Poor Bob Stefanowski. He can’t help it. He’s been busy working the Saudis for $36 million and paying little attention to seismic changes in the American political landscape. The Madison Republican dropped a clanger Thursday when he announced during an interview that he supports a woman’s access to abortion in the first trimester. That is a new stand on abortion rights from Stefanowski 12 days before Election Day and five years since he first began running for governor.

Stefanowski appeared not to have understood the magnitude of his blunder until Friday morning or needed more than 12 hours of head scratching to compose a risible explanation. Try to imagine how many versions of hummima-hummina-hummina he produced until he settled on his preposterous statement.

Stefanowski said he misspoke. He will support no changes in Connecticut’s long-settled abortion law. It is possible that Stefanowski believes that is Connecticut law and he was endorsing it in different language than he has previously used. Or the former payday executive has never been fluent in the law of the reproductive rights in Connecticut.

The second-time Republican nominee for governor made his explanation worse by trying to turn ignorance into a virtue. Stefanowski used the statement to highlight his considerable self-regard by declaring himself virtuous because he admits an “innocent mistake,” unlike, he writes, Governor Ned Lamont. Now Stefanowski would now like to move on, as would anyone who has blown a hole below the waterline of his self-financed $10 million campaign. But Stefanowski could not leave it at that.

Robert of Arabia used the conclusion of his statement to repudiate the tone he struck a few paragraphs before. Stefanowski blames Democrat Lamont for the attention paid to the former loan shark’s confusion on the state of reproductive law. Stefanowski says the abortion fiasco is a diversion from Lamont’s support the police accountability bill that the Republican has been highlighting in the frantic final days of the campaign. Just don’t ask him to explain it.

Published October 28, 2022.

CONECT is an organization comprised of “churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and civic organizations from New Haven and Fairfield Counties – representing more than 30,000 people from different races, faith backgrounds, and living in both cities and suburbs – that have joined together to take action on social and economic justice issues of common concern.” It held a candidate forum in Bridgeport Sunday afternoon.

CONECT had one requirement for attendance in person: please wear a mask.

It’s not a lot to ask.

Published October 24, 2022.

Governor Ned Lamont is putting the favors he’s done and contacts he made in office to use for his re-election campaign. Ned for CT, the governor’s self-financed campaign committee, paid Grossman Solutions, LLC, $345,965.85 on September 12th for general campaign consulting.

At the end of July, state Democrats notified party organizations that “Grossman Solutions is seeking a team to support the voter outreach and Canvass in support of Democratic Governor Ned Lamont in Connecticut in Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties. The campaign will reach residents through paid full-time canvassing and will expand to include additional canvassers for GOTV. The campaign will start immediately and will last through November 2022. Pay is competitive, and benefits include a health insurance stipend.”

Last year, according to Grossman Solutions’s website, “…CT DPH hired Grossman Solutions to design and execute Get Vaccinated CT, a data-driven, door-to-door campaign that informs residents in vulnerable communities about the vaccine, debunks common misconceptions, and helps people get their shot.”

According to the SEEC online record of campaign disbursements, Grossman Solutions has been a minor player in Democratic state campaigns. The pandemic has indeed changed everything. Excluding advertising, Grossman Solutions has received one of the largest single payments from the Lamont re-election campaign. Lamont’s September 30th campaign finance report discloses the governor had spent more than $14 million on his fourth bid for statewide office and had $110,000 in cash on hand. Another hefty infusion of cash for the final five weeks of the campaign is likely to appear in the final report before November 8th and the post-election report.

Published October 24, 2022.

State Senator Cathy Osten plays a tough brand of politics. The Sprague Democrat reminds voters of that in a sledgehammer campaign mailer festooned with purple and yellow flowers on its lower border. She declares, “I only serve one flag: ours.”

It’s an odd point to raise unless Osten wants to emphasize a contrast with her opponent, Pietro “Rocky” Camadella. The Norwich Republican tells his stirring American tale on his campaign website. He was born in Naples, Italy and served in the Italian Navy, reaching the rank of sergeant.

