Check Your Fight Card: Klarides vs. Blumenthal. Levy vs. Himes. Stefanowski Gets Clear Shot at Nomination for Governor.

This takes the cake. Late Thursday changes in state Republican maneuvering for party nominations. Themis Klarides, chased out of the race for governor, will retreat to challenging U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal. An announcement will come this weekend. The Democrat is seeking his third term. Klarides served as a state representative from Derby for 22 years. She is married to Republican activist Greg Butler, an executive at Eversource, the state’s unpopular electric utility. Expect Blumenthal to revive his interest in Connecticut’s onerous business and consumer power rates.

A Klarides-Blumenthal race may have some uncomfortable moments for the states junior senator, Democrat Chris Murphy. He’s Blumenthal’s loyal Democratic colleague but Murphy and Klarides formed a close friendship when they served together in the state legislature. Both were elected to the House as freshmen in 1998.

Greenwich Republican Leora Levy, who had been contemplating a Senate bid, may run against U.S. Representative Jim Himes. Levy, who was Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Chile, has cultivated national Republican donors as Connecticut’s party committeewoman. Republicans expect Levy, who has a compelling family story of flight from the island prison of Cuba, to provide a chunk of her considerable wealth to fund her campaign against Himes, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker. Levy suffered a stinging defeat last summer when she failed to win the Republican nomination for the Greenwich-centered state senate seat in an August special election. The vacancy occurred when Democrat Alex Kasser abandoned the seat to fight her epically contentious divorce over the marital millions. That trial grows near.

The changes in the Republican fight card should help Bob Stefanowski avoid an expensive battle for the Republican nomination for governor. He will be able to concentrate the $10 million of his fortune on Governor Ned Lamont in their rematch.

Lamont has announced he will fund his re-election campaign, his fourth bid for statewide office. Blumenthal is one of the Senate’s wealthiest members and spent $2 million of his family fortune against wrestling mogul Linda McMahon in their 2010 campaign.

There is a theme well-planted in 21st century top tier Connecticut politics. The price of admission is far beyond most people’s ability to pay.

Posted January 27, 2022.