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Arunan Arulampalam will make an announcement Tuesday on the future of his campaign for state treasurer. The Hartford Democrat qualified for the August 14th primary at this month’s Democratic state convention. The way forward is not clear in a campaign crowded with candidates facing a dearth of campaign talent.

Fellow Hartford Democrat Shawn Wooden won the party endorsement on the second ballot of the convention.

David Stemerman enjoys a breakthrough on the battleground of ideas with some praise from a Courant editorial. The brainy Republican distinguishes himsel as the only candidate of either party with a menu of ideas that makes no room for pablum.

Contrast Stemerman with Democratic plutocrat Ned Lamont. His solution so far is to summon everyone to a table to talk. Lamont’s vagaries, soldered to his hefty fortune, helped the self-funder win last weekend’s Democratic nominating convention with more than 85% of delegate votes.

Stemerman skipped the Republican convention and is expected to collect enough signatures from registered party members to win a spot on the August 14th primary ballot.

Here’s Republican David Stemerman’s latest ad. He’s conditioning the environment while other candidates await their generous taxpayer-financed campaign grants.

The 30 second ad introduces a theme likely to be often repeated between now and November–Dannel Malloy morphing into Ned Lamont. It’s an attempt to remind voters that this is not what change looks like.

Stemerman, a Greenwich self-funder, is collecting signatures to gain access to the August 14th primary ballot. Watch for him to become the first to qualify among the three Republicans circulating petitions.

Pray for rain. Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bob Stefanowski will pay a $5 an hour bonus for collecting primary petition signatures in the rain. The Madison Republican pays $25 an hour when the sun shines. George Brehl, the campaign’s political director, wants Republican town committee members to see the appeal and spread the news. There’s a $30 bonus for collecting 30 signatures in a day, $50 bonus for snagging 40 signatures in a day.

Stefanowski, who is new to politics and voting, is discovering what veterans know. Finding and persuading thousands of Republicans to sign a petition is much harder than it seems. Nevertheless, the Brehl email notes the campaign is well-organized and on its way to 9,100 signatures.

Days of rain have been an impediment. The approaching holiday weekend will not help. Petitions must be to local registrars of voters on June 12th.

Mark Lauretti and David Stemerman are also collecting signatures.

New Britain Alderman Manny Sanchez will announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the 5th CD Monday at 1 p.m. The event will take place on the steps on the north side of the state Capitol building.

Sanchez is expected to be joined by New Britain’s legislative delegation and other Democrats.

He joins Simsbury Democrat Mary Glassman in the race. Others may soon join them.

He’s not Bill Curry. He’s not Dan Drew. He’s not Mary Glassman. New Britain Common Council Democrat Manny Sanchez possesses a compelling biography and the look of a consensus candidate in the bewildering 5th CD field. He exudes youthful energy, lives in the district, and has not spent his career grasping for government jobs that provide a hefty paycheck for little work.

‘Manny of the People” is expected to make a decision soon on entering the race. His wide network of bipartisan boosters would give him a fast start in fundraising. The candidate who taps into the Democrats’ growing ABM movement outside the Farmington Valley should reap a bountiful harvest of delegates disoriented after the Easter implosion of haughty incumbent Elizabeth Esty. She was forced to abandon her campaign for a fourth term after revelations of her mysterious neglect of allegations of harassment, bullying and violence in her Washington office exploded into public view.

Sanchez, 29, works in development at the University of Hartford and has coached a basketball team.

Jonathan Harris will surrender Friday. The West Hartford Democrat will abandon his struggling campaign for governor and endorse Ned Lamont.

Today’s development is a public manifestation of broad movement among Democrats to the wealthy self-funder.

It’s a busy day in the Fifth Congressional District. Add early Donald Trump supporter Liz Peterson to the list of Republicans running for the seat abandoned by scandal-plagued Elizabeth Esty.

Peterson has resided in Connecticut since August. Before that, the Trinity College graduate and social media consultant lived in California for 20 years. She serves on Simsbury’s Republican town committee and is a member of the town’s tourism committee and technology task force.

When reached by phone Thursday, the Massachusetts native and mother of two was at the White House for a take your children to work day.

Why not? Southbury Republican Ruby O’Neill is looking for a spot at the Capitol to announce her bid for the Republican nomination in the the 5th Congressional District. Watch for a 4 p.m. launch with an introduction from William Petit.

Ruby O’Neill is married to veteran (30 years) Republican state Representative Arthur O’Neill.

Gasps making their way around the 5th Congressional District as Bill Curry makes calls to Democrats to test support for a bid for the suddenly open seat. Curry ran for the seat in 1982, a good year for many Democrats around the nation, when the seat was vacated by incumbent Toby Moffett. Wunderkind Moffett lost to U.S. Senator Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., that year. Four years later Moffett challenged incumbent Democratic Governor Bill O’Neill. That race featured a remarkable delegate primary in Waterbury.

Moffett briefly worked as a local news anchor at WVIT. He would eventually settle into a lobbying career in Washington representing some unsavory clients.

Curry was elected comptroller in 1990 and lost a 1994 bid for governor against John G. Rowland. Curry was elbowed out of the race for a 1998 rematch by Barbara Kennelly. He was nominated to challenge Rowland in 2002 and was defeated by the Republican governor who would resign two years later and head for prison in 2005. Curry worked in the Clinton White House and was a columnist for the Hartford Courant.