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Jonathan Riddle heads to the virtual 4th Congressional District Republican nominating convention as a frontrunner with a hefty campaign debt before the first delegate vote is cast. Federal Election Commission reports reveal Riddle owes more than $62,000 to campaign consultants.

On March 31st, Riddle had $8,697.63 in cash. Riddle’s campaign owed five figure debts to Robert Moss and Peter Riddle, both of Stamford, and the luckless Republican campaign consulting firm Praetorian Strategy Group.

The FEC notified Riddle this week he has failed to file a mandatory pre-convention report

They tried to warn him. He could not hear them over his cackling. The rest requires no explanation. Nevertheless, Wethersfield Republican town council member Brooks Parker may want to ponder offering one.

UPDATE:  Parker resigned from the Wethersfield town council Thursday after offering what Daily Ructions, which first reported the story, understands was a grudging apology offered at a meeting of fellow party members Wednesday.

Renee Coleman-Mitchell will no longer serve as Commissioner of the Department of Public Health (DPH), Governor Ned Lamont announced Tuesday morning. The absence of DPH at the highest levels of state government in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic has been an open wound for the Lamont administration for months.

Nursing homes, which are regulated by DPH, have seen thousands of patient deaths as DPH appeared to dither at formulating an effective response.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Deidre Gilford will serves as acting commissioner of DPH.

Pay no attention to state Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) and it may save your life or someone else’s. Despite what you see in the above-photo, it’s vital to wear a mask, especially if you are a healthcare worker or in or near a healthcare facility.

Follow Governor Ned Lamont’s order on wearing masks, even if a doctor serving in the Senate does not. You’re worried about suppressing the virus and staying healthy. Wear a mask. The Mike Pence of Connecticut wants a full-face photo in the state’s largest newspaper. It’s not worth it. It’s only a picture. Bending the curve is far more important than barefaced vanity.

Anwar has been among a group of Senate Democrats, Daily Ructions has learned, agitating to push Lamont to delay starting to reopen Connecticut’s staggering economy. The reopening of the economy without overwhelming our healthcare system will not work if we do not wear masks. That is particularly true of doctors and state officials.

West Hartford council member Mary Fay will be chosen tonight as the Republican nominee for Congress from the state’s 1st District. Fay was elected to the town council last year. In 2018, she unsuccessfully sought a seat in the state’s House of Representatives

Fay made her announcement Thursday on Facebook. She will face incumbent Democrat John Larson, who was first elected to the seat in 1998.

Fay made news earlier this year when she was laid-off as executive director of the struggling  Connecticut State Retirement Authority. She did not leave the office quietly.

Republican Ryan Meehan dropped out of the race for his party’s Fifth Congressional District nomination. Meehan’s withdrawal leaves retired federal prosecutor David X. Sullivan as the only candidate in a field that last month included four hopefuls.

Republican delegates will gather via a virtual convention next week to make their endorsement. Sullivan will face first term incumbent Democrat Jahana Hayes, who won landslide primary and general election victories two years ago.

A Quinnipiac survey of 945 registered Connecticut voters found Democrat Joe Biden 23 points ahead of Republican Donald Trump in the contest for president.

State voters by a margin of 78%-17% approve of Governor Ned Lamont’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Lamont enjoys an overall 65-22 job approval rating, numbers a governor of Connecticut have not seen in many years.

The numbers on the economy are bleak and likely to grow worse. Just 24% of respondents say the state’s economy is good. Almost half, 46%, said it was not-so-good. They were joined by 26% who said the economy is poor.

Fifty-nine percent of Connecticut voters surveyed are in no rush for the economy to be free of coronavirus restrictions put into place in March to keep the state’s healthcare system from being overwhelmed by the rapidly spreading virus. That figure was steady across the tristate region.

Read more here.

Fifth District Republican congressional hopeful David X. Sullivan has won the endorsement of beloved former U.S. Representative Nancy Johnson as delegates prepare for their first virtual convention on May 14th.

Johnson served in Congress for 24 years. She was first elected to the Sixth CD seat in 1982, defeating Democrat Bill Curry for the open seat. Johnson held that seat for 20 years. The indefatigable Republican defeated Democratic incumbent James Maloney in 2002 when their seats were merged as a result of the 2000 census. Johnson was defeated for a 13th term by Christopher Murphy in the Republican annus horribilis of 2006.

Sullivan, a retired federal prosecutor, also won the support of 2018 Republican nominee for governor, Robert Stefanowski. Stefanowski, who spent millions of his own money in a losing bid against Democrat Ned Lamont, has contributed $2,000 to the New Fairfield Republican frontrunner. Amy Stefanowski, who serves as the Republican town chair in Madison and a member of the party’s state committee, contributed $1,000.

State Senator Gennaro Bizzarro (R-New Britain) contributed $250 to Sullivan. Bizzarro is a superdelegate to the nominating convention. Bizzarro scored an upset in 2019 in a special election called after Lamont appointed supporters to pension-boosting positions in his administrations, just weeks after they had sought election to state office.

It won’t work on him. Ned Lamont is not Dannel P. Malloy or M. Jodi Rell. That has not stopped veteran lobbyists Patrick Sullivan and Paddi LeShane from creating and displaying a cloying “Love the Gov” bag-turned-sign in front of their Prospect Avenue home, eight houses from the Governor’s Residence.

Slobbering is not thought by observers to be a strategy that works on Lamont.

Sullivan and LeShane lobbied for Stamford when Malloy was mayor and preparing to run for governor. He remained close to the surly, unpopular governor, who Sullivan referred to as “Danny,” during his eight calamitous years in office. Sullivan, a Republican most of the time, was a longtime, ardent supporter of Joseph Lieberman, who Lamont engaged in an epic contest in 2006.

Lamont has restored public confidence in state government with his steady leadership during the global public health crisis. A note, email or text would suffice. Crikey, find a way that doesn’t make denizens of the Capitol village retch.

It always hurts. Litchfield Republican delegates to the 5th Congressional District nominating convention have endorsed retired federal prosecutor David Sullivan over local Republican Ryan Meehan.

Endorsement gives frontrunner Sullivan the five delegates chosen by the Litchfield party town committee. In addition, a state central committee member and state Representative David Wilson have endorsed Sullivan. Meehan, recently of Texas and Greenwich, registered to vote in Litchfield at the start of the year.

In other 5th district news, Waterbury Republican Rueben Rodriguez ended his race for the nomination Tuesday. Rodriguez offered this earnest statement on Facebook.

The virtual nominating convention is scheduled for May 14th.