State Sen. Ryan Fazio launches campaign for Connecticut governor

Yahoo

12 hours ago

GREENWICH, Conn. (WTNH) — State Sen. Ryan Fazio, the millennial Republican who has become the public face of his party's crusade to lower Connecticut's high energy costs, declared himself a candidate for governor in next year's election.
His announcement was made in the form of a video posted to his social media accounts on Wednesday morning.
Fazio, 35, is a Greenwich native whose professional life is divided between the part-time job of state senator and a career as an investment manager.
He's served in the legislature since 2021, when he clinched victory in a special election to fill a vacant seat. He's won re-election in his Greenwich-based district in two subsequent contests.
Since winning election, Fazio has quickly risen through the Republican ranks in the State Senate. He currently serves as the top Republican senator on the legislative committees overseeing tax and energy policy.
From his leadership perches in the Capitol, Fazio has become one of the most outspoken GOP voices on cost-of-living issues, which he says will be at the center of his campaign for governor.
'We want to be able to afford our tax bill, our electric bill, to put food on the table for our families and so on,' Fazio said in an interview with News 8.
An elimination of the public benefits charge on ratepayers' electric bills, a middle-class tax cut and a property tax cap are three positions Fazio offered when asked about what he'd prioritize as governor.
Those three issues, plus nods to his support of law enforcement, were featured prominently in his campaign launch video.
In a legislature overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats, Fazio has found occasional success advocating for his cost-of-living proposals. His dogged work on the energy issue has earned him admiration within his own party and taciturn respect from some on the opposite side of the aisle.
Earlier this year, Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law a sweeping energy reform bill that incorporated some, but not all, of Fazio's proposals.
'I worked with him pretty closely on the energy bill,' Lamont said in an interview days before Fazio launched his campaign. 'We got bipartisan consensus on that.'
Where Lamont sees consensus, Fazio sees a governor not doing enough to lower costs. He ultimately supported the bipartisan energy reforms but wanted to see the public benefits charge and many of the green energy programs it funds eliminated entirely, not just slightly reduced by shifting costs around.
'People are dissatisfied with the status quo, especially in Connecticut, where we have the third-highest taxes and third-highest electric rates in the country,' Fazio said.
By criticizing the status quo, Fazio was making an implicit argument against Lamont's continued leadership.
He also made a more explicit argument.
'Under Ned Lamont and his radical legislature, electric rates and taxes have soared to the third highest in the country,' Fazio said in his announcement video.
The governor has not definitively stated whether he will run for a third term in office, but he has said that he is 'more inclined' to run again.
Lamont has generally maintained a 'more the merrier' outlook on his potential challengers. He had relatively little to say when a member of his own party, State Rep. Josh Elliott, announced a run for governor, explicitly challenging his record. He's offered similarly reserved responses when asked about the possibility of facing Fazio next November.
Lamont 'a lot more inclined' to run for 3rd term
'If he wants to get in the race, I look forward to seeing him out there,' Lamont said of his fellow Greenwich resident.
For now, Lamont is mostly relying on his chief spokesman, Rob Blanchard, to jab at potential opponents and pump up his record.
'From cutting taxes for working families, to championing free child care for families making less than $100k, and getting our state budget and economy back on track, Governor Lamont is proud to put his record on affordability and opportunity up against anyone,' Blanchard wrote when asked about Fazio.
Regardless of whether the Democratic candidate is Lamont or some other Democrat, Fazio will first have to win the nomination of his own party. In that endeavor, he already faces one declared opponent, Jen Tooker, the first selectwoman of Westport. Erin Stewart, the mayor of New Britain, is actively exploring a run for governor. Peter Lumaj, a conservative attorney from Fairfield, is also kicking the tires on a statewide campaign.
While other candidates could still shake up the race, many of the state's Republican Party insiders look at the GOP field as it stands today and see a two-way race between Stewart and Fazio.
The two are both millennials. They're proficient on social media, and they both say they're in touch with issues facing Connecticut families. Stewart is married with young children. Fazio is recently engaged.
EXCLUSIVE: 2026 gubernatorial candidate Jen Tooker takes aim at Gov. Ned Lamont
Stewart and Fazio each also present a theory of electoral viability to Republican voters who have not seen their party win a federal or statewide election in nearly two decades.
