Former state Representative Themis Klarides has been making the rounds as she prepares to launch a bid for the Republican nomination for governor. The Derby Republican has been joined on the exploratory trail by two devoted supporters of Donald Trump.

Sebastian Rougemont and Elissa Voccola have been spotted accompanying Klarides as she appears at events around the state. Voccola served as executive director of Connecticut’s Republican organization from 2013 to 2015. She was the director of the Trump Victory campaign in the northeast in 2019 and 2020.

Rougemont was the New Hampshire director of the 2020 Trump campaign. Trump lost New Hampshire last year by almost 60,000 votes, 20 times greater than the margin Hillary Clinton took the state’s four electoral states by four years earlier.

Rougemont and Voccola, who have been looking for a Connecticut campaign, may also be auditioning to join Greg Butler, Klarides’s spouse and the Connecticut face of utility giant Eversource, in running the 11-term legislator’s run for governor. While Themis2022.com has recently been reserved, no documents creating a campaign committee have been filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

Connecticut’s economy added a piddling 500 non-farm jobs in April. The figure from the state’s labor department is a significant drop from March’s 5,200 gain in jobs.

Massachusetts added 5,100 jobs in April.

A weekend group text among Hartford legislators ignited an explosion of resentments between state Senator John Fonfara and Speaker of the House Matthew Ritter, Daily Ructions has learned.

Fonfara posited that Ritter’s establishment instincts are preventing him from making the most of a moment that Fonfara sees as progressive opportunities. Fonfara previously suggested that Governor Ned Lamont, a wealthy Greenwich Democrat, is not acting like a Democrat.

While Lamont largely ignored Fonfara, Ritter did not. The scion of Connecticut’s most privileged and patronage-laden political family, Ritter responded with some right royal abuse of the battle-hardened Fonfara. The South End fixture has seen off a host of opponents in more than 30 years in the tumultuous world of Hartford Democratic politics.

Local Democrats have recruited state Representative Brandon McGee to bring what passes for peace among Hartford Democratic factions. McGee, himself a remarkable survivor of shifting alliances, knows something about brokering peace.

A stunning scoop from The Courant: Thomas Katsouleas submitted his resignation as the University of Connecticut’s president in March. His official departure date is June 30th, though his landing gear appears to have been engaged for some time.

The public was not told of this major development at the state’s premier public university.

What Governor Ned Lamont knew of this development and when he knew it will cause considerable interest. So will the cost of Katsouleas staying on as a member of the faculty, if he decides to do that. The public university is paying a hefty tariff for Katsouleas’s predecessor, Susan Herbst, to teach a course each semester at the public university’s Stamford branch.

Bob Ward, a revered figure in politics and public service, died Sunday at home in North Branford. Bob, a Republican, served in the state House of Representatives for 22 years. He was his party’s leader in the House for twelve of them. He was the motor vehicle commissioner under Governor M. Jodi Rell and ended his career in government as a state auditor.

Bob entered the thin ranks of the heroic in 2004 when he supported an impeachment inquiry into the corrupt practices of fellow Republican John G. Rowland, then serving his third term as Governor.

Bob, 68, leaves his wife, Anita, four children and eight grandchildren.

This post will be updated.

From the Senate Republican leaders, Kevin Kelly and Paul Formica:

“For more than three decades, Bob worked in a bipartisan and congenial manner to generate common sense public policy solutions to benefit Connecticut families. He loved Connecticut and was dedicated to doing his very best for the people he served. Bob Ward was a role model for all of us as public servants, and our thoughts are with his family and friends today.”

From Vincent Candelora, House Minority Leader, and Bob’s protege and successor in his House seat:

Rep. Candelora Statement on the Passing of Robert M. Ward

HARTFORD—House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora today released the following statement about the passing of Robert M. Ward, former 86th District state representative and a longtime House Republican Leader:

“Bob Ward was a true gentleman and the nicest person you could meet in politics, qualities not always seen in this business today. His impact on our state and the lives of the people in the towns he served is immeasurable, and his passion for introducing others to the value of community service continues to inspire me. Bob never gave up on what was important to him and his values, and that, combined with a wry sense of humor and keen sense of purpose, earned him broad respect during his tenure as the longest-serving House Republican Leader. Bob was not just a mentor, but a friend. I’ll miss him greatly. My thoughts are with Anita, and all of Bob’s family, children and grandchildren.”

The Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association is having none of it. The 4,000 member union wrote to legislative leaders this week expressing its opposition to the proposal to authorize state government to create an unregulated health insurance venture.

Here’s the union’s letter:

The Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association represents 4,000 career Firefighters across Connecticut. As a result of the UPFFA’s most recent Executive Board meeting, we are writing this in opposition to Senate Bill 842 “AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH INSURANCE AND HEALTH CARE IN CONNECTICUT” and strongly urge you to reject and oppose this measure.

