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Attorney General William Tong has settled the second part of claims arising out of Eversource’s marketing of gas services in South Windsor. The utility will pay $1.8 million to resolve the action, $1.6 million of the payment will go to Operation Fuel to provide assistance to low-income ratepayers.

I’m not usually part of a story I report. I wrote a column last year about Eversource marketing its natural gas services in the neighborhood where I live. The company repeatedly told residents through mailings and visits that if we did not connect to the newly installed gas lines in the street the town’s repaving program would preclude anyone from connecting for several years.

The town, Eversource said, was planning to repave the street soon. Once the repaving was completed, the town would prohibit cuts in the pavement to connect to gas even if one’s oil furnace failed. The town, however, has no plans to repave the street in the foreseeable future.

“Eversource misled homeowners to get them to switch to natural gas. These high-pressure tactics are unacceptable coming from any business, much less a regulated utility. Eversource has already paid a $1.8 million civil penalty imposed by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), and now they will pay an additional $1.8 million to settle these serious consumer protection allegations,” said Attorney General Tong in a statement Tuesday.

Eversource’s settlement with PURA included a $1.8 million payment to Operation Fuel.

Published July 19, 2022.

Republican Senate hopeful Peter Lumaj Tuesday morning urged rival Leora Levy to participate in a ceasefire while party-endorsed candidate Themis Klarides mourns the death of her mother and participates in the rituals that accompany it.

Lumaj and Levy are battling for the support of rightwing primary voters in their August 9th contest against Klarides. Levy, who was once a donor to Democrat Richard Blumenthal, has launched a series of attacks claiming Klarides is a “Democrat in disguise.”

The three candidates’ most recent campaign finance reports reveal each had only several hundred thousand dollars on hand for the final push to the primary. Levy has loaned $800,000 to her campaign and paid herself back $250,000.

Published July 19, 2022.

What a difference four years can make. U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes will deliver a prized endorsement of Eric Wellman, the party-endorsed candidate in the Democratic primary in Simsbury for the 16th House District.

Wellman has enjoyed considerable success among Simsbury voters, winning two terms as First Selectman and his current one on the Board of Selectman. Wellman easily won his party’s endorsement in May for the seat being vacated by incumbent Democrat John Hampton.

After a string of defeats by state Senator Kevin Witkos (R-Canton), Democrat Melissa Osborne is challenging Wellman for the House nomination in the August 9th primary. It is a campaign notable for the incongruous. Osborne and other local Democrats condemned Hampton in the spring for opposing reproductive health and protection legislation enacted by the legislature. Osborne has nevertheless highlighted her endorsement by the retiring Democrat.

Hayes won two stunning victories in 2018. She won a landslide victory over Simsbury Democrat Mary Glassman in their primary contest for the 5th CD nomination. Simsbury was one of the few towns Hayes did not carry in the primary. Hayes went on to an easy win over the Republican nominee that November. Daily Ructions readers may recall that incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Esty abandoned her bid for a fourth term as revelations of Esty ignoring abuse her chief of staff was accused of inflicting on a subordinate.

An endorsement from the popular Hayes will be a further boost to Wellman, who is likely to benefit from his spot on the top line of the ballot alongside other party endorsed candidates, Stephanie Thomas and Erick Russell.

Published July 18, 2022.

Republican Brock Weber abandoned his long campaign for Secretary of the State last week, the Connecticut Post reports. Weber submitted an application for $484,125.00 in public funds on June 3rd for his August 9th primary bid against party-endorsed candidate Dominic Rapini and state Representative Terrie Wood.

Weber reported raising $89,825.33 in his most recent campaign finance report, filed by campaign treasurer Joseph Kilduff. He needed $86,600 in qualified small contributions to receive the grant from the Citizens Election Program. Weber’s application had not been acted on by the State Elections Enforcement Commission when he withdrew from the race.

Published July 18, 2022.

April 28th last year brought the Naugatuck police department’s fifth encounter with Judge of Probate Peter Mariano for either “a welfare check, and/or alcohol issue,” according to a police report from that day. More would follow.

