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Lamont remains neutral in contests for treasurer, secretary of the state

Gov. Ned Lamont talks to reporters before a bill signing Monday. From left, Sean Scanlon, the convention-endorsed candidate for comptroller, and House Speaker Matt Ritter.
CTMIRROR.ORG
Gov. Ned Lamont talks to reporters before a bill signing Monday. From left, Sean Scanlon, the convention-endorsed candidate for comptroller, and House Speaker Matt Ritter.

Gov. Ned Lamont, the titular head of the Connecticut Democratic Party, declined Monday to put his weight behind his party’s convention endorsements over the weekend in contested races for treasurer and secretary of the state.

Lamont complimented the choices of the convention delegates — Erick Russell of New Haven for treasurer and Rep. Stephanie Thomas of Norwalk for secretary of the state — but he is not pressing their rivals to forgo a primary.

“I’m not somebody who can complain a lot about primaries,” said Lamont, who twice ran primaries against convention-endorsed candidates. “So, if people want to throw their hat in the ring, that’s their right.”

Sen. Matt Lesser of Middletown, Rep. Hilda Santiago of Meriden and Maritza Bond of New Haven cleared the 15% threshold necessary to automatically qualify for a primary against Thomas.

It was unclear Monday if Lesser or Santiago would press for a statewide primary or seek another term in the General Assembly. Neither could be reached for comment. Bond, the public health director in New Haven, is expected to run.

Russell faces a potential three-way primary from Dita Bhargava of Greenwich and Karen Dubois-Walton of New Haven, who both qualified. Bhargava is committed to a primary; Dubois-Walton could not be reached.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who joined the governor speaking to reporters at the bill signing of the state budget, said she and the governor would let the candidates reach their own decisions about primaries.

“We are so proud of the very diverse, smart, competent candidates that came to our state convention. And, you know, they’ll be making those decisions over the next week or so,” Bysiewicz said.

Lamont won a primary for U.S. Senate in 2006 against the convention-endorsed candidate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, who was re-elected as a petitioning candidate.

He lost a primary for governor to the convention-endorsed Dannel P. Malloy in 2010. Four years ago, Lamont won both the convention endorsement and primary for governor.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.