Governor Dannel P. Malloy chose Holy Week to offer his thoughts on state Senator Joan Hartley’s religious beliefs. The Waterbury Democrat cast a vote against Malloy friend and ally Andrew McDonald’s nomination to lead the State Supreme Court on Tuesday. The exchange with the media struck veteran observers as far beyond the bounds of normal political discourse in Connecticut.

Associate Justice Andrew McDonald’s mournful statement in the aftermath of his state Senate rejection Tuesday suggests he may be looking for something to do other than complete his eight-year term on the State Supreme Court. The former state senator and sharp-elbowed Malloy blocker could upend the Democratic nomination for attorney general by leaving the high court and storming his party’s fractured field. He’d storm the mid-May convention.

The last two months revealed that McDonald still possesses a loyal cadre of political allies who can raise significant sums of money. He’d want to engage a fresh team of strategists, but those are easily found.

A stint in the attorney general’s office would allow McDonald to exercise singular authority–rather than seeking four-member majorities on the court.

She’s at it again. Republican State Central Committee member Patricia Fers took to Twitter earlier this month to share her vulgar thoughts. The Ansonia Republican last year used Facebook to put her xenophobia on full display.

What was the typo this time?

Ann Brookes announced Tuesday on Facebook that she is abandoning her bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. She will instead apply her efforts to electing Steve Obsitnik governor.

Brookes had been shopping around for a gubernatorial running mate but could find no takers. Her fundraising never took off and the magic $75,000 in small contributions needed to qualify for public financing seemed an elusive target as the party nominating convention grew nearer.

Brookes made a late bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in the Second Congressional District in 2016, losing by a few votes. She is the second candidate to vamoose from the campaign for LG. State Representative Liz Linehan (D-Cheshire) ended her bid for the office when running mate Dan Drew withdrew from the race for governor last year. Linehan, who was billed as a progressive Democrat, made news recently when she voted against the nomination of Associate Justice Andrew McDonald to become Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, providing a reminder that sometimes you never know what you are getting in a running mate. How was Dan Drew to know?

Attorney General George Jepsen, the Connecticut’s most popular state officeholder, will announce his endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ned Lamont Monday morning, Daily Ructions has learned. Jepsen is the first significant Democrat to offer public support of a candidate for governor in what has so far been an unusually quiet contest.

Jepsen was an early supporter of Lamont’s 2006 campaign for the U.S. Senate. That was the year the wealthy Greenwich Democrat scored a stunning upset over incumbent Joseph Lieberman in an August primary that received attention around the world. Lieberman defeated Lamont three months later as an independent candidate in the general election. Lamont lost the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010 to Dannel P. Malloy.

Jepsen, who lives in West Hartford, is serving his second term as attorney general and announced in November  that he will not seek a third.

Law school deans will not be pleased. Governor Dannel P. Malloy is offering a transaction. He’s willing to appoint a Republican to the state Supreme Court in exchange for the state Senate confirming his pal Andrew McDonald as Chief Justice.

Republicans are not biting on the tawdry offer. The Republican prospect whose name was dangled by the Democrats, Andrew Roraback, possesses sensibilities that would be appalled to be included in the dirty deal. If Malloy declines to nominate someone who can be confirmed before the regular session of the legislature ends in May, Roraback will be a contender for the court’s top spot if a Republican is elected governor in November.

Where are those voices that only a few weeks ago were alarmed at the intrusion of politics in judicial nominations?

Bridgeport mayor and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Joseph Ganim has written to party chairman Nick Balleto to complain about the makeup of candidate forum audiences. Ganim refers to dozens of town committee forums around the state and concludes, “It is obvious to any observer that those in attendance at these forums are almost all white, even though almost 33% of Connecticut residents are black or Latino.”

Ganim urges Balletto to act to reverse the trend.  “As Chairman of Connecticut’s Democratic Party, I urge you to use your good office to lead the effort to set up statewide candidate forums that specifically reach out to Democratic voters in communities of color in order to increase access and participation by all in our state.”

Is 20 years too long? Is he leftwing enough? A Democrat is using the services of Public Policy Polling to test a challenge to popular First District U.S. Representative John B. Larson (D-East Hartford).

Deep into the poll, the inquiries got to the point. Would you be likely to support a challenger to Larson if it came from a woman with 16 years in public service in two congressional office, is a breast cancer survivor, and comes from a military family? Would you? Those were some of the questions, reports a Democrat who was polled and shared details with Daily Ructions.

Insiders are saying that describes the Director of the Women’s Leadership Center at the University of Saint Joseph, Shannon Kula.

Kula would probably need to collect signatures to get on the primary ballot as winning 15% of the convention delegates in May would be a reach.

Larson was first elected to the House in 1998 after defeating West Hartford Democrat Miles Rapoport in a hard-fought primary. Larson went on to make short work of Republican and Rowland favorite Kevin O’Connor that fall. He has been re-elected without incident nine times.

It shouldn’t be this hard. A vote on a casino bill in the legislature’s public safety committee would usually be granted as a courtesy to the leaders and committee members supporting MGM’s Bridgeport casino proposal. Placing an item on a committee agenda does not mean it will pass, but it does give proponents an opportunity to argue their brief.

State Senator Timothy Larson (D-East Hartford) brings a curiously opposition to voting on the bill. Observers and others note that Larson has been a notably bullying proponent of a slot shack to be operated in East Windsor far from reservation land.

Larson may have lost some credibility with his committee colleagues when he secretly applied to become the head of the state’s lottery agency while serving as co-chair of the committee that oversees it.

Local legislators are making calls on behalf of the casino bill. They have been joined in their efforts by mayors Toni Harp and Joseph Ganim.

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mark Boughton suffered a seizure at a candidate event in Avon Thursday evening. Boughton was conscious when EMTs assisted the Danbury mayor into an ambulance.

Boughton underwent surgery for the removal of a brain tumor last summer and has appeared to enjoy a robust recovery.

The well-attended candidate forum was held at the North House. Candidates had finished speaking to the crowd and were mingling with the audience when Boughton collapsed.

Updates as they are received.