Like may Italian immigrants and the descendants of millions of Italians who came to the United States in the 20th century, Camardella holds dual citizenship. He speaks English with an Italian accent.

Italy is our ally. It belongs to NATO. Immigrants have brought the riches of its culture to the United States and introduced generations of Americans to its beauty. On appropriate occasions, plenty of Americans have saluted the Italian flag.

Ella Rosa Giovianna Oliva Grasso (née Tambussi) was the daughter of Italian immigrants who settled in Windsor Locks. Take a moment to ponder what the nation’s first female governor elected in her own right would think of Osten’s ugly sentiments.

This is Trump level xenophobia dressed up as patriotism. What a low opinion Osten must have of the people of Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Marlborough, Montville, Norwich and Sprague to think they share her base instincts that there are no standards in the pursuit of re-election.

Here is a video antidote to Osten’s ugly use of public funds to stir anti-Italian sentiments. Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti)with Caterina Valente (born in France to Italian parents and living in Paris today at 91) singing Antonio Carlos Jobim’s One Note Samba. A beautiful mosaic that Cathy Osten want to poison with their pursuit of office.

Published October 21, 2022.

West Hartford Republican Mary Fay took to Facebook last month to express her displeasure that the Connecticut Log Cabin Republicans have not endorsed her bid for comptroller. The organization has endorsed Republicans running for the state legislature and Congress, according to its website.

Fay, a member of West Hartford’s town council, commented on a Log Cabin Republicans post boosting the September 20th annual state Republican Prescott Bush Dinner in Stamford. The attraction of the event was Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican. Ernst acknowledged Fay from the podium from that night. Fay seems to have thought that would prompt the gay Republican group to act.

Describing herself as “the only Republican LGBTQ candidate ever about to break history,” Fay added some hashtags to the post. #wheresmyendorsement expresses her disappointment. #rainbowsuitemeansnothing is more of a mystery. Fay’s post has been deleted from her account.

Fay faces Democrat Sean Scanlon on the ballot for comptroller. Scanlon is a state representative and executive director of Tweed New Haven Airport. Fay has a background in finance, including a stint as the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority’s executive director. That position came to an abrupt end when the Lamont administration declined to fund the agency.

Published October 21, 2022.

Peter Mariano, the Naugatuck Democrat seeking a fifth term as probate judge, has seen his troubles grow this week. On Tuesday, the Bar Disciplinary Counsel filed an amended presentment accused Mariano of failing to report four May criminal convictions to the Statewide Grievance Committee.

Mariano was arrested four times in 2021, three times for driving under the influence and twice for driving with a suspended license. On May 9th of this year, Mariano entered guilty pleas to two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and two counts of reckless endangerment. The pleas, according to the amended presentment, “qualify as [Mariano] being found guilty of a serious crime” under the state Practice Book.

During his arrests, Mariano repeatedly raised with Naugatuck police officers his friendships with the chief and deputy chief of their department.

Mariano, who surrendered his license to practice law early in 2021, was obligated to report the convictions to the grievance committee that oversees lawyers admitted to practice in Connecticut. “An attorney’s failure to send timely written notice of his or her finding of guilt required by this section shall constitute misconduct. . . .,” according to the rules governing lawyers’ conduct.

The charges are another setback for Mariano. He has been claiming during his campaign that his license to practice law would be restored before the November 8th election. Mariano lost an August 9th Republican primary to endorsed candidate Rosa Rebimbas. The district is comprised of Beacon Falls, Middlebury, Naugatuck and Prospect. Democratic delegates in the four towns nominated Mariano as their candidate after he was released from jail in May. The longtime Republican switched his party registration after losing the primary to Rebimbas and became a Democrat.

Governor Ned Lamont, Mariano’s fellow Democrat, has said he should not be seeking re-election.

Published October 20, 2022.

Two Enfield Democratic town council members look more foolish today than they do on an October 8th video showing them taking Republican signs from a busy street.

Matthew Despard and Nick Hopkins appear on the video when they arrived after hours at the parking lot of The Jug Shop. They proceeded to remove Republican campaign signs from the grassy divider between the parking lot and the street. They took signs for Carol Hall, Despard’s opponent in the 59th House District, and dropped them off anonymously at the home of the local Republican town committee chairman Kelly Hemmeler.

