Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Carter will have two spots on the November ballot. Independent Party rival John Price withdrew his disputed claim for the tiny party’s spot Friday afternoon, clearing the way for Carter to preserve the party’s status.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill will have to move with some dispatch to secure the rights of Carter and the Independnt party by making sure each ballot reflects the state of party nominations and provides a full array of choices to voters.

Here’s the invitation to next week’s event. Your annual shakedown dues is not enough to get you in. No mention if program will feature tales from FBI interviews and grand jury testimony. That may be for the after-party.

There’s no doubt former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh lobbied the Connecticut legislature on behalf of energy giant Dominion. The Indiana Democrat and DC insider testified for Dominion on nuclear energy at a March 24, 2016 legislative hearing.

Bayh’s Washington, DC, law firm lists Dominion as one to its major clients. Connecticut law sets a low bar for who much register as a lobbyist in Connecticut. Bayh looks like a lobbyist: Lobbyist Definition (CT)- A person who in lobbying and in furtherance of lobbying makes or agrees to make expenditures, or receives or agrees to receive compensation, reimbursement, or both, in the amount of $3,000 or more in any calendar year must register as a lobbyist. General Statutes §§ 1-91 and 1-94.

Bayh testified in person and did not, as many do, submit written testimony in lieu of appearing before the committee.

The Office of State Ethics confirms that Bayh did not register as a lobbyist for Dominion.

Bayh was a late substitute for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat this summer. His early lead has narrowed as he trues to convince voters he did not abandon the state when he left to Senate in 2011 to cash in on his influence as a second generation member of the Washington establishment.

Former three term Connecticut governor John G. Rowland reports to Otisville Federal Correctional Institution today, Daily Ructions has learned. Rowland was sentenced to 2 1/2 years after being convicted by a jury in 2014 of campaign finance violations arising out of his furtive paid relationship with Lisa Wilson Foley’s 2012 congressional campaign.

Rowland was sentenced to a year and a day in prison in 2005 for committing corrupt acts while he was governor. He resigned his office in 2004.

Louis Ciminelli, defendant in a New York corruption investigation, had a curious history of political contributions. Yesterday’s indictment contains details of what Ciminelli gave for access to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. His history of federal contributions, however, is far more modest–until his company joined the development team picked in 2013 to build the Stamford transportation center.

The screenshot from OpenSecrets.org tells the story.

This does not look good. Buffalo developer Louis Ciminelli is among those indicted today in a sweeping New York bribery scandal. Ciminelli has been a prolific contributor to New York political candidates. In 2013 and 2014, Ciminelli became a generous contributor to the Connecticut Democrats’ federal fundraising account. That’s the one ensnared in a criminal investigation of Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s 2014 re-eleciton campaign finances.

Ciminelli contributed $10,000 to the Connecticut account in 2013 and another $10,000 in the fall of 2014, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Ann Ciminelli, a Buffalo homemaker, donated $10,000 November 21, 2013. Paul Ciminelli donated $2,500 in December of that year and followed it with $10,000 on October 16, 2014, a busy day for the Ciminellis and Connecticut Democrats.

Former Connecticut Democratic party finance chairman Peter Galbraith “Braith” Kelly has been indicted in a growing New York bribery scandal. Kelly is the son of prominent Connecticut Democrat Peter “I am not a hack” Kelly.

The Albany Times Union has the indictment here.

Elizabeth Warren and Chris Pitts

The Wall Street Journal reports that corruption-busting U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara today may unseal indictments his investigation of the Buffalo Billion economic development program and other government actions. Indictments are expected to target a former aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Joseph Percoco, and others.

Also mentioned in reports on the bribery investigation have been active Connecticut Democrats Galbraith Kelly and his factotum, Chris Pitts.

At least one entity immersed in the Buffalo Billion program has ties to the political operation of Governor Dannel P. Malloy, whose 2014 re-election campaign finances are the subject of a busy federal grand jury investigation.

UPDATE: The Times-Union has more.

It’s the only explanation. Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst must have been texting from one of his favorite watering holes, The Sitting Duck Tavern (Now in Trumbull!). Maybe it was late at night, maybe not. It has not gone well. Herbst’s nutty feud with beleaguered Democratic Enfield state Representative David Alexander, who seems like a bit of a whiner himself, has taken attention away from Republicans who are on the ballot this fall. Herbst has further revealed himself as an undisciplined loon, given to impulsive outbursts.

The Herbst-Alexander hostilities date to their years as rivals in Trinity College campus politics. (The college must be so proud.) Alexander has had two well-publicized drunk driving arrests while serving the people of Enfield. Herbst thought this would be an appropriate time to even a score and make an intervention. It was not. Herbst’s Clint Eastwood-themed text–featuring, of course, a gun–caused Alexander, who must be a fragile sort, to feel unsafe. Alexander called the Capitol State Police to report his fear. Curiously, he did not call the nearby Enfield police. Someone from the Capitol State called Herbst and told him to knock it off. The rising-star-to-shooting-star says he will cease and desist. Weiner Herbst says it was a mistake. The 2014 Republican candidate for state treasurer meant to send the clip to a different Trinity classmate.

Herbst has mocked Alexander about being unprepared for “the big leagues”. What would he know of such a place?

Herbst, who was re-elected Trumbull’s first selection last November by a tiny 357 vote margin out of more than 11,000 cast, works on a wide spectrum of outrage for criminal conduct. He’s in a twist over Alexander’s drunk driving arrests but has emerged as a supporter of Bridgeport mayor Joseph Ganim, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for public corruption.

Talk about mixed signals. The Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) released its list of endorsements Tuesday. Most of the candidates receiving the insurance agency’s nod are Republicans. The association has committed $400,000 to boosting Republican prospects in November 8th’s legislative contests.

One of the races CBIA gave a pass to is a puzzlement. The 73rd House race features finance committee co-chair Jeff Berger against popular Waterbury alderman Steve Giacomi. The legislature’s finance committee is where those tax increases CBIA now complains about originate. One efficient way to send a message is to oppose the chairman of a committee where much of the damaging legislation–the state’s two biggest tax increases–have taken shape since 2011. CBIA, however, often has conflicting interests which keep it from acting in its members best interests.