Erin Stewart takes early fundraising lead in GOP battle for CT governor

Yahoo

a day ago

With only nine months left before a nominating convention, Connecticut Republicans are gearing up for a political battle to face Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart has gained an early advantage by raising more than $300,000 in small contributions on her way toward qualifying for public financing against Lamont, a wealthy Greenwich entrepreneur who has spent millions to self-fund his statewide campaigns.
Stewart has been campaigning for months in the race against state Sen. Ryan Fazio, a fiscal conservative who recently formed an exploratory committee and whose supporters say will catch up in the fundraising battle.
Without explicitly saying that both Lamont and Fazio live in wealthy Greenwich, Stewart says her campaign contributors are trying to make ends meet in hardscrabble towns across the state.
'People are investing because they're looking for a leader that fundamentally understands their concerns and worries — someone who, like them, understands the financial difficulties of raising a family in Connecticut, someone who comes from a community like theirs,' Stewart said.
State Republican Chairman Ben Proto is remaining neutral in the race that also includes Westport First Selectman Jennifer Tooker and perennial candidate Peter Lumaj of Fairfield, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2012, secretary of the state in 2014, and governor in 2018.
Proto said he is not even thinking about a primary in August 2026 and instead says the next step is for the candidates to make their case to the 1,200 delegates leading up to the state convention next May.
'It's a long way between now and May,' Proto said Tuesday. 'Erin, with her announcement, if she's not there, she will have reached qualifying dollar amounts for [public financing], I suspect some time in September. So, I think that gives her a huge advantage over everybody else. There's a lot of money that has to be raised by Ryan, Jen Tooker, and anyone else who gets in the race. I think that gives Erin a leg up on the money side.'
But Fazio and his supporters say he has a solid base of support across the state and has the ability to raise money to catch up to Stewart. Fazio notes that he won an expensive and difficult race for state Senate in 2024 by about 2,000 votes in a fast-changing district where Democrat Kamala Harris defeated Republican Donald J. Trump by 17 percentage points. Fazio has won three straight elections after losing in 2020 to Democrat Alex Kasser.
'It's been better across the state than I could have expected or asked,' Fazio said of his recent support. 'It's time for a change. It's time for common sense, and it's time for balance in the state government. … I feel a great deal of confidence in our ability to win the convention, win the primary, and win the general election.'
Fazio's name recognition has increased statewide as one of the primary voices against rising electric prices and the successful decision by the state legislature to move some of the 'public benefits' charges off the bills of electric ratepayers, a key issue for Republicans.
Former state Democratic Chairman John F. Droney said that Republicans are battling among themselves but will not defeat a well-funded, two-term Democratic governor who has had high poll ratings since leading the state during the coronavirus pandemic.
'I think Stewart wins the primary hands down if there is one,' Droney told The Courant in an interview. 'I think she's the most formidable candidate the Republicans have for governor, but she can't beat Lamont.'
As a strong supporter of then-U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, Droney worked hard against Lamont in 2006 during the Democratic and the general election. But he has now come around to be a solid supporter of Lamont.
'I think he's been a damn good governor,' Droney said. 'I voted for him, and I intend to vote for him again. I'm proud that he is our governor of Connecticut.'
Lamont, Droney said, does not face much of a challenge from state Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden, a liberal Democrat who is running against Lamont from the left in a race that Droney calls 'a waste of time' for Democrats.
'The guy can't win,' Droney said of Elliott. 'He'd be better off running for mayor of New York City. … The Democratic party in Connecticut is not a socialist party. It's a party that leans left, like most Democrats do now, but people who are firebrands and AOC types are not going anywhere in Connecticut.'
He was referring to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a nationally known liberal who represents portions of the Bronx and Queens in New York City.
The Democratic party, he said, has shifted left in Connecticut.
'I was there in the Bill O'Neill days,' Droney said, referring to the former governor from the 1980s. 'I was a John Kennedy Democrat. I was a Scoop Jackson Democrat. I was a Bill O'Neill Democrat. That's when we were the party of the working man and the party of rational behavior. And we were very successful in Connecticut at every level. That party doesn't exist anymore nationally. It's a bunch of left-wing psychos from the various universities and a bunch of socialists and people who are troublemakers, and they're going nowhere. They couldn't make the sale at the national level, and they're not going to make the sale in Connecticut.'
On the Republican side, Fazio's supporters believe that he can defeat Stewart in a primary. He is expected to raise money for public financing, but he could also benefit from third-party political action committees that are not officially connected to his campaign but can be funded by wealthy Greenwich and New Canaan residents who have supported him in previous campaigns.
Christopher Keating can be reached at [e-mail]