Currently, the UPFFA offers a medical benefit plan to our members through the Northwest Firefighters Trust (NWFFT), administered by and for the Firefighters around the county.  The NWFFT was launched in 2013, bringing fire fighters and their families comprehensive, affordable and sustainable health plans. NWFFT creates a “like risk” pool of Firefighters throughout the United States that provides access to both active and retiree health insurance.

The Northwest Firefighters Trust health benefit funds provide a coordinated approach to group purchasing and contracting with medical, pharmacy and other health networks. As advocates for our union members and their families, we cannot standby and allow this negative preemptive policy to impact our dedicated efforts over the years. More importantly, as non-profit healthcare benefit funds, we bring a unique perspective to this debate on Senate Bill 842.

The UPFFA respectfully and strongly opposes SB 842 and its’ “one size fits all” State run plan and because of the long-term negative impact it will have on our members and the Connecticut marketplace. We have all worked extremely hard over the years to provide our members and their families along with Firefighter retirees the finest healthcare benefits and services.  We are very proud that we built and maintained some of the best Union Sponsored health fund in the United States, that provide members with medical, prescription, dental, vision and other important family benefit programs that our members lives are improved from and are greatly appreciated by our members.

If the legislature chooses to move forward with the bill, at a minimum the UPFFA respectfully requests that substitute language be adopted that will exempt any member or Local Union in good standing with their respective State Association or National Union that has a Union Sponsored Benefit Trust plan from the provisions of SB 842, including, but not limited to, any penalty or tax imposed by the legislation or as a result of not participating in the State Partnership Plan.

Caitlyn Jenner is not the only cosseted candidate who careened off-script this week. Governor Ned Lamont reminded Republican hopefuls why they might have a chance against him next year. Our goofy good shepherd did it again. The Greenwich Democrat made a damaging declaration at the announcement of plans to expand Tweed New Haven Airport.

It was not enough to unveil the $100 million plan to bring a new airline to the small airport. No, Lamont had to ratchet up the moment by adding New Haven is “the most important region of the state.” Millions of Connecticut residents not living within 10 miles of Yale, where Lamont attended graduate school, will dissent. Expect to see the quote in strategically placed ads in the campaign ahead.

Governor Ned Lamont has chosen Mississippi Democrat Travis Brimm to serve as the manager of his 2022 re-election campaign, Daily Ructions has learned. Brimm has received the approval of Ann Huntress Lamont and the governor’s former chief of staff, Ryan Drajewicz, who remains close to the Lamonts.

Brimm is parked at the state Democratic party’s office until the Lamont campaign begins. That may raise some campaign finance issues, but those are for other people to address. Lamont is expected to finance his campaign, as he did with the previous three. Expect no complaints from progressive Democrats about it.

Brimm managed the debate-shy Ben Ray Lujan’s successful 2020 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico. He also worked as director of the Biden North Carolina primary campaign.

Republicans may have a contest for their party’s nomination for governor, though no candidate has announced a bid.

Brimm “loves a good plate of BBQ.”

State Democrats, who have won every office of significance, are wondering why the Lamonts and Drajewicz decided to give a poke in the eye to Connecticut’s political talent and import a campaign manager.

New Britain Republican Brock Weber declared his candidacy for secretary of the state by filing a committee Friday afternoon. Weber has worked as a campaign consultant on a variety of campaigns. He is best known in Republican circles for his association with Peter Lumaj, the Republican nominee for Secretary of the state in 2014.

Weber now works for Erin Stewart, the Republican mayor of New Britain seeking re-election. He also did a stint with the Senate Republican caucus.

And you thought Randy Quaid pondering a bid for governor of California was the oddest political news at the start of the week. Connecticut (and Florida) have a contender for that competitive category. Jennifer Cusato announced in a long email last weekend that she is in the race to become the next chair of the Republican state party committee.

Cusato lives and votes in Florida. Voting records show that last November Cusato cast an in-person ballot in Dunedin, Florida. She was an unsuccessful 2019 candidate for Fairfield’s RTM.

In her rambling announcement, Cusato set out a stall built on vagaries. “We must be consumed with finding solutions. I have always prided myself on being a person of my word and of action.  As your chairman,” she wrote, “I will boldly speak out every time. The members of our party will know they are not alone, and that their party leader is a woman whose heart is with them.”

A candidate usually has solutions, though specifics have been thin on the ground in this odd competition to lead what’s left of the state party organization. If elected, Cusato promises to move to Vernon confront state Representative Michael Winkler over his comments on Asian Americans and racism.

Cusato writes that she has raised money for Republican candidates running in Connecticut and other states.