GE chief executive Immelt Saturday confirmed GE’s interest in leaving Connecticut, Daily Ructions has learned. Immelt was a featured speaker today at Mitt Romney’s annual gathering of notables at the Stein Eriksen Lodge to discuss politics and public policy.

“Yes, absolutely,” Immelt was heard to say when asked if GE is serious about finding a new corporate home. Nothing in Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s Friday announcement of tweaks in a pending round of more punitive tax increases appears to have moved GE off the course it announced on June 1st. Those changes are more likely to calm restive Hartford insurance companies Aetna and Travelers. Immelt, a high-profile business advisor to President Obama, called the business environment in Connecticut “horrible.”

Immelt’s primary criteria is clear: “A big city in a growth oriented state.”

The long contest to lead Connecticut’s rickety Republican organization has featured bursts of fevered rumors, game plans for the future, the odd recrimination, the airing of grievances. These are all staple of intraparty fights, especially in a party that holds no major offices in the state.

Declarations of support for each of the hopefuls–Joe Markley, John Pavia and J.R. Romano–have been thin on the ground. The candidates have not produced a stream of endorsements from state party committee members, who will vote on a new leader later this month. Committee members are notoriously cagey and unreliable in appearing to support a candidate while convincing themselves they have offered only polite encouragement.

Candidates need to push if they want commitments. Apply the veteran voter counter’s rule of three: make your marks say three times you’ve secured their support. Short of that, heaping helpings of delusion can be the central offering on the campaign menu. No one wants to push because disappointments will far outnumber firm, public commitments. A candidate who starts releasing public statements of support from the small universe of voters may create some momentum where there has been none while forcing rivals to start showing what they’ve got.

Republican National Committee members Pat Longo and John Frey are doing the heavy lifting of raising money for party building efforts. The popular duo are bringing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day to New Haven on June 16th as the star attraction for Longo and Frey’s organization, CT Leadership PAC.

Christie became familiar with Connecticut Republican politics when he invested millions in Republican Governor Association money in an effort to drag Tom Foley (#ThrewItAway) over the finish line first in last fall’s race for governor. Christie is said now and then to be considering a bid for president as he ponders his manifold troubles in New Jersey.

The suggested contribution for the event from individual donors is $125 and $750 for federal PACs.

The trio of candidates seeking to become state party chair are co-sponsors of the event, which will be held The Owl Shoppe. The gathering could provide an opportunity for others to test sentiments as no clear frontrunner has emerged in the long march. Party building–instead of travel–will be a priority for the next chair in the aftermath of the staggering failures of the Labriola years.

Big trouble for Hartford Democrat and General Law Committee clerk Angel Morales. Most of the public funds he received in his 2010 nail biter in a Democratic primary against incumbent state Representative Kelvin Roldan disappeared without benefit of receipts.

Morales and his benighted campaign treasurer were unable to account for $19,381.85 of the $26,000 in public funds provided by the taxpayer. The SEEC opinion makes it clear that Morales was in no hurry to assist SEEC in its investigation of the missing Citizens’ Election Fund money. Morales must pay back the missing money and a $10,000 fine. His campaign treasurer, Jason Lopez, is on the hook for a $5,000 fine.

Serious Republican competitors will be scrambling today to turn out a crowd of protesters to urges Governor Dannel P. Malloy to veto the budget the Democratic legislature passed Wednesday. Malloy announced in an email Saturday that he will be kicking off the Democrats’ 2015 campaign effort In Hartford Sunday at 12:45 p.m.

This is the sort of activity Joe Markley understands. Rivals John Pavia and J.R. Romano may have to strain to make an impression. Clock is ticking.

UPDATE: Fairfield Republicans organize.

Fairfield Republicans
June 4 at 8:56am · 

MALLOY TO VISIT FAIRFIELD SUNDAY – In a shocking turn of events, Fairfield First Selectman Mike Tetreau has asked Governor Malloy to headline his re-election campaign kick-off event Sunday at 3pm at the Southport Brewing Company. A rally is being planned across the street from the restaurant starting at 2:30pm to show opposition to the Governor’s Budget. If you do attend, we ask that everyone remain civil, do not block access and that everyone be respectful to the businesses in the complex. Southport Brewing Company is very supportive of many organizations in Fairfield and has been the venue for many political events and we hope you will all continue to support this local business.

Like · Comment · Share 

Maybe it was the high spirits of the evening. Republican party chairman Jerry Labriola told several party loyalists at Thursday’s annual Prescott Bush fundraising dinner that he may enter this month’s contest for his job, Daily Ructions has learned. Labriola’s confidants spent Friday sharing their dismay at the prospect.

The race for party chairman features rivals Joe Markley, John Pavia, and J.R. Romano. No candidate has emerged as the clear leader in competition to be decided by the party’s state central committee at the end of June. Labriola may have misinterpreted the party’s failure to remove him shortly after November’s many election disappointments as a vote of confidence rather than the demoralized party’s polite instinct to let Labriola’s tenure fade away.

The annual Bush dinner can become boozy affairs for some of its organizers. The gathering may have induced cloudy visions in Labriola that he could grope his way to a late ballot victory in the fractured field of hopefuls.

You can read my Sunday Hartford Courant column here. What a week in Connecticut.

Imagine you left the northeast today and returned in, say, 15 years.

