and gaming regulation and a busy regulation factory.
Published February 24, 2023.