Mariano, who is seeking a sixth four-yer term in November, had a woman removed from his home earlier in the year. According to an officer who responded, the judge “picked up some broad from New York” and needed the police to get her out of his house.

The chief clerk in Mariano’s court called the police on April 28th after an alarming conversation with the judge. “Here we are again,” the Naugatuck officer tells Jennifer Finlay. In the video above, Finlay explains the dire situation she has tried to manage and contain.

Jennifer Finlay and Andrew Finlay are listed with Mariano as members of Hillside Real Estate, LLC. The business was formed in 2020, according to records filed at the Office of the Secretary of the State.

When Mariano arrived home on April 28th, Naugatuck officers were waiting at the bottom of his driveway. Before agreeing to exit his car, Mariano told the police officers on the scene that he is the probate judge. Mariano failed the two-part field sobriety test and refused the blood alcohol breath test when he was taken to the police station. He told the officer, according to the police report, “I’m scared at how high it’s going to be.”

Mariano, a Republican, is challenging party-endorsed candidate Rosa Rebimbas in an August 9th primary in the district’s four towns, Beacon Falls, Middlebury, Naugatuck, and Prospect. Democrats in the district nominated Mariano as their candidate after he served four days in jail in May.

Because Mariano won the Democratic nomination in May, a win in the August 9th Republican primary leave him without an opponent in the November election.

Published July 18, 2022.

Republican nominee for governor Bob Stefanowski is supporting right wing Leora Levy in her primary bid against party-endorsed Senate candidate Themis Klarides Stefanowski and Klarides are known to have a frosty relationship. Stefanowski faced down Klarides and her top political adviser and husband, Greg Butler, in a tense meeting in Madison as the race for governor was beginning. Party insiders have concluded the Stefanowskis and Klarides-Butlers hold each other in low regard.

Stefanowski rejected demands that accompanied negotiations to name Klarides as his running mate. Klarides retreated to the race for the U.S. Senate race. The 22-year former House member won the party convention in May with an underwhelming showing. Republicans Peter Lumaj and Leora Levy easily qualified for an August primary.

Levy, a top pro-choice Mitt Romney supporter a decade ago, has become a virulent Trumpian since annis horribilus 2016. The former steak pitchman nominated Levy to be the United States ambassador to Chile. The Senate slow walked Levy’s nomination to oblivion.

Levy, a Cuban immigrant, has become (or revealed herself as) a strident xenophobe in this campaign. She hailed the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Stefanowski has worked to assure voters he can be trusted to support Connecticut’s statutes upholding a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. Stefanowski’s two $2,900 maximum contributions to Levy suggest Stefanowski may not believe mean what he says. Klarides supports abortion rights.

Stefanowski has also donated $4,000 to Lumaj, who is battling Levy for votes from conservatives and Trump supporters who are registered Republicans.

Stefanowski made his contributions to Levy on June 21st. One was designated for Levy’s August 9th primary campaign, the other for the November general election. The donations are gifts to Governor Ned Lamont, Stefanowski’s Democratic opponent, worth far more than $5,800.

Published July 15, 2022.

Republican nominee for governor Bob Stefanowski is the rare Northeast Republican who has turned abortion to his advantage in a campaign ad. The Madison Republican released an ad Friday with a theme that surpasses party loyalties and ideology: that ol’ devil hypocrisy.

Stefanowski’s 40-second ad highlights Democratic Governor Ned Lamont’s invitations to businesses in states banning abortion to move to Connecticut. A stinging payoff follows the surprising setup. It’s last November’s video clip of a petulant Lamont announcing his wife, venture capitalist Ann Huntress Lamont, is in Nashville setting up new businesses because Connecticut is so complicated to do business in. The spontaneous confession by a wounded Lamont that his wife has deemed her husband’s leadership a failure retains its power to perplex the viewer.

Nashville is a city in Tennessee. Tennessee is notable for more than attracting Lamont millions in investments. It’s also one of the states that bans abortions in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. It’s a state, Stefanowski’s female narrator announces, “where a new law will prosecute doctors who perform abortions and jail women who get them.” A state, Lamont believes, no one who supports a woman’s right to determine her own reproductive healthcare would want to invest in.

