State Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich opened a campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination Wednesday with a dig at Connecticut’s popular Democratic governor and a pledge to lower state income taxes, cap local property taxes and reduce electric rates.
In a 90-second video, the 35-year-old Fazio targets the state’s high cost of living as a central issue and ties Gov. Ned Lamont, who has been hinting at a run for a third term in 2026, to a Democratic legislative majority that is more liberal than Lamont on fiscal, labor and housing issues.
“Connecticut was once an affordable place where families could build a future, but after years of failed leadership in Hartford, it’s where dreams get buried under sky-high electric bills and taxes,” Fazio said. “Under Ned Lamont and his radical legislature, electric rates and taxes have soared to the third-highest in the country.”
Fazio is the second Republican to create a campaign committee that allows him to begin raising and spending money on a run for governor. The first was Jennifer Tooker, the first selectwoman of Westport. New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart has an exploratory committee and is expected to join them as declared candidates. Fazio briefly had an exploratory committee.
Republicans have not won a gubernatorial or congressional race in Connecticut since 2006, when the GOP’s brand still was embodied by President George W. Bush, and the party has suffered further losses in the General Assembly since President Donald J. Trump has come to dominate the party.
Each in their 30s, Fazio and Stewart will be vying to become the face of a new generation of Republicans who will need to appeal to Trump voters in a primary while maintaining a certain distance from a president who has lost decisively in Connecticut in each of his three runs for the White House.
“I voted for the president. I have great respect for his service and patriotism,” said Fazio, who had declined to discuss Trump during the 2024 campaign. “I know our race for governor will be decided by state issues and the ability to fight for state residents.”
Lamont, 71, is a former businessman, long-time Greenwich resident and one of Fazio’s constituents in the 36th Senate District. He is expected to finalize a decision on a third term after Labor Day. State Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden is the only declared Democratic candidate for governor.
Fazio drew national notice in August 2021 as the first Republican to flip a Democratic legislative seat after Joe Biden defeated Trump to win the White House.
Fazio won the seat in a special election after the resignation of Alex Kasser, a Democrat who unseated a Republican in 2018. Kasser was the first Democrat