Stewart has pulled off a string of sizable victories in a heavily Democratic city. Fazio has won three races in a suburban district that has seen once reliable Republican voters move into the Democratic column at the top of the ballot. Greenwich was once considered a bastion of a unique brand of moderate New England-style conservatism, with its voters siding with nearly every GOP presidential candidate in the last century — including the town's most storied son, President George H.W. Bush.
In the last three presidential elections, Greenwichites supported the Democratic candidate by double-digit margins. Vice President Kamala Harris won the Greenwich vote by sixteen percentage points in 2024. Fazio carried the town by nearly seven points in the same election.
Fazio's campaigns for the State Senate have had echoes of the old school conservatism bred in the historic home of the Bush political dynasty. He has emphasized bipartisanship and touted his work in expanding access to contraceptives. At the same time, he's also embodied a more modern iteration of the conservative movement. As a senator, he has called for taxes on the endowments of large private universities — a policy that echoes the more assertive posture of younger conservatives, such as Vice President JD Vance.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart officially announces she is exploring a run for governor
The differing backgrounds, ideologies, records and styles of a candidate from the state's Gold Coast and a potential rival hailing from 'Hard Hittin' New Britain' will define the marathon campaign that could come to a head in a primary election next summer.
'I'm not running to tear down others or anything like that,' Fazio said when asked about a potential showdown with Stewart.
Pressed on how he'll contrast his record with Stewart's, Fazio was quick to the draw.
'No one's fought harder for reducing electric rates and eliminating the public benefits charge,' Fazio said of himself. 'No one's fought harder for middle-class tax cuts. No one's fought harder for local control of our towns and cities.'
The battle for the GOP nomination for governor will be fought on multiple fronts — including the fight to raise campaign cash.
In Connecticut, candidates often participate in the state's system of public campaign financing. By raising an initial amount of a few hundred thousand dollars, candidates for governor unlock more than $3 million in funds provided to their campaign by the state government for a primary election. An additional $15 million awaits general election candidates who meet the required fundraising levels.
Stewart is closing in on that initial threshold. Fazio will now draw upon his Rolodex to catch up. Should he choose to run again, Lamont can bypass the public financing system entirely and draw upon his vast personal wealth to power his campaign.
EXCLUSIVE: 2026 gubernatorial candidate Jen Tooker takes aim at Gov. Ned Lamont
The governor spent more than $25 million of his own money in his successful 2022 re-election campaign.
Aside from fundraising, the early stages of the Republican nominating contest will also be dominated by the gathering of endorsements from high-profile and influential party leaders. Stewart boasts a list of public supporters that includes two dozen leaders of local Republican Party organizations and five sitting state representatives. Multiple sources tell News 8 that a roster of prominent Republicans stands ready to endorse Fazio now that he's officially in the race.
The two leading Republicans in the legislature, Senate Minority Leader Steve Harding and House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, have both spoken glowingly of Fazio in recent weeks — though neither has formally endorsed him.
Harding says Fazio is one of his best friends in the legislature. Candelora has noted Fazio's strength in the suburbs.
Perhaps the most influential endorsement in the Republican race could come from President Donald Trump. An endorsement from the 45th and 47th president has proven potent time after time in Republican primaries around the country.
In a blue state like Connecticut, closeness to Trump comes with risk and reward. An endorsement could be decisive in a primary election. An embrace could be a general election liability.
Fazio has said he'd welcome the opportunity to campaign alongside Trump.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart on why she may run for governor in 2026
'I voted for the president, and I have great respect for his public service and his patriotism,' Fazio said. 'We're going to build a big tent campaign that unites the Republican Party and brings in disaffected people from the middle in order to build a governing majority.'
Balancing those appeals to the base of the Republican Party with a desire to connect with more moderate, centrist or center-left voters might be easier said than done.
For Fazio, the approach to that political tight rope focuses almost entirely on Connecticut-specific issues while largely eschewing the politics of Washington, D.C.
'I think we need to do away with the politics of Washington, D.C. that have been so divisive, that are tearing people apart,' he said. 'We need to actually present a politics that governs, that leads, that makes people's lives better. I think that's what regular people in the middle are looking for in this state and beyond.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.