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State Representative Anne Hughes (D-Easton) will not enjoy an easy path to a second term serving the 135th House district. The far-left Easton Democrat is expected to face Weston Democrat Gayle Weinstein in an August primary.

Weinstein is the former Weston first selectman. She quit her seat on the board of selectman after failing to win a fourth term as first selectman in 2015.

Democratic town committees will choose delegates In March from Easton, Redding and Weston to select a party-endorsed nominee at a May nominating convention. Hughes defeated a one-term Republican incumbent in 2018.

Greenwich Republican Harry Arora has won the 151st House District special election. Arora defeated Democrat Cheryl Moss.

Arora appears to have won by a thumping 10 point margin, continuing a Republican recovery in the one-time party bastion.

Governor Ned Lamont wants his administration to “keep diversity a big priority,” according to emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The governor’s wife agrees in a June 16th exchange in anticipation of the annual state Democratic fundraising dinner, previously known as the JJB.

Assigning a body person to the governor prompted Ann Huntress Lamont’s comment that “Ned is concerned about not having more diversity in that position.” The top jobs in Lamont’s office have been filled by white men. His body person is a white male.

The Criminal Justice Commission could be guided by Lamont’s desire to “keep diversity a big priority.” The commission anticipates choosing a new Chief State’s Attorney on January 30th. The position has not been held by a woman or minority since the position was created in 1973.

One of the four finalists for the job, Erik Lohr, an African American, is a Navy veteran and former prosecutor. Another finalist, Maureen Platt, is the first woman to serve as the state’s attorney for the Waterbury judicial district.

Rudolph Giuliani crony Lev Parnas was the big get of the week and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow got him. Parnas told Maddow that he delivered the message to Ukraine that American support would be withheld unless the new government announced an investigation into into Hunter Biden’s lucrative business dealings in the nation under attack by Russia.

The Parnas interview undermines the Trump defense that Ukraine’s newly elected president did not know that American military assistance was being held hostage to Trump’s demand for a political favor to advance his prospects against rival Joe Biden

Parnas was a prolific donor to Republican committees late in the 2016 campaign, including $661 to Connecticut Republicans.

Brooklyn Democrat Joe Voccio writes Daily Ructions to let us know he is a Democrat and has had nothing to do with local politics since losing a tie-breaking contest last November for the town’s board of selectman.

Some helpful advice from the Life Hacks 2020 calendar. A better answer: “No.”

A fantastic obituary that you will want to read. It’s by and about Ken Fuson. Here’s a tribute to Fuson by a living friend.

Anti-toll activist Hilary Gunn was defeated for re-election to the Greenwich Republican Town Committee Wednesday night.

A large group of registered Republicans attended the open caucus and used their numbers to keep Gunn from returning to the RTC. She wrote on Facebook that “I am not okay.” Gunn, a Greenwich Country Day School graduate, caught the attention of Ann Huntress Lamont, the governor’s spouse, by frequently attending transportation and other events. Mrs. Lamont wondered in an email, “Who’s this crazy anti-toll girl stalking Ned?”

Surprise caucuses can have consequences. A group of Middletown Democrats quietly organized themselves and others in 2018 and won a majority of seats on that town committee from party regulars who were largely supporters of then-mayor Dan Drew. Drew declined to seek re-election in 2019.

Comedy polymath Buck Henry has departed this world after 89 years. Here’s a comprehensive 2014 interview with the writer and performer on Mark Malkoff’s The Carson Podcast–or you can listen to it above.

Chasten Buttigieg will be the star attraction in Bridgeport Friday at a fundraiser for his spouse, former South Bend, Indiana mayor Peter Buttigieg. The price of admission for the event that starts at 5:30 p.m. in one of the state’s poorest cities begins at $500 a ducat and escalates to $2,800, the maximum allowed per person under federal campaign finance laws.

Former Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman’s portrait will be revealed on January 17th in the Senate Chamber, where Wyman presided for eight years.

The former comptroller and state representative serves as the chair of the state Democratic party organization.