Tuesday brought several developments in the race to become the next governor of Connecticut.
First, late Tuesday, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and Greenwich hedge fund manager David Stemerman, a Democrat and Republican, respectively, were certified to appear on the August 14 primary ballot.
Both Ganim and Stemerman were petitioning on to the ballot through a signature collection process whereby each campaign had to collect signatures from two percent of the registered members of their parties. For Ganim, he collected more than 17,000 when he needed about 15,000, and Stemerman, it was announced, collected more than 10,000 signatures when he needed 9,000.
Ganim is in the midst of a political rebirth after spending more than six years in federal prison on corruption charges stemming from his first stint as Bridgeport mayor.
He said he wants the race against the endorsed Democrat, Ned Lamont, to be a wide open race filled with debates and public appearances.
"This is too important for the next seven weeks to go by without debates, open frank candid discussion about me and what I feel about Connecticut and what I can bring as its next governor," Ganim said Wednesday.
"The message I will be delivering to voters over the next eight weeks is simple: we need to turn the moving trucks around and once again make Connecticut the best place in the country to live, work, and raise a family," Stemerman said in a statement.
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The other major development of the day was that both Mark Boughton and Tim Herbst, two Republicans seeking their party’s nomination, were approved for $1.35 million each for public financing for the respective campaigns.
Boughton, the current mayor of Danbury, is the endorsed candidate of the Connecticut Republican Party. He said in a statement, I will continue to engage Connecticut voters and the general public with our message of fiscal restraint and common sense with a plan to re-shape our state's future.''
