Category — Uncategorized

Lee Griffin came close to winning the East Hartford Democratic Town Committee’s endorsement at its July nominating meeting. The retired police officer and former board of education and town council member serves as the town’s treasurer. The town committee contest, Griffin says, featured many last-minute switches, leaving him with 45% of the votes cast.

Griffin will need to collect more than 700 valid signatures from local Democrats to challenge the winner of the town committee contest, former Republican town council member and town finance director Michael Walsh, in a September primary. The confident Griffin said Saturday that he and his team are on course to qualify for the primary ballot. It should not take this much time and effort to participate in a primary..

Making it easier to cast a vote has limited effect if candidates are kept off the ballot by the hurdles that serve party organizations.

Posted August 7, 2021

New Haven Board of Alder member Darryl Brackeen has filed a campaign committee to explore a bid for statewide office. The four-term Democrat is considering running for secretary of the state. Three-term incumbent Denise Merrill is not seeking re-election.

Brackeen’s July 13th filing with the State Elections Enforcement Commission indicated he was also weighing a campaign for the General Assembly. He amended it eight days later to limit his exploration to statewide offices, not including treasurer.

Party leaders and activists have been receiving calls from a platoon of Democrats testing their support and that of others interested in running for secretary of the state. Others are waiting for a signal from Kevin Lembo, the state’s third-term comptroller, on his 2022 intentions.

New Haven sends the largest delegations to state Democratic conventions.

Alexis Gevanter did it in 24 hours. Ryan Fazio did it in half that time. One gets the feeling the campaign for the 36th Senate District special election is going to be competitive on every front.

Gavanter, Greenwich Democrat, announced Thursday that she had raised in the 24 hours after winning her party‘s nomination on Tuesday the $12,000 in small contributions needed to qualify for public financing of her campaign. Fazio declared on Twitter Sunday morning that he’d done the same in the 12 hours after he’d defeated Leora Levy, Donald Trumps choice to be ambassador to Chile, in a lopsided 20-9 vote by Republican delegates.

Another Democrat in the three-town district, John Blankley, also had news this weekend. He’s collected more than 1,000 signatures to petition onto the the August 17th ballot. That’s hundreds more than the veteran active Democrat will need to secure a spot on the ballot.

Republican Ryan Fazio won the Republican nomination in 36th Senate District, defeating Republican National Committee member Leora Levy. Fazio, the party’s 2020 nominee, won by a convincing margin in the brief contest since Democrat Alex Kasser resigned to devote her energy to her contentious divorce from Seth Bernstein.

The special election is August 17th.

State Representative Josh Elliott (D-Hamden) has formed an exploratory committee for statewide office. Elliott is has been taking soundings for a run for secretary of state since incumbent Denise Merrill announced she would not seek a fourth term.

A stint as the state’s chief elections officer and keeper of business document would allow the busy leftist at last to supervise employees who make more than the minimum wage.

Elliott will need to get by a host of more popular prospects for the job. The most formidable prospective candidate is state Representative Hilda Santiago (D-Meriden). Elliott would struggle in a race against the highly regarded Santiago, which may be why he included state Representative as one of the offices he is exploring.

State Representative Harry Arora R-Greenwich) ended his brief candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 36th Senate District summer special election. Arora expressed gratitude and disappointment after several days in this unusual arena. He was able to assemble a list of more than 1,000 supporters in a trice. Not many Connecticut Republicans could match that accomplishment.

Convinced he is the strongest candidate with everyone but the 31 delegates who will meet Saturday, Arora warned, “Should we lose this seat, the delegates should be held accountable.”

State law precludes primaries in special elections. Connecticut continues to have restrictive ballot access rules that favor party insiders.

Alexis Gevanter announced Thursday night she had met the requirements to qualify for public financing in her campaign for the 36th Senate District special election. The Greenwich Democrat shared the news on Twitter, two days after winning her party’s nomination in the three-town district.

The state’s generous public financing program has different rules for special elections. A major party candidate for the August 17th contest is required to raise $12,000 with at least 225 contributions from residents of the towns included in the district. Qualifying candidates will receive $77,966.25 in public funds.

Republicans select their candidate Saturday.

Some numbers from 2020 that delegates to the 36th Senate District nominating convention for August’s special election:

Leora Levy cast Connecticut’s 28 votes for Donald Trump at the party’s nominating convention.

Donald Trump received 37% of the vote in Greenwich, 39% in New Canaan, and 30% in Stamford.

Ryan Fazio won 48.6% of the vote, in his race against incumbent Democrat Alex Kasser, a margin of 1562 votes out of more than 56,000 votes cast. Fazio won Greenwich and New Canaan against a ferocious tide at the top of the ticket.

Levy, who the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate declined to confirm as Trump’s nominee to be the United States ambassador to Chile, will formally announce her candidacy for the open Senate seat on Tuesday, July 6th. The retired commodities trader has spent the past week haranguing delegates and others to support her based largely on her history of making campaign donations.

It’s not a terrible consolation prize. Dita Bhargava has lost races for the state House of Representatives, governor, and state treasurer. The Greenwich Democrat launched unsuccessful bids for governor and treasurer in 2018. Bhargava left the Democratic contest for governor when Ned Lamont and his fortune entered the race in early 2018. Bhargava is considering a long shot bid for the vacant 36th Senate District.

The former “macro portfolio manager” sought to use her financial sector experience to catapult into that year’s treasurer’s race. She suffered decisive defeats by Shawn Wooden at the nominating convention and the primary that followed.

Bhargava raised campaign contributions for Vice President Kamala Harris before the California Democrat’s 2020 presidential campaign collapsed.

Connecticut’s restrictive ballot access rules are especially favorable to party insiders when a vacancy occurs. Delegates from Greenwich, Stamford, and New Canaan who nominated Alex Kasser, the former Greenwich Democrat who resigned last week to concentrate on her contentious, high stakes divorce, will gather to select a nominee for the summer special election. A simple majority of delegates clinches the nomination. Primaries are prohibited.

Democratic observers believe the delegates are unlikely to support Bhargava.

Ben Proto cruised to an easy first ballot win Tuesday night in the long contest to become chair of the state’s shrinking Republican Party. Proto won 55 votes, Jim Campbell 18.5 and Gary Byron 15.5. After a round of treachery—the switches—Proto increased his total to 69.5 as Campbell’s support fled to Proto.

Proto’s first task will be to provide meaningful support in this summer’s sudden special state Senate election.