Sometimes timing dictates candidate appeal. And sometimes an incumbent falls on his face that opens the door to someone new and different. Other times, a candidate must work ass off to makes things happen. And sometimes, plain old luck becomes a pol’s best friend.
It’s been a challenging two plus years in office for Mayor Bill Finch, former state senator, recruited by party regulars to run for mayor in 2007 after they determined John Fabrizi could not defeat State Rep. Chris Caruso in a primary. The gamble paid off and Finch won a 270-voter squeaker. But a crappy economy, tax increases, political fallout with this one and that, and pain-in-the-ass distractions such as Jodi’s Jail has a number of pols looking to challenge Finch. [Read more →]
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Update: Marilyn Moore is a pistol. A pol with passion. And I say pol in the best sense of the word (some pols don’t like being called pols), a bright feisty force you want on your side in a fight.
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Tags: Andy Abate·Anthony Musto·Bill Finch·CT Post·Dan Malloy·John Fabrizi·Marian Evans·Marilyn Moore·Ned Lamont·Ralph Jacobs·Tom Bucci
Update: Dr. Marian Evans has spent her final day as city health director.
An email sent from the mayor’s office to Health Department employees explained that Friday was her final day. She’ll be replaced in the short term by William Quinn, recently retired after 21 years as New Haven’s director of health. Meanwhile a search for a new health director will take place, according to Mayor Bill Finch.
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Tags: Anthony Musto·Bill Finch·Chris Caruso·Jodi Rell·Marian Evans·Marilyn Moore
So, do ya wanna dance? With Ginger Rogers? Or Maybe Susan Bysiewicz?
George Jepsen, the leading Democratic challenger to Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz to replace Dick Blumenthal as attorney general, says SuBy’s doing a tap as she tries to make the case that she meets the legal definition, 10 years active practice as a lawyer, to run for AG.
Jepsen steps into the Pol Pod for a chat about SuBy’s decision to seek an opinion from Blumenthal, the political fallout of her qualifications in question, the chances of a court deciding the issue and his plans to become the state’s chief civil lawyer.
Fred and Ginger
Tags: Anthony Musto·Barack Obama·Chris Dodd·Chris Donovan·Dick Blumenthal·George Jepsen·Jim Himes·Joe Lieberman·John Rowland·Nancy Pelosi·Rob Russo·Susan Bysiewicz
David Walker is becoming famous fast, and not because he recently purchased former Congressman Christopher Shays’ waterfront home in Black Rock. CNN, 60 Minutes, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, you name it they want him.
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Tags: Barack Obama·Bill Finch·Chris Shays·CT Post·David Carson·Donald Trump·Hartford Courant·Jodi Rell
Afternoon Update: Gov. Jodi Rell’s proposed 2010-11 budget that begins July 1 plugs in $189,568,331 for Bridgeport’s Statutory Formula Grant, roughly $1 million less than the current year. Slot money from gaming facilities is roughly the same, $6,109, 924. Education Cost Sharing the same, $164,195,344. Pilot payment (payment in lieu of taxes) for state owned property is up about $500,000. Pilot payment for colleges and hospitals down $1 million.
City bean counters cannot be happy. We’ll see how Jodi’s budget gets tweaked by super-majority legislative Dems.
Hartford’s Statutory Formula Grant is $50 million more than Bridgeport’s. What’s going on here? Hartford and New Haven always get more. Is the formula fair or screwy? Sounds screwy to me.
With no state Bond Commission meeting scheduled, Jodi’s Jail deadline has been extended by three weeks or so. Will Jodi’s Jail be built on Virginia Avenue on the Upper East Side? Or will the state relax its rigid building requirements and work with the city to secure another location?
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Tags: Bill Finch·Dan Malloy·Dick Blumenthal·Jodi Rell·Susan Bysiewicz
Afternoon Update: Yikes! Be careful what you request.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal dealt, at the very least, a public relations blow to Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz who wants Dick’s job as he seeks Chris Dodd’s U.S. Senate seat. SuBy asked Dick for an opinion: does she have the legal professional qualifications to run for AG? Dick says not likely, but a state judge would have to decide the issue. From Jon Lender Hartford Courant:
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Tags: Andre Baker·Bill Finch·Bob Walsh·Chris Dodd·Dick Blumenthal·George Jepsen·Hartford Courant·Jim Holloway·Jodi Rell·John DeStefano·Susan Bysiewicz
