State Senator Tony Hwang is feeling the heat. The Fairfield Republican won re-election to the 28th Senate District two years ago by 636 votes, the closest of his five campaigns for the seat. In 2022, Hwang faced Democrat Timothy Gavin, a newcomer to politics.

This year is different. Hwang faces Rob Blanchard, a member of Fairfield’s Representative Town Meeting and veteran of several statewide campaigns. Hwang’s frayed nerves are showing, and they are not attractive. And it’s only August.

The four towns that comprise the district, Bethel, Easton, Fairfield and Newtown, are communities crammed with voters of all party registrations or none who have long cared about the environment. Whether it’s protecting Long Island Sound, improving the quality of air and water, preserving wetlands and open space, or addressing climate change, the voters in 28th Senate District pay attention to the state of their world, near and far.

It came as a surprise that Tony Hwang declined the endorsement of the Sierra Club, which describes itself as “the nation’s largest and most effective grassroots environmental movement.” The Sierra Club is proud of its 130-year history of preserving land and protecting the environment. Its endorsement adds a credential that crosses party lines. Tony Hwang rejected it in a petty act dressed up as campaign strategy that he probably hoped would remain known to only a few insiders.

The Sierra Club’s political arm has rules about endorsements. If two candidates merit the organization’s endorsement, it will ask both candidates to agree to a dual endorsement. If one refuses, no endorsement is made. Tony Hwang vetoed the clubs desire to endorse him and Blanchard. If only he could not have it, Hwang wants no one to get it, regardless of each candidate’s merits. Hwang would rather the voters know less about the candidates’ stands on the environment than that he share the endorsement with Blanchard.

Let me declare an interest. I met Rob Blanchard seven or eight years ago when he was working on a campaign. We are friends. That disclosure may not help him among some politicos but Daily Ructions readers enjoy learning about politics as practiced behind the curtain. This is a campaign story of extreme pettiness that should be told, no matter who the candidates are.

Having been a candidate for the state House and Senate long ago (4-2), I am still surprised when an experienced politician is not smart enough to, as an admiring mobster once advised comedian Joan Rivers, “run your own race. Don’t look left, don’t look right. Stay in your lane.”

The results of the 2022 race in the 28th Senate District suggest more voters than ever are on to Tony Hwang and he is uncertain of how to stop the erosion of support.

Instead of trying to block a Sierra Club joint endorsement, Hwang ought to be explaining why he voted for the catastrophic Millstone legislation that last month caused families in the district he serves to have to cope with a skyrocketing electric bill. The ill-judged 2017 bill that passed with Hwang’s support will continue to burden ratepayers for another five years.

Campaigns can provide unexpected revelations about a candidate, even one who has been around as long as Hwang. Voters will want to ask themselves what sort of candidate rejects the endorsement of the Sierra Club but accepts a maximum campaign contribution from a man whose fabricated evidence and false testimony helped send two innocent young men to prison for 25 years in 1985. Dr. Henry Lee’s testimony in the trial of Ralph “Ricky” Birch and Shawn Henning eventually cost the state $25 million in damages to the two wrongly convicted men three years after their convictions were overturned in 2020.

Lee ran the state police’s forensic lab when he testified there were blood stains on a towel found at the New Milford murder scene of victim Everett Carr. Last year, “U.S. District Court Judge Victor Bolden ruled in July that there was no evidence Lee ever conducted any blood tests on the towel…,” Connecticut Public Radio and the AP reported. Lee’s testimony, courts ruled, was crucial in convicting Birch and Henning. That $25 million came from taxpayers to begin to compensate the wrongly convicted defendants for the 35 years they spent in prison. Convicting the innocent is the nightmare of ever free and just society.

Hwang may think he has slain a mighty dragon by killing the Sierra Club’s endorsement, but it’s his self-inflicted wounds that tells the story in the 28th Senate District.

Published August 19, 2024.

The executive board of the Stamford Democratic City Committee began primary day by calling on state Representative Anabel Figueroa (D-Stamford) to resign as a member of the city’s Board of Representatives and the city party committee. The board issued the public declaration after it discovered antisemitic slurs Figueroa made in her primary campaign against Democrat Jonathan Jacobson, the party-endorsed candidate in today’s primary.

Jacobson is Jewish.

In a video posted on Youtube on July 28th, Figueroa, speaking in Spanish, concluded her interview on July 28th by announcing, “The Hispanic vote is going to determine on August 13^th who will win to represent or who will continue to represent you. We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin, of Jewish origin, to represent our community. It’s impossible.”

Figueroa won election to the state House of Representatives in a February 2023 special election. Her hateful targeting of a Jew has roiled Stamford Democrats, who think of themselves as modern, progressive stewards of Connecticut’s fastest growing city on Long Island Sound, 40 miles from New York City.

UPDATE: Reached while campaigning this afternoon, Jonathan Jacobson said this is not his first encounter with Figueroa and hate. In 2018, Jacobson, a member of the Board of Representatives, moved to censure a fellow member who had posted anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments in social media. Figueroa refused to join colleagues condemning hate.

