Politicos of all sorts are pouring over the niagara of campaign finance reports filed today. One expenditure has citizens of the permanent government in the Capitol Village tittering. The Mattei exploratory campaign report includes payment of $94.02 for a speeding ticket. It strikes observers as a personal rather than a campaign expense. The sort of thing a prosecutor might have rebuked, say, John Rowland or Chris Donovan for doing.

The Hartford Democrat’s number enjoyed a strategic release. The report was filed today, along with many others. It features many contributions above $100 that will not count in the tough slog to $250,000. It includes a tranche of contributions from the Republic of Cambridge among its many out-of-state givers.

Perusing a variety–by no means all–of the reports filed in the last few days gives rise to a general inquiry. When will we see a campaign that provides health insurance coverage for the workers?

A record $145,000.00. That’s what Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti will report today in contributions to his second gubernatorial campaign. All funds qualify for the state’s generous public campaign financing scheme, Lauretti told Daily Ructions this afternoon.

The long-serving Republican mayor said he had received contributions from 1,500 donors from the around the state, with donors concentrated in the New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Hartford, and, of course, Shelton areas.

Lauretti also got off to a fast start in his 2014 gubernatorial campaign, but he had trouble winning commitments from delegates. He did not qualify for the party primary, switched to the contest for lieutenant governor and failed to collect the signatures he needed to win a place on the primary ballot.

The History Channel thinks it has located evidence that aviator Amelia Earhart survived a July 1937 crash in the Pacific. The mysterious of Miss Earhart’s disappearance has inspired 80 years of speculation and searches. Now that the Peacock Network has resolved that mystery, here’s a tougher challenge. Find the plan in Republican Mark Boughton’s vague proposal to eliminate the state income tax. An island of thought in a sea of platitudes is not a plan. ”

“There is no simple, painless way with which to eliminate the state income tax. But I am committed to working with the best and brightest to restore Connecticut to its former glory,” Boughton writes in his hometown newspaper. He is correct that there is no “simple, painless way” to get rid of the tax that since 1991 has kept open the spigot of ruinous state spending. A pledge to work with “the best and brightest” is not a plan.

There is a terrible idea in the Danbury mayor’s Seinfeldian op-ed. It would remove education funding from our democratic institutions. That does not seem like a Republican plan. Binding arbitration–removing teacher salaries out of the democratic process–has driven spending higher at a far greater rate than the growth of the state’s economy. Boughton has been a driving force in the CCJEF lawsuit to take even more authority away from elected officials in making decisions on how to fund public education. He’s been in the forefront of those clamoring for for billions more spending on education, which is unlikely to allow the elimination of the income tax if Boughton and his leftwing allies prevail.

It is good for candidates for governor–and those exploring a race–to have aspirations other than personal ambition. This campaign is not a show about nothing. It requires more than fanciful wishes amidst a recitation of the milestones in Connecticut’s decline.

Connecticut Republican party leadership has been busy making pie charts. They aren’t about the state’s budget crisis or the persistent loss of jobs in the state. The party leadership is consumed with itself and tiny thoughts. Take a look at the charts above purporting to analyze political news coverage. They were displayed to party committee members last month. The leadership seems particularly possessed by the work of the Connecticut Post’s Neil Vigdor.

Here’s a suggestion: Share interesting thoughts using your inside voice and you will be quoted.

There’s no ambiguity in this invitation “paid for by Dave Walker for CT.”

Former state representative and utility regulator Kevin DelGobbo has died. The popular Naugatuck Republican was 53. He enjoyed a varied career in public service, making many friends and earning a reputation for working hard and mastering his brief. Here is his LinkedIn profile.

Kevin was elected to the House in 1998 and served until January 2009. He left the legislature when Governor M. Jodi Rell appointed him to the Department of Public Utility Control. He served until 2012, when the department was merged and renamed. He then served as the executive director of the Waterbury Development Corporation.

Look at that tweet. The self-regarding David Walker would not do it by mistake. It must be part of his cunning plan to win the Republican nomination for governor four years after his third place showing in the 2010 primary for lieutenant governor.

