Governor's Race Even More Crowded
NBC Connecticut
Oz Griebel joins a growing list of gubernatorial candidates.
The race for Governor in Connecticut is heating up, with yet another candidate entering the fight.
Republican businessman Oz Griebel kicked off his campaign for governor on the steps of the Capitol building on Thursday afternoon.
"The conditions require an outsider in the political system, someone who has significant private sector experience but also understands public policy," Griebel, president and CEO of the Metro Hartford Alliance in Hartford, said in making his announcement.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced last year that she would not run for re-election, sparking a frenzy to fill the job.
Besides Griebel, other Republicans who have announced their intentions to run, or are considering a run, include Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, businessman Tom Foley, former Congressman Chris Shays and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.
Democrats already in the race, or considering a run, include businessman Ned Lamont, former House Speaker James Amann and Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz dropped out of the race to run for attorney general.
"Because it's an open seat, everyone sees this as an opportunity," Nancy DiNardo, the Democratic state party chair, said. "It's an exciting time. It's been how many years since this has happened?"
"It's a wide open race," Bilal Sekou, a political science professor at the University of Hartford, said.
"When you think about Connecticut politics, it's been a real log jam for a number of years," Sekou said. Rell's decision not to run again "really created opportunity for a lot of people who wanted to run for statewide office to do that," he said.
At this point, there are at least 14 people who have entered the race for governor, or have expressed some interest in doing so. Experts expect that field will start shrinking soon.
Posted Thursday, Jan 28, 2010 - 3:26 PM EST
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