Category — Posts

The State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) can be harsh. It entered into a Valentine’s Day agreement with veteran Republican William Jenkins over his role as treasurer of a 2017 for Stamford Republican mayoral candidate Barry Michaelson. Jenkins, according the consent agreement approved by SEEC, filed campaign finance disclosure documents that were not “published by the State Elections Enforcement Commission” twice during the campaign.

The resolution of the complaint requires Jenkins to pay a $4,000 fine that will be waived if he does not violate the order for five years beginning March 1, 2018. Jenkins is permitted to continue to serve as treasurer for any campaign he was treasurer of as of January 18, 2018. That will allow him to continue to serve the Tim Herbst gubernatorial campaign.

He couldn’t get men to behave. That’s the charge leveled in a lawsuit from a female employee of Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management Firm of Stamford. The action includes mentions of general counsel and former U.S. attorney Kevin O’Connor, according to a blockbuster New York Times story. 

Cohen has had some troubles with regulators and has been planning a relaunch that would allow him to invest money from other than his own fortune. Plaintiff Lauren Bonner’s lawsuit alleges women are not treated fairly and encounter a hostile work environment. Her complaint, according to the Times, quotes O’Connor as stating, “the reality is that this is just a really tough place for women, and that’s not going to change.”

O’Connor’s tenure as U.S. attorney in Connecticut was marked by a sustained crusade to gag librarians under the Patriot Act. The lawsuit suggests O’Connor has not applied the same vigor to outbreaks of misogyny at the investment fund where he was hired to perform a “cultural cleanup.”

Point72 declared it will contest the allegations in a forum other than the press. Perhaps confidential arbitration will serve its purpose as the matter proceeds.

Republican Steve Obsitnik marks Abraham Lincoln’s birthday with a rollout of endorsements. Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei leads the list.

Here’s the rest of the list of party stalwarts declaring for the Westport businessman:

Who can you believe? Her campaign insisted last year that Susan Bysiewicz would not be running for governor in 2018. The former secretary of the state and eight-time candidate for statewide office would seek a seat in the state Senate. Bysiewicz aide Laura Cahill was emphatic about that in a tart 2017 call to Daily Ructions. Bysiewicz was moving into a district that would allow her to challenge Republican incumbent Len Suzio. She would be selling her home in state Senator Paul Doyle’s district.

Today, Bysiewicz is expected to convert her exploratory committee into a candidate committee for governor. This means the Middletown Democrat will not be running for the legislature from Bristol or Art Linares’s Middlesex County district. Those were once potential launchpads for a Bysiewicz revival. Events have not intervened to allow her another shot at the U.S. Senate. Governor it is.

Bysiewicz started to run for governor in 2006 but abandoned that after some unhappy town committee encounters with rivals Dannel Malloy and John DeStefano. She commenced another run for governor in 2010 but gave that up to run for attorney general when incumbent Richard Blumenthal began his bid for the U.S. Senate when unpopular incumbent Christopher J. Dodd (D-Countrywide) announced he would not run for a sixth term. The state Supreme Court ruled that spring that Bysiewicz had not practiced law for 10 years and was, therefore, not eligible to run.

UPDATE: Uh-oh. Bysiewicz’s campaign for governor is off to a confusing start. The candidate went to the wrong office to file her new campaign papers. The secretary of the state no longer handles those documents, which came as a surprise to Bysiewicz. She eventually made her way to the correct office, the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

It appears that Bysiewicz is exploring a run for governor, but that was included in her April 18, 2017 exploratory campaign formation document filed with SEEC. It included statewide office and General Assembly, but not including state representative or state treasurer.

UPDATE #2: A helpful reader points out that Bysiewicz presided over the transition of election filings from her office to SEEC when she was secretary of the state.

You are not the only one marking Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s final budget address with some happy relief. The governor is throwing a festive luncheon at the residence to mark the milestone that includes more of his trademark tax increases and punishments for working families.

The celebration is for family and friends.

State Representative Joseph Verrengia (D-West Hartford) will return lobbyist contributions solicited while the legislature was in special session last week. Verrengia, a veteran police officer and co-chair of the legislature’s public safety committee, had a campaign fundraising event scheduled for January 31st from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Wast Hartford. The House had been called into special session and was scheduled to meet that day. That morning, lobbyists received solicitations to donate and attend the Verrengia campaign event.

Legislators may not solicit lobbyists while the legislature is in a regular session or a special session with the exception of even years after the regular session adjourns. When contacted by Daily Ructions, Verrengia explained that the event was on an email reminder program that had been set for January 31st before he realized the legislature would be in special session. He has notified the State Elections Enforcement Commission of his error and will return lobbyist contributions from the event.

Geoff Luxenberg, the controversial political consultant who briefly served as chief of staff to Middletown Mayor Dan Drew last year, is running for the House of Representatives. Luxenberg took to social media to announce he will try to win the Manchester seat being given up by his ex-wife.

Luxenberg won the seat when Ryan Barry declined to run for re-election in 2010. Luxenberg, facing some headwinds, did not run for a third term. He was succeeded in office by his wife at the time, Kelly Luxenberg, who has returned to her maiden name, Kelly Juleson-Scopino.

Public policy has never been in Susan Bysiewicz’s comfort zone.  The Middletown Democrat has been emphasizing her preference for politics over substance as she explores a race for governor. The former secretary of state made a plan to raise impose $3 billion a year in tolls a staple of if her thin platform.

The Bysiewicz billions would mean so many tolls drivers would be paying them at the end of their street. To collect $3 billion a year in Connecticut would require a charge of more than 10 cents a mile. The regressive tax would strain the finances of working families and low income residents. The Bysiewicz burden means drivers–most of them Connecticut residents–would pay $8.2 million a day in tolls to reach the $3 billion annual take. The plan would also result in a reduction of federal highway assistance the state receives under the formula that  compensates states without tolls.

As talk of tolls escalates into cloud cuckoo land, candidates and voters should remember that border tolls are not permitted. To raise $3 billion a year in tolls will require toll collection devices throughout the state.

Bysiewicz appears to be about to embark on her third race for governor, her eighth statewide campaign. She ought to know more about the consequences of her proposal to impose a regressive tax on millions of Connecticut residents.

The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, Inc.’s long litigation odyssey ends with the Supreme Court’s rejection of CCJEF’s motion to reconsider the court’s January decision.  The high court rejected CCJEF’s challenge to the state’s funding of public education and overturned a far-reaching, convoluted 2016 lower court decision. CCJEF leaders had claimed victory when the lower court decision was released through an unusual and prolonged reading from the bench. That victory dance was followed by CCJEF appealing the decision, causing many to wonder why winners would appeal a decision they claimed to have won.

Connecticut spends more per pupil than nearly any other place on earth. The decisions that brought that distinction will remain with the public’s democratically elected representatives.

Early Trump supporter Themis Klarides announced to the House Republican caucus this morning that she will not seek the party’s nomination for governor, Daily Ructions has learned. The House Minority Leader will stay put and try to win enough seats to replace her close friend Democratic incumbent Joseph Aresimowicz as speaker of the house next January.