Kordas and Fay Race to Meet Monday Deadline for Full Public Financing Grants.

Republicans Jessica Kordas and Mary Fay are each scrambling to meet the Citizen Elections Program’s August 29th at 5 p.m. deadline to qualify for the full $968,000 taxpayer-financed campaign funding bonanza. Kordas, the party’s nominee for attorney general, and Fay, its candidate for comptroller will need to submit and application with a minimum of $86,600 in qualifying contributions.

In her July campaign finance report, Kordas, a Norwalk lawyer, reported receiving $54,260 in contributions and $1,240 cash on hand. Fay, a West Hartford town council member, raised only $20,000 as of June 30th. Kordas’s own efforts with a collective push by party leaders ought to get her over the line with a cushion by Monday. Fay may be more of a challenge for a party that has come to rely on wealthy candidates to finance their own campaigns. The universe of reliable Republican donors in Connecticut has shriveled since Jodi Rell raised more than $6 million in her 2006 landslide re-election campaign.

After Monday at 5 p.m., applications submitted by major party candidates seeking statewide office come with less money. Between August 30th and September 12th, the wire transfer from the state to the candidate’s campaign committee bank account is reduced by 25% to $726,187.50. The money paid to the candidate continues to decrease every two weeks until the final deadline on October 14th.

Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat seeking a second term, and Sean Scanlon, the Democratic nominee for comptroller, have qualified for public funds.

Published August 23, 2022.