The Journal Inquirer’s Susan Danseyar reports the story, including a brouhaha at Monday’s town council meeting. The Democrats removed the signs because the operator of The Jug Shop told them they had been put there without his permission. The property owner, however, had given permission to for Hall to place her signs on his property.

A simple rule of politics is that candidates should stay clear of an opponent’s signs. The purveyor of spirits at The Jug Shop thought the Hall signs should not have been on his landlord’s property. He could have removed them himself. No help from fevered partisan was required.

This story that would attract a flurry of attention in October in most Connecticut towns. Enfield, however, has long featured a fractious and intense political culture. The story will live for the next 20 days in the Enfield politics hothouse–and maybe for longer.

Despard and Hopkins did a foolish thing. Voters in Enfield who learn of it will reach their own conclusions. The immediate consequence–and danger–for Despard is that a campaign sign outrage captured on video risks energizing Hall’s team and embarrassing Despard’s.

House Democrats provided a diversion from the sign controversy with a text message to voters on Hall’s voting record on abortion. Mark Pazniokas has the story in the CT Mirror. He points out that 13 House and Senate Black and Puerto Rican Caucus members also opposed the abortion bill highlighted in the Democrats’ text sent to 59th House District voters. The text message, which no other Republican reports having landed in their district, may not have the effect House Democrats intended.

Published October 19, 2022.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski admitted Tuesday he is performing work in Saudi Arabia. The original Daily Ructions post revealing the former payday lender executive’s lucrative business connections to Saudi Arabia was published on Monday, September 26th. Meeting with the press the next day after an early afternoon debate on NBC Connecticut, Stefanowski called the Daily Ructions scoop “not accurate.” Stefanowski dismissed the scoop as “a late night blog.” When asked what had been inaccurate about the story, the candidate refused to say.

When asked on September 26th if he had requested a release from the non-disclosure agreement Stefanowski claimed to have with his clients, he responded, “Why would I do that?” A short recitation of the reasons voters might want to know if he was working in the Desert Kingdom brought a scornful non sequitur about North Korea, China and a trip to the moon.

The Hearst papers report two weeks after the original story that Stefanowski has been doing and continues to conduct business with the regime. Confronted with documents confirming his connection, the self-financing candidate buckled. If there was a non-disclosure agreement it was quickly terminated to allow the cornered candidate to speak publicly about his eye-popping deal.

Robert of Arabia now acknowledges that the income paid to his LOLO limited liability company is from Saudi Arabia. Stefanowski is a consultant on the Saudi sovereign fund-financed construction of NEOM, a “smart city” that has been notable for its delays and brutal development practices.

Middle East Eye reported on October 7th, “A Saudi court sentenced three members of the Howeitat, a tribe forcibly ejected to make way for the $500 bn Neom megacity, to death earlier this month for resisting displacement, a UK-based rights group has reported.” Nice friends Saudi Bob is making for the $36.8 million he reported was paid to Lolo between 2019 and 2021.

Stefanowski continues to fade in polls measuring his support in his rematch with incumbent Democrat Ned Lamont. The Republican has badly soiled himself with his clumsy attempt to conceal from Connecticut voters the source of his newfound fortune. Stefanowski may realize he probably mistook for friends people he told about his remarkable desert deal. His claims about the requirements of his non-disclosure agreement may have exceeded his own adherence to its provisions. Whatever its terms, the agreement’s primary purpose was to provide a thick veil of secrecy over facts that Stefanowski knew would cause a segment of Connecticut voters to recoil.

Published October 12, 2022.

State Senator Norm Needleman asked lobbyists to solicit their clients to purchase advertisements for three Senate Democratic PACs holding a joint fundraiser Thursday. Needleman is sponsoring the event at the Essex Corinthian Yacht Club. The co-chair of the legislature’s energy and technology committee, Needleman states in a follow-up to his original request to communicator lobbyists that he is not asking them to violate state law by soliciting clients. The plain meaning of Needleman’s message contradicts that claim.