Jacobson, who was called an “Israeli attorney” by a Figueroa supporter, said the Democrat is using antisemitism to “influence the outcome of an election.

On Tuesday afternoon, Figueroa raised the “I have Jewish friends” defense to explain her poisonous comments. She apologized and said, “we need leaders who represent our districts.” There are not enough Latino legislators, she believes. She seemed to attribute her comments to being “a bilingual speaker.” That appears to make her fluent in hatred in two languages.

“We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin, of Jewish origin, to represent our community” sounds as disqualifying in Spanish as it does in English.

Published August 13, 2024.

Trumbull Democrats took advantage of the first two days of early voting in the primary for the 22nd Senate District nomination. One candidate in the quartet of hopefuls is from Trumbull, Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox. Her two unsuccessful but spirited campaigns for the House of Representatives have made her a local favorite. The other three, Scott Burns, Bill Finch, and Tyler Mack, are Bridgeport Democrats.

In the first two days of early voting this week, 104 Bridgeport Democrats cast votes. In Trumbull, 124 Democrats voted. The Bridgeport figure includes votes cast in both Senate primaries in the state’s most populous city.

Trumbull’s Democratic organization has gained a reputation as one of the state’s most effective and has lately fought above its weight. It is the home of the party’s state chairwoman, Nancy DiNardo.

Other towns of note include Hamden, where Democrats have two House primaries. As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, 482 Democrats had voted. In the 2nd Senate District, incumbent Democrat Doug McCrory faces two challengers, Shellye Davis and Ayanna Taylor. In Windsor, 119 Democrats had voted, while 145 Bloomfield Democrats cast a ballot. Bloomfield is also the center of a ferocious primary for the House in a district that includes a portion of West Hartford. In Hartford, 30 Democrats had cast early votes in the Senate primary.

The only statewide primary is the Republican one for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination. On Monday and Tuesday, 1861 Republicans had cast an early ballot under. Of those, 20 were from party-endorsed candidate Gerry Smith’s hometown of Beacon Falls, 12 were cast in Manchester, where challenger Matt Corey lives.

Early voting continues through Sunday at a designated location (usually the town hall) in each of the state’s 169 municipalities.

Published August 8, 2024.

CVS hosted an eventful quarterly earnings call Wednesday morning. It announced that Brian Kane, president of CVS-owned Aetna, has left after less than a year heading the health insurance giant.

Aetna has been grappling with significant declines in it critical satisfaction ratings with its Medicare Advantage plans in 2023. Medicare recipients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans have been seeking and receiving more medical services than expected as costs increase, squeezing profits. for insurers.

Aetna managers have been warning employees to expect layoffs.

Published August 7, 2024.

A dramatic night at the East Hartford Democratic Town Committee. State Representative Jeff Currey announced he has resigned his position on the ballot. He will not seek a sixth term.

Currey told local Democrats—once among the state’s mightiest local organizations—that he has a career opportunity that would require a special election if he took it. Speculation on Currey’s future includes a position in the Lamont administration. This would likely prompt a long series of turf tussles.

Currey was in the news this spring when he proposed an ill-judged change in the state’s school construction finance program that opened a path to corruption by project construction managers.

Published July 25, 2024.

State Senator Paul Cicarella continues to make the wrong kind of news. The second term Republican appears to have fallen out with his benefactor, Cicarella’s popular predecessor, Len Fasano. In a motion in a case centered around Cicarella’s 2022 construction of significant improvements at his North Haven home, including the installation of an in-ground pool, Fasano asked the court to allow him to withdraw from representing Cicarella because their “attorney-client relationship has broken down irretrievable.”

According to a complaint filed in Superior Court last year, Cicarella’s aggrieved neighbor, Andrew Koutroumanis, told Cicarella that his construction project was encroaching on Koutroumanis’ property. Cicarella refused to halt construction when Koutroumanis commissioned and produced at A-2 survey confirming the trespass and encroachment.

Koutroumanis accuses Cicarella of submitting inaccurate, false and misleading information to North Haven building officials. Koutroumanis paints a compelling character portrait of Cicarella as a nightmare neighbor. The Superior Court docket indicates the case has been settled but the settlement is not included. Daily Ructions, however, has learned that the settlement included Cicarella agreeing to pay his neighbor $40,000 and to remove the various encroachments Cicarelli placed on his neighbor’s property. Koutroumanis agreed to consent to a variance Cicarella needs for the addition to his house to remain.

The settlement appears to confirm that despite being asked not to proceed and being shown an A-2 survey that confirmed Cicarella was building an in-ground pool on property he did not own, the Republican nevertheless proceeded.

That was not the end of the matter. Cicarella, who has a taste for litigation, has filed claims against the pool company, surveyor, construction company, business that provide the propane tank and title insurance company. It does seem all of this could have been avoided if Cicarella had listened to his neighbor.

