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State Representative Themis Klarides (R-Derby) collected enough campaign contributions to qualify for public financing for a re-election bid. The House Minority Leader issued an abrupt announcement last week that she will not seek a 12th term.

Klarides received her first first one January 8th and her last contribution on March 4th. She raised $7,034 from 209 contributions in the first quarter of the year, according to her campaign finance report filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission on April 14th.

Red November Strategies of Milford had been hired and paid $666.25 on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday to design and host a campaign website.

Some medicine until a vaccine arrives.

They finally had enough. House Republicans used their unique coronavirus sabbatical from the legislative session to examine their leadership. Caucus members began to let the word go forth that House Minority Leader Themis Klarides (R-Derby) has been found wanting. Klarides announced Tuesday morning in a statement released by the House Republican office that she will not seek a 12th term. “Times change and we have to move on and make decisions about balancing life and how we can best serve those that rely on us,’’ Klarides said. “This is the end of an extremely fulfilling and challenging chapter in my life. But anyone who knows me understands that my commitment to public service is ongoing.”

Klarides, elected to the House in 1998, is completing her third term as the distant leader of the House Republicans. Discontent in the diminished ranks of the House Republican caucus had been growing, Daily Ructions can report. A defeat for leader of the caucus after this November’s election would have squashed Klarides’s hopes for higher office.

Connecticut State Police are warning the public to be on the watch for fraudulent medical supplies offers. The agency has been using its @CT_STATE_POLICE Twitter account to offer a stream of warnings to state residents of bad actors in the midst of a global pandemic. Other warnings include online phishing schemes and stimulus scams.

It is especially important, as the State Police have found, to beware of counterfeit and defective safety equipment.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is offering grants to some small businesses. Eligible businesses must:

 -Employ between 3 and 20 people,

– Be located in an economically vulnerable community, and

– Have been harmed financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications for the grants will go live at noon on Monday, April 20th.

Read more about the program and sign up for alerts here.

Governor Ned Lamont announced Monday that he will look to people gathered by private non-profit organization AdvanceCT to guide the Greenwich Democrat in lifting restrictions on the state’s economy and other activities in response to the unique COVID-19 global pandemic. Indra Nooyi, co-chair of AdvanceCT, and Albert Ko, MD, of the Yale School of Public Health, will serve as co-chairs of the group.

Among the “senior advisors” guiding the first-term governor will be Ezekiel Emanuel, “who serves as Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania,” according to Monday’s announcement. Not included in the release from Lamont’s office were Emanuel’s credentials as “a Venture Partner at Oak HC/FT, [who] joined the firm in 2016 and focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities in Healthcare,” according to the firm’s website. Oak HC/FT is the venture capital firm co-founded by Ann Huntress Lamont, wife of and advisor to Ned Lamont.

According to Emanuel’s profile on the Oak HC/FT website, his spirit animal is Tigger of Winnie the Pooh fame.

The ethicist Emanuel wrote a controversial 2014 article making the case for death at the age of 75. The piece continues to cause discomfort and may prompt some to question if Emanuel is suited to help lead us out a public health crisis that continues to take a fearsome toll on older people.

State Representative David Rutigliano (R-Trumbull) tweeted Governor Ned Lamont that “its time to open up, this is crazy” Thursday afternoon after the Greenwich Democrat announced the state’s schools would remain closed until May 20th due to the global virus pandemic.

Rutigliano, a four-term legislator, according to his legislative website,  “is a partner in the local SBC Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Southport Brewing Company, Local Kitchen & Beer Bar, and the Sitting Duck Tavern.  David has created over 300 jobs in Connecticut.”

The SBC Restaurant Group has been offering takeout, delivery and curbside pickup at their restaurants in Fairfield and New Haven counties. As of April 8th, Trumbull had 71 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to newsbreak.com.

Some generous Connecticut residents are making good use of their time at home. The anonymous donors are working their connections to locate and purchase personal protection equipment for state hospitals, first responders, and senior centers. So far, Daily Ructions understands, they have purchased and distributed 300,000 protective masks this week.

As word spreads, more donors have stepped forward and others have volunteered to try to locate additional sources of supplies. Success is a good contagion and it’s inspiring others to join in the effort to help our brave neighbors on the frontlines.

State Senator Len Fasano (R-North Haven) will not seek a 10th term in November. The Senate Republican leader announced his decision in teleconferences with local party activists in his four-town district that includes Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford on Tuesday evening. Fasano also shared the news with his fellow Senate Republicans in a conference call.

Fasano defeated a Democratic incumbent in a 2002 upset. In his first term, Fasano witnessed the decline, fall, resignation, and criminal conviction of John G. Rowland, the disgraced Republican governor. Democrats struggled to mount serious challenges to Fasano every two years.

The Yale graduate made his mark as a student of public policy and state spending. He became leader of the Senate Republicans in 2015. In 2016, Senate Republicans won 18 seats, tying the Senate Democrats and leading to a historic bipartisan budget, sidelining departing unpopular incumbent Democratic Governor Daniel P. Malloy. Fasano’s intellectual heft and unusual network of allies often confounded the surly Malloy.

The New Haven lawyer’s interest in public policy and his ability to grasp and translate complex issues caused legislators of both parties to seek his support asa a partner in legislating. A longtime champion of children’s issues, Fasano was a critical legislator in exposing the dangerous shamble that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) became under then-Commissioner Joette Katz’s eight years of failure.

In 2015, Fasano emerged as a rare Republican with a comprehensive interest in urban issues. His persistence in attempting to create ties between the state’s cities and Republicans irritated some of his fellow party members. One prominent, malignant House Republican began referring to Fasano as “Leon” behind his back, though word of the racist taunt quickly circulated. Fasano’s influence was magnified by having allies in each caucus, unusual in age of political tribalism.

Fasano, a prodigious fundraiser, considered a bid for governor in 2018 but declined to make the race. Fasano is expected to remain active in public affairs after his term ends in January.

COVID-19 continues to spread at a state-operated Torrington group home where a 54 year old resident died last week from the pathogen. Seven residents have tested positive, three more were awaiting test results on Monday.

Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone has been consulting with DDS, the regional health District, and local hospital officials. “DDS’s concern for the residents and staff is palpable,” Carbone told Daily Ructions Monday night. “There is a strong desire to work together to ensure the health and well-being of this community and we admire and appreciate that.”

There is disquiet among some group home workers that managers did not take appropriate measures to provide them with sufficient PPE as the virus threat grew.