It does not take much to knock state Republican party chairman hopeful John Pavia off his pins. An innocuous comment by rival J.R. Romano on a newspaper blog last week sent the Easton political dilettante into a revealing twist.

Irritated that Romano pointed out that Pavia’s wife is a Superior Court judge whose prospects for reappointment and elevation are at Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s pleasure. It is an unusual tie that members of the party’s central committee might want to include in their deliberations.

Pavia’s response showed he has not spent much time in the arena of political combat. The whiny businessman cannot take a mild punch and certainly does not know how to land one. Somebody take away his keyboard. Pavia’s rambling response showed he’s shooting blanks in this contest.

Here’s the tedious message [italics added] Pavia sent to the small universe of voters he needs to persuade to support him later this month:

From: John Pavia <johnpaviaforgopchair@gmail.com>
Date: May 30, 2015 at 9:43:56 AM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Addressing It

Throughout the course of this campaign for State Party Chairman, I have publicly complimented the other candidates for being professional, respectful, and acting like gentlemen.  Our Party has self-inflicted many wounds to our image over the last few years, so there is no better way to demonstrate leadership than by behaving with professionalism, maturity and class, even in the midst of a competitive race.  Campaigns should be about vision and ideas, but as we all know they often decline into petty personal attacks.  I think the three of us have stayed focused on articulating our vision for the Party, and respectfully discussing our differences. 

On Wednesday, a story posted on Neil Vigdor’s blog focused on my candidacy and my wife’s position as a Superior Court Judge.  Instead of declining comment and taking the position that candidates’ spouses and children are off limits, one of the candidates took the position that I needed to address this issue.  I have already spoken to that candidate, and I take him at his word that the comment was not made maliciously.  However, I would like to make two important points.  

The race for Republican Chairman is being watched by a lot of people.  The question at the top of everyone’s list is whether the Connecticut Republican Party can shed itself of its bad habits and become a strong, unified, and successful organization.  The candidates for Chairman have the unique opportunity to begin the process of changing voters’ opinions about the CT GOP and its ability to lead in a mature and professional manner.  The results of the last few election cycles have shown that we damage our own brand when we decide to take the low road and throw fellow Republicans under the proverbial bus.  We are only going to discredit ourselves and hurt our party if we opt to go down the path of personal attacks.  I am not going be the one to lead us down that road.

I understand that my wife is a public official.  I have never attempted to downplay her position, and have always put it out front and center when discussing my family.  Up until now, not a single person has, in any way, questioned my ability to be an effective Chairman because of her position, or suggested that her role as a Superior Court Judge creates a conflict. That being said, I guess I have no choice but to “address” the issue now that it’s been raised.  

After serving the people of Connecticut for 15 years as a prosecutor, my wife had the honor of being appointed as a Superior Court Judge by Governor Jodi Rell in 2006.  All judges in Connecticut are appointed for an eight year term.  Her first term expired this year and she, along with other of Governor Rell’s judicial appointees were reappointed by Governor Malloy and were confirmed by the General Assembly.  Robin has served with distinction and will now serve her second eight year term which will expire in 2022.    

During her first term as a Judge, I served as Finance Chair for our Party, helping to raise campaign funds in support of our effort to defeat Dan Malloy and return common sense to Connecticut’s government.  I never once hesitated to ask a donor for a contribution out of concern that my wife would not be reappointed should Governor Malloy be reelected. This simply was not a concern of mine or my wife’s.  While I realize that anything is possible, I don’t think any of us believe that Dan Malloy will be Governor in 2022 when my wife’s current term expires.  Therefore, the issue raised on Neil Vigdor’s blog will probably rate as the biggest “Red Herring” of this campaign.

The race for Chairman is now less than a month away, and the campaign is sure to intensify.  Nonetheless, I strongly urge that we continue to show the class and professionalism that Republicans around the State are looking for.  If we want to find a legitimate target for our ire, we don’t have to look any further than Dan Malloy and the Democrats.  His administration is by far the single biggest threat to our State’s survival.  His policies are flat out wrong, and the numbers prove it.  While the rest of the country continues to ride the wave of recovery that began around the time he took office, Connecticut ranks near last in job growth.  During that same period, our unemployment rate was 6.6%, and our Working Age population declined at 5x (five times) the national average.  These numbers are alarming, and the trends are not going to reverse unless we come together and send more Republicans to Hartford.  Our Party is the only hope Connecticut has to roll back the tax and spend policies that are literally driving people and companies out of Connecticut.  Come June 23^rd, Governor Malloy will soon realize that we are going to challenge him with substance and hard facts on every front as a unified Republican Party.

In order to accomplish these goals, we, as leaders of our Party, need to find ways to attract voters to the Republican Party and not continue the same old slash and burn tactics that have caused voters to reject our message.  I can assure you that as we move forward, my focus will remain on having substantive discussions with the members of State Central and other Republicans on how to build up our party, and how to elect Republicans.

Thank you for your service and commitment to our Party.

With best regards,

John Pavia

Windsor Republican party chairman Ron Eleveld is expected to enter the race for state party chair, Daily Ructions has learned. Eleveld also serves as a member of Windsor’s fractious board of education.

Eleveld will join Joe Markley, John Pavia and J.R. Romano in the long campaign to a vote by the party’s state central committee in June. No clear frontrunner has emerged since candidates began testing their prospects in November.