When Needleman’s first appeal for the his event did not elicit the expected avalanche of ads at $250.00 for each PAC, Needleman suggested there had been some confusion. Thus, the request that lobbyists solicit their clients for a trio of checks.

“I am aware that many of you have been asked multiple times to give to these PACs. That is one of the reasons why I am asking for business checks for advertising in the program books, an area that may have been overlooked.” Needleman began his detailed instructions with a claim that he was “humbled by the response I have received to the fundraising event.” Humility is not usually associated with a further twisting of the screws on lobbyists and their clients.

“Particularly for the communicator lobbyists–I am asking you to reach out to each of your clients and have their businesses write 3 business checks at $250 each, one ad for each program book. I believe they are a number of organizations who have not so. While I recognize you cannot directly solicit, you are able to share this information with them,” Needleman continued. The Senate Democrats are taking names.

Asking lobbyists to “reach out to each of your clients and have their businesses write 3 business checks at $250 each” is requesting lobbyists to solicit their clients. Needleman claiming he is not asking lobbyists to solicit does nothing to dilute his specific request that the lobbyists “have [clients’] businesses write 3 business checks….” The Essex Democrat provides specific directions to lobbyists that include soliciting for three $250 checks, one for each Senate Democratic PAC. It is not ambiguous.

The legislature enacted in the aftermath of the Rowland scandals a generous campaign public financing program that has cost taxpayers scores of millions of dollars. Its purpose, sponsors and supporters claimed, was to eliminate in political campaigns the influence of lobbyists and businesses that needed lobbyists. Needleman’s instructions to lobbyists tells them to violate the law. They are not allowed to solicit. Asking lobbyists in a second solicitation for his event to instruct their clients how much they must pay and to whom they must pay it is asking lobbyists to solicit their clients.

Communicator lobbyists know they are not allowed to solicit their clients for campaign fundraising. They also are aware that Needleman is keeping a list of whose clients are giving and whose are not. “I try to operate in a way that ‘makes sense‘ for all involved, hence the program book business advertisement check request.” Some lobbyists may decide that It “makes sense” to risk violating the law rather it does to make Needleman’s list of whose clients did not pony up three $250 checks.

The State Elections Enforcement Commission may want to seek a copy of those advertising books and determine who bought ads, when they paid for them, and who brought the opportunity to give to their attention.

Published October 10, 2022.

Leaders of public universities usually know to stay out of partisan politics. University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy is no ordinary public higher education executive. The former two-term Democratic governor of Connecticut attended a Democratic Governors Association event for donors in Portland, Maine in July.

The DGA event was held not long after the Essex Democrat nearly lost his job in June over making an embarrassing bollocks of an unsuccessful attempt to hire a University of Maine at Augusta president—a “mistakes-were-made” mess that may cost Maine taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next several years.

As governor, Malloy used public higher education as a safe harbor for members of his administration on the hunt for pension boosts. Attending an exclusively partisan event that aided Governor Janet Mills’s re-election may be seen as compromising a public education institution that most expect to stay well-clear of party politics. The DGA has been running ads boosting Mills in her race with Republican Paul LaPage, who served two terms before losing to Mills in 2018. LaPage has promised to oust Malloy if he defeats Mills in November. LaPage won two three-way contests for governor, winning in 2010 and 2018. Maine’s unusual term-limits provisions prevented LaPage from seeking a third consecutive term but is eligible to run again after four years out of office.

Trustees of the University of Maine System in July gave Malloy a one-year extension on the three-year contact that expired in June. They also froze his salary for 2023 and denied him a 2022 bonus.

The July 13th DGA event took place while the National Governors Association held its summer meeting in Portland. Nineteen governors attended the conference, which began on the 13th and concluded two days later.

The DGA event included a brief reunion between Malloy and Governor Ned Lamont, who did not hesitate during his 2018 campaign for governor to rate Malloy’s eight years in office a failure. Both Cathy Malloy and Ann Huntress Lamont attended the DGA event in Portland. Mrs. Lamont was heard expressing her regrets that she’d not had time to catchup with Mrs. Malloy.

Published October 9, 2022.