Mr. Koutroumanis alleges that Cicarella submitted false documents to local zoning officials. That is a serious allegation that may interest voters in the five towns that comprise the 34th District. Cicarella ought to come clean and explain how he managed to make his neighbor’s life miserable after being confronted with a survey that turns out to have been correct.

The dispute may not be confined to North Haven. The construction company Cicarella is suing, Donmar Development Corporation, is owned by the DiGioia family, also popular members of the community. Michael DiGioia is a maximum contributor to state Senator Heather Somers’ political action committee, Somers PAC. DiGioia gave Somers $1,000 last October. That contribution came two months after the groundbreaking for Triton Square, a new apartment community in Groton, the heart of Republican Somers’ district. The apartments are being built on the grounds of the former William Seeley School.

Published July 18, 2024.

The value of a state Republican party convention endorsement continues to decline. Delegates chose Beacon Falls first selectman Gerry Smith as the endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate at its May convention. Smith won the endorsement by a wide margin over late entry Matt Corey. Corey, the 2018 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, won nearly 30% of the delegate votes, surpassing the 15% required to advance to an August 13th primary.

Winning the convention did nothing for Smith’s ability to raise money from the shrinking class of regular Republican donors in the state. Smith reported in his 2nd quarter campaign finance report that he raised $18,022 between April 1st and June 30th, bringing his total since launching his bid in February to $61,506.18. As of June 30th, the campaign had $5,610 in cash on hand. This is a campaign for the U.S. Senate, not the State Senate.

Smith’s biggest expense was to consultant Brian Werstler, of Avon. He was paid $16,950 for consulting fees and $3,500 in expense reimbursements. Smith said in June that he fired his campaign manager and fundraiser when he learned of a fundraising email that claimed crosses were being burned on his lawn. Nobody, Smith told WTNH’s Dennis House, was burning crosses on his lawn.

Werstler is now on the Mike France campaign in the 2nd Congressional District. France’s campaign had $53,000 cash on hand on June 30th. France’s opponent, Democratic incumbent Joe Courtney, reported having $625,000 in cash on June 30th. The two faced each other in 2022.

Corey, the challenger in the August Senate primary, has raised $25,000 and made a $5,000 loan to his campaign. He had $28,000 in cash at the end of the 2nd quarter reporting period.

Smith has declined to debate Corey. Early voting begins August 5th.

Incumbent Democrat Christopher Murphy had more than $13 million and had $9.7 million of it in the bank on June 30th.

Published July 16, 2024.

On August 20, 1984, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick delivered one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century at the first night of the Republican National Convention. Ambassador Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, represented the United States at the United Nations, doing battle for freedom.

The speech became famous for its refrain of San Francisco Democrats (where the party had held its convention) always blaming America first. It was, the Democrat Kirkpatrick began, the first Republican convention she had ever attended. In 20 minutes for the ages, Kirkpatrick explained the world to the world. She was liberty’s Boudica.

On this grim day, Donald Trump announced a running mate who will join him constantly denigrating America and portraying the blessings of freedom as the elements of a dystopian nightmare. Today, no one would be invited to deliver a speech like Kirkpatrick’s enduring masterpiece.

“We need friends and allies with whom to share the pleasures and protections of our civilization. We cannot, therefore, be indifferent to the subversion of others’ independence,” the Georgetown professor declared, “or to the development of new weapons by our adversaries or of new vulnerabilities of our friends.”

Today, Republican delegates nominated Trump for the third time to lead their party into a presidential election. For the first time, they will nominate a running mate who called Trump “America’s Hitler.” “Bewildering” is inadequate to describe the obliteration of the Republican commitment to democratic values.

Jeane Kirkpatrick was a great tribune of truth 40 years ago, and that has not changed.

Published July 15, 2024.

No wonder Republican John V. Lindsay won the 1965 campaign for mayor of New York. Stephen Sondheim wrote the Silk Stocking congressman’s theme song—and Ethel Merman recorded it in her singular style.

As Republican delegates head for Milwaukee to shame their names for generations and Democrats dither, revive your faltering spirits with this musical marvel.

Published July 12, 2024.

“With a heavy heart,” Ginnie-Rae Clay has resigned as Executive Director of the Social Equity Council. Her last day on the job will be August 1st. She made her announcement by email Tuesday morning.

Clay makes serious claims in explaining her sudden decision. She wrote:

Regrettably, my final days in this role have been marred by unsubstantiated allegations, threats, and publicly leaked false narratives, all of which have unjustly called my character and integrity into question. Throughout life, one’s reputation is a cornerstone to be built and protected. To safeguard the reputation I have diligently cultivated, I find it necessary to conclude my tenure with the SEC at this juncture.

Concerns about the operation of the SEC prompted its board to halt making grants to eligible communities. The debate over that action revealed deep fractures among its members. The Office of the State Comptroller, at the request of Governor Ned Lamont, is conducting an audit of the cannabis program’s finances.

Earlier this year, Lamont appointed Andrea Comer to replace Paul O. Robertson as the head of the agency’s board.

Clay’s departure is not expected to be the conclusion of upheavals at SEC.

Published July 9, 2024.