Connecticut Republicans — gambling on the second time being the charm — endorsed businessman Bob Stefanowki as their candidate for governor on Friday night. Nearly 50 miles away, Democrats backed U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal for a third six-year term.
Both parties kicked off their two-day conventions Friday, where faithful from both sides of the aisle will endorse candidates for U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state comptroller, secretary of the state and treasurer. Democrats control all those offices now, in addition to the five U.S. House of Representatives seats.
Stefanowski, who lost to Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont in a three-way race for governor in 2018, overwhelmingly won the GOP’s backing on Friday.
“We did it,” Stefanowski told the cheering crowd in the Premier Ballroom at Foxwoods Resort Casino. “What a difference four years makes.”
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The 59-year-old former GE executive’s coronation was a marked change from his last run for governor. In 2018, then a political newcomer, Stefanowski bypassed the convention and won the GOP primary in an upset. This time, he went through the convention process and easily defeated one GOP rival, Susan Patricelli Regan, a former senior international marketing executive.
“People are going to vote for a new vision, a change in the way we do things,” said Stefanowski, who blamed mostly 40 years of Democratic control for Connecticut’s challenges, which he said range from aging roads and bridges to high taxes.
Ben Proto, chairperson of the state’s GOP, sees this year’s election as a “generational opportunity,” given voter frustration over rising inflation, high gas prices and past mask mandates in schools.
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“At the end of the day, Connecticut has become unaffordable under the Democrats — and they’ve had control of the state for roughly 40 years, on and off,” Proto said.
But state Democrats appear optimistic about their chances in November, especially after closing out a three-month legislative session earlier this week marked by a new, revised one-year state budget that cuts taxes by $600 million and invests in social programs, child care services, and a wide-ranging mental health initiatives.
“Democratic leadership continues to deliver balanced, on-time budgets that invest in our kids, support our most vulnerable and reflect Connecticut values,” the state party’s chairperson Nancy DiNardo said in a statement.
In a fundraising message to supporters, Blumenthal stressed how “Democrats can’t take a single seat for granted this year” and how the “Senate GOP has already targeted me and has $44 million in the bank to flip this seat.”
“We’ve been through a lot of tough fights together, and we’re in one of the most consequential as we speak: the battle to protect a woman’s fundamental right to reproductive healthcare,” he said.
On Saturday, Democrats are scheduled to endorse candidates for attorney general, comptroller, lieutenant governor, governor, treasurer and secretary of state. Republicans will choose candidates for U.S. Senate, secretary of the state and comptroller.
Republicans on Friday also endorsed state Rep. Laura Devlin, R-Fairfield, for lieutenant governor; state Rep. Harry Arora, R-Greenwich, for state treasurer; and Norwalk lawyer Jessica Kordas for state attorney general.
The Republican convention began with Richard Grenell, former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence, urging more than 1,100 delegates and guests to get involved in this year’s election, describing it
“If you don’t fight and if you don’t fight back, we are going to lose our country,” he warned the crowd.
“I’m tired of people saying they’re worried about being canceled. We can’t worry about that. We’re half the country. Cancel them,” he said, receiving a round of loud cheers and applause. “As soon as you get comfortable that you’re going to get called a racist, a sexist or a homophobe — or the new one, a Russian agent — then you will be able to stand up.”
