No Magic In Lauretti’s Top Hat, Denied Ballot Access For Lieutenant Governor

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton had already projected last week when he suspended his campaign for governor what became official on Tuesday: his running partner Mark Lauretti would not make the ballot to run for lieutenant governor. Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill announced Lauretti, the mayor of Shelton and 2008 Barnum Festival ringmaster, came up more than 1,000 signatures short of the 8,190 he needed to petition his way onto the ballot for the August 12 Republican primary. He received 6,723 certified signatures.

Boughton had counted on Lauretti to merge his fundraising to help him qualify for roughly $1.3 million in public financing after another candidate for lieutenant governor Heather Bond Somers told him to kiss off. Operatives for Boughton and Lauretti then scrambled around the state to secure the necessary signatures from registered Republicans to qualify Lauretti. They fell short. Under Connecticut’s Citizens Election Program of publicly funded races, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor may pool their resources to qualify for a public grant.

That’s the likely scenario State Senator John McKinney and his running mate Bridgeport resident David Walker will follow. McKinney and Walker received enough support at last month’s Republican convention to qualify for the ballot. Lauretti, as a candidate for governor, did not receive sufficient convention support. He then switched gears as a candidate for lieutenant governor in partnership with Boughton. Tom Foley is the Republican-endorsed candidate for governor.

The Republican ballot lineup for August 12 is now tentatively set with Foley on the top line, followed by Boughton and McKinney. Although Boughton has suspended his campaign for governor due to a lack of funds, a spokesman for Merrill says Boughton has not yet informed them he has terminated his candidacy.

Under the present scenario Walker will appear on McKinney’s line.