Money flows from candidates to campaigns in Hartford. Coleman lends $80K, Hennessy $50k. Lieberman chips in $250 to Hennessy.
A candidate lending great big chunks of change to his campaign is a sign of confidence or a signal that fundraising has disappointed.
Democrat Eric Coleman, a former state senator and retired Superior Court judge, made a an $80,000 loan to his campaign on June 28th as a thin campaign finance period was two days from closing. Coleman raised just $23,615 from supporters. Including the $80,000 loan, Coleman had $146,873 in cash-on-hand when the period ended on June 30th.
Former Eddie Perez top aide Matthew Hennessy began his late bid for city treasurer with a $50,000 loan. Hennessy defended Perez and was critical of the state’s prosecution of the disgraced mayor for corruption. Perez plead guilty to accepting a bribe and attempted extortion in 2017. Hennessy was one of Perez’s dyslexia explainers in the Democrat’s 2010 criminal trial.
Hennessy and his wife were plaintiffs in a much-commented on lawsuit against Hartford Golf Club and one its members. According to one document in the dispute, “The complaint stems from an alleged argument and physical altercation which occurred at a members’ holiday party in December 2016. Following the events at the party, the club took disciplinary action, suspending Fairbanks for a four-month period, during the winter months.” Hennessy was in a twist over the winter suspension (when there’s not much golf played in West Hartford).
In addition to his own $50,000, Hennessy received $250 from former Connecticut resident Joseph I. Lieberman, who served four terms in the U.S. Senate. Lieberman was elected to his fourth term in 2006 as an independent. (The same people who hailed the late Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., for winning election as governor in 1990 as a petitioning candidate took a different view of Lieberman’s bid 16 years later.) Lieberman was famously supportive of Senator John McCain’s 2008 bid for president against then-Senator Barack Obama.
Lieberman is listed in Hennessy’s report as a lawyer employed by KBT–that would be Kasowitz Benson Torres. That firm and its lead partner long represented loathsome demagogue Donald Trump, including $1.6 million from the campaign from November 4, 2020 to the end of the year. The firm also represented the risible Trump University in a fraud investigation that ended with a $25 million settlement to students traduced by Chancellor Trump and his minions.
Democrat Adam Wood, a lobbyist, contributed $250 to Hennessy and has also made fundraising calls. Hennessy must be a tough sell. The campaign reports just $6,800 in individual contributions.
Incumbent Democrat Carmen Sierra has raised $43,156 in individual contributions. Sierra became treasurer when controversial treasurer Adam Cloud resigned in 2022 after a decade in office.
Published July 11, 2023.