Walker has been “exploring” a race under the complicated rules of the state’s taxpayer-funded campaign finance system. One of the provisions of the explorations phase, which allows an exploring candidate to collect contributions of as much as $375 each, is one must never indicate that he is a candidate.

Expect a candidate or helpful supporter to bring the Walker “CT Gubernatorial effort” tweet to the attention of the weaselly State Election Enforcement Commission, which is often much tougher on Republicans than Democrats. (See Malloy, Harris, et al secret email deal sealed for $325,000.00.)

Whoever files the complaint will want to cc Walker at “Dave Walker for Governor/dave@davidmwalker.com”.

UPDATE: 

A helpful reader points out this Walker Facebook post. Nothing ambiguous about “Dave Walker is working now to be nominated Connecticut Governor.” Not the most artful sentence, but it tells the tale.

Kevin Lembo is on to something. “I’m done,” wrote the second term state comptroller who is exploring a race for governor, in a fundraising email. The Democrat may be more on target than he intended.

Lembo says he’s “done sitting on the sidelines in Hartford.” Remarkable. Lembo has been in the thick of state government for more than a decade as a health care advocate and comptroller. He’s a Democratic insider whose office has given him a platform to “get serious about fixing” Hartford. Instead, he’s been a docile and loyal foot soldier for his party, a silent accessory to Connecticut’s decline.

Every campaign gets plenty of bad advice. Winning candidates recognize and reject terrible ideas. In pursuit of a few bucks at the close of the second fundraising quarter of the year, Lembo issued a lethal confession that his many Democratic detractors will not ignore. Republicans will be more hopeful than ever that they face Lembo in 2018.

Admitting to sitting on the sidelines for more than six years is no recommendation to lead Connecticut into its precarious future.

The Republican field of gubernatorial hopefuls just grew bigger by one. The race was missing the obligatory Greenwich businessman. Builder Peter Thalheim began his bid today to fill that space. Thalheim’s filing states he will be funding his own campaign–perhaps saving the taxpayers millions.

You can read his campaign filing here.

If you have not listened to Crimetown, the podcast sensation, start now. Crimetown chronicles the violent legacy of the Patricarca crime family based in Providence, Rhode Island. Raymond Patriarca’s reach extended far into Connecticut–including Middletown. Since we are living in a world filled with crime and treachery, one cannot predict when you will be accused or become a victim of a crime. If you are caught in such an unfortunate situation, contacting a reliable law firm like Wilder Law Firm that will protect the rights of their clients is the best idea.

If you are into crime stories or, if you are interested to find out if littering is a violation of law in Arizona? , then this is for you. Sal “Butch” D’Aquila ran a gambling operation for Patriarca out of a Middletown newsstand–Central News–until the Feds caught up with him and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1991. You can read a summary of D’Aquila’s dark tale in this Courant story from his 1991 sentencing.

The newsstand is closed. The Patriarca mob family is no more. Sal “Butch” D’Aquila is still around and took time to attend and contribute to a recent fundraiser for Middletown Mayor Dan Drew. Democrat Drew is exploring a race for governor. The candidate is usually the star attraction at these events but at this one it was D’Aquila who had jaws dropping and attendees reaching for their phones. Drew confirmed D’Aquila attended the local June event.

Candidates are in a fundraising frenzy as the second reporting period of the year draws to a close on Friday. Dragooned wives, children and parents have seen their names attached to the most cringe-inducing appeals to strangers and other marks with the assistance of the criminal justice law firm. You must have seen them arrive in your email inbox. Candidates will have to be either notably innovative or reckless to top Drew’s curious contribution Sal “Butch” D’Aquila.

One more note on this. Consider that the Constitution State puts no prohibition on contributions to a candidate who may seek public financing from a violent Mafioso. It bars Jospeh Ganim, whose crimes by any standard were far less than D’Aquila’s, from participating in the misbegotten taxpayer-financed bonanza. Reconcile that—and begin listening to Crimetown at episode one. You can thank me later.