Governor's Office
Prime Real Estate?
Photo by Steve Kotchko
Posted 1/25/10
Seven of the potential field of 11 gubernatorial candidates, Democrat and Republican, showed up in Cromwell last week at a forum sponsored by the Council of Small Towns (COST) to explain why they are running. It wasn’t really a debate because there are so many candidates in the mix. Don’t despair Connecticut voters, there are 20 candidates running for governor in Maine!
Suffice it to say, you don’t get much illumination on the issues with seven candidates talking, all restricted by a two-minute limit on responses. However, the COST event was the first such gubernatorial scrum receiving broad coverage in the media. The candidates offered different approaches to the challenge of becoming governor in the current economic crisis.
Simsbury Democratic First Selectman Mary Glassman, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2006, made her pitch by asking people to do some wistful daydreaming about what Connecticut might be like under her leadership. “Close your eyes and think about a state that has a long-range plan where decisions get made not because they’re political, but because they’re the right decision for the state,” she said. “That’s what you get when a governor shows up for work and does her job.”
Ned Lamont, who gained fame as the political neophyte who took away the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination from incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in 2006, only to lose the general election, is now “exploring” a run for governor. Lamont, a millionaire businessman, believes Connecticut needs a new “pitch” to get back on a winning track.
“The governor of the State of Connecticut, the CEO of the state, has got to be the top salesman for this amazing state,” he said. “We have not done that, we’ve been passive, and a lot of other states are passing us by, and we can’t afford to be in a defensive crouch,” Lamont explained.
Another candidate, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Thomas Foley, a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, wants to persuade voters he’s the best guy for governor, simply because he hasn’t been involved in Connecticut government.
“I’m not part of the problem,” Foley claimed. “I haven’t been up in Hartford, I’m not someone who has a stake in the system,” he said. “Hartford (state government) is broke and broken,” Foley added. “We need someone who can shake things up, bring some new ideas, and break up the culture that isn’t working well.”
Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi apparently believes his dark horse status in the Democratic gubernatorial race gives him the freedom to take some controversial stands in his quest for the nomination. How can Connecticut raise new revenue to erase deficit troubles? “Tolls,” said Marconi. “Some argue we may lose federal funding (if we reinstitute highway tolls), but the revenue created by the tolls far exceeds what we get from the federal government,” he maintained.
One Democratic hopeful, East Hartford Sen. Gary LeBeau, and one Republican contender, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele raised eyebrows when they suggested the state may need to downsize the state employee workforce to ease the continuing budget crisis.
“People are upset because the economy is going down the tubes,” LeBeau explained. “We need bold ideas.” That could include altering the state employee total. “There are going to have to be cuts in state employee numbers unless we get real concessions in the next budget,” LeBeau said, claiming that the arrangement hammered out last year between state employee unions and the Rell administration is “somewhat of a joke.” He said Rell’s “no layoffs” deal in exchange for state employee concessions meant the legislature could not make significant spending cuts, because cutting programs would mean cutting state worker jobs—violating the accord.
Fedele also hinted at tougher talks with state workers. “We cannot continue on the path that we’re going (now) with our state employees,” he said. “You have to know what your endgame is,” explained Fedele. “If I get concessions, if I have to lay off, what’s the number, where do I have to be in order to balance my budget,” said Fedele.
Perhaps the most interesting portion of the gubernatorial round robin was a discussion of Connecticut’s system of public financing for campaigns, which will be employed for the first time in a gubernatorial contest. Candidates who agree to participate get state funding from a pool of money taken from the state’s unclaimed property fund after raising a threshold amount on their own to show their candidacies are viable.
Glassman and several other contenders said they support the system believing it opens up high office to many more candidates who are qualified but might otherwise forgo a gubernatorial run because of daunting task of raising money.
Foley called public financing “absolutely ridiculous”, suggesting that raising big bucks for a campaign is a lesson every candidate should learn. “Raising money is a very important part of the political process,” said Foley. “It weeds people out who aren’t successful at it.”
That’s an interesting comment because Foley, a multi-millionaire, could easily self-finance his campaign if he sees fit.
The other millionaire in the race, Lamont said he backs public financing because it make the political system “more competitive”, but said he believes it works only if all candidates in the race participate. “Given the fact that not everybody is (willing to do that), I’m reserving the right to opt out,” said Lamont.
Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, another Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, offered a possible compromise between rich and poor contenders. He said the millionaire candidates could pay for their own campaigns, but play fair by agreeing to stick to the overall campaign spending limits used in the public financing law. The law imposes a $1 million limit for the primary season, and $3 million for the general election campaign.