With four months until voters again decide between Stefanowski and Lamont for governor, let us stipulate to a few facts. Neither Stefanowski nor Lamont is a naturally gifted politician. Each is more weathervane than signpost. Both have risen to the top tier of state politics because they are rich and willing to spend their fortunes on their own political ambition. When campaign consultants create a moment that makes one of them appear clever and the other craven, it is worth pausing and examining it.

The Lamonts are undoubtedly spending Friday night at the kitchen table in one of their homes in Manhattan or Greenwich, or on the island in Maine, sifting through their vast portfolio of investments and placing sell orders for stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments they own in companies headquartered in states that restrict or ban abortions. A camera crew will record their transformation of convictions into action, the video suitable for ads of their own. Or they will recreate the scene later with flattering lighting, appropriate makeup, and a script.

Nothing the Greenwich aristocrat does will heal the self-inflicted wound of his November 2021 announcement that Connecticut is such a hard place to do business that his wildly successful capitalist spouse has broken camp and headed to Tennessee to add to their fortune. It remains the great gift that Lamont gave Stefanowski in this dreary rematch. The challenge for Stefanowski is to highlight it in ways that make it seem fresh and revealing. Today he did.

Prepare for a ferocious air assault by Lamont on Stefanowski to change the subject.

Published July 8, 2022.

Poor Leora Levy. The Greenwich Republican has contracted a virulent case of campaign madness. The Republican National Committee member from Connecticut sent an email Wednesday claiming she is running against the next Liz Cheney. If only.

Levy, who in ads highlights her own immigrant roots while disparaging others’, has engaged in rhetoric that she might have called “vulgar and ill-mannered” when she was an active Jeb Bush supporter. Today she wrote in a hyperbolic solicitation:

The reference to the heroic Cheney appears to be a heavy-handed and inapt comparison with Themis Klarides, the party-endorsed candidate for the Senate Levy will face in an August 9th primary. Levy lent $250,000 to her campaign in the early going and paid herself back shortly before the party’s May convention. Levy is said to be apprehensive of an imminent Klarides media buy.

Referring to Klarides, Levy writes in her frenzied message:

Levy concludes,

Levy appears to have paid no attention to Klarides’s 11 terms in the state House of Representatives and her months as a candidate. Substantial ideas of any sort are rarely associated with Klarides’s decades in politics.

Cheney has emerged in the last 18 months as a tireless defender of freedom under the rule of law, a ferocious protector of the Constitution and the peaceful transfer of power. Those are virtues that now enrage Levy, a refugee from tyranny and beneficiary of liberty.

Published July 6, 2022.

Naugatuck Probate Judge Peter Mariano faces a hearing before the Council on Probate Judicial Conduct this Friday, July 8th. The rare hearing is in response to a complaint initiated by Judge Beverly Streit-Kefalas, the Probate Court Administrator. The hearing follows a finding of probable cause by the Council on Probate Judicial Conduct after reviewing Judge Streit-Kefalas’s complaint.

Mariano was arrested four times in 2021 on charges of driving under the influence and driving while his license was suspended. The five-term incumbent was sentenced to four days in prison. Mariano’s pleas agreement included suspended sentences and 18 months of probation.

Republican delegates to their May nominating convention nominated state Representative Rosa Rebimbas as their endorsed candidate in the district’s four towns. Mariano is challenging Rebimbas in an August 9th primary. The district’s Democratic delegates nominated Mariano as their candidate in November.

Mariano’s authority to practice law was placed on inactive status in April 2021. His February 2022 Application for Reinstatement to practice law remains pending before the Superior Court.

Published July 6, 2022.

Some Republican voters have received an invitation to participate in a poll this week–a push poll. Some responses caused the survey to conclude abruptly.

Here are the first questions:

Then the questions reveal the purpose of the survey.

In your opinion, which Republican Senate candidate has the best chance of defeating Senator Richard Blumenthal in the general election in November?

Do you think of Leora Levy as a liberal, a moderate, or a conservative?

The following is information about Leora Levy that you may hear of see in the news or in advertisements. Select whether the information makes you more or less likely to support Leora Levy for U.S. Senate.

Despite being a representative to the Republican National Committee for Connecticut, Leora Levy donated to Senator Richard Blumenthal. 

Leora Levy escaped Castro’s communist Cuba with her family in 1960, embraced American capitalism and went on to become one of the first female commodities traders in this country. 

Leora Levy is a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump.

Leora Levy is a political insider whose civic engagement has been raising money for politicians, including Democrats. 

Leora Levy has flip-flopped on abortion. She claims to be pro-life, but prior to becoming a Republican candidate Levy told the Connecticut Post, “I believe in a woman’s right to make that decision herself,” and “abortion is not really on the top of anybody’s list.” 

The following is information about Peter Lumaj that you may hear of see in the news or in advertisements. Select whether the information makes you more or less likely to support Peter Lumaj for U.S. Senate.

Peter Lumaj is a conservative businessman who sled communist Albania to start a successful business and create jobs in America.

Peter Lumaj is a perennial candidate, having run for Governor, U.S. Senate, and Secretary of the State, losing badly each time.

The following is information about Themis Klarides that you may hear of see in the news or in advertisements. Select whether the information makes you more or less likely to support Themis Klarides for U.S. Senate.

Themis Klarides has a Connecticut gun permit and participates in sport shooting. In the legislature, Klarides voters for additional fun control measures following the Sandy Hook massacre. 

Themis Klarides did not vote for Donald Trump in 2000, instead writing in “the Connecticut Republican leader.”

Themis Klarides is a pro-choice candidate who has voted to support abortion rights with exceptions but opposes late-term abortions.

Do you think of Themis Klarides as a liberal, a moderate, or a conservative? 

Themis Klarides’ husband is the top lawyer for Eversource Energy.

Themis Klarides has seen what’s wrong with government. Klarides is the only one with the experience to hit the ground running to make an impact in the U.S. Senate from day one. 

Themis Klarides did not vote for Donald Trump in 2020, instead writing in “the Connecticut Republican leader.”

Themis Klarides is a pro-choice candidate who has voted to support abortion rights with exceptions but opposes late-term abortions.

Themis Klarides worked as a WWE Ring Girl to pay her way through law school. 

Themis Klarides is the only Republican who can defeat Richard Blumenthal in the general election for U.S. Senate because she can garner support from all parties, not just Republicans. 

Themis Klarides has won 11 elections in a Democratic district, while her Republican opponents have lost every time. 

Themis Klarides is a proven fighter who stood up for small businesses and has always fought for lower taxes. 

Themis Klarides believes crime is out of control, which is why she is the only candidate in the race who’s been endorsed by the Connecticut State Police Union and the Fraternal Order of Police. 

Themis Klarides will fight to close our southern border and end trafficking of humans and drugs that make our communities less safe.

With Washington politicians failing to reduce our cost of living amidst skyrocketing inflation, Themis Klarides has proven she can get things done. Klarides has fought to lower taxes, fees, and other costs for Connecticut families for years and will continue do so in Washington. 

Themis Klarides was the first and only woman be elected as Connecticut House Minority Leader and took on Governor Malloy and won. Klarides will take that same fighting spirit to Washington. 

Knowing this information….

If the Republican primary election for U.S. Senate was held today, and you had to make a choice, who would you vote for?

Do you consider a candidate’s position on abortion to be the absolutely most important issue or are there usually other issues that you consider to be a higher when you choose who to support in an election? 

Are you willing to vote for a candidate who has a different  view than you on abortion so long as you agree with the candidate on most other issues? 

And if the Republican primary for U.S. Senate was held today and Donald Trump endorsed Leora Levy, who would you vote for?

Do you support or oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions for women who cannot afford them?

Are you a cord cutter, meaning you view most or all of your television programming through alternative internet-based or wireless services like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Hulu?

In a typical week, how often do you actively watch the Fox News Channel?

If you had to choose, do you consider yourself more of a Trump Republican or more of a traditional conservative Republican? 

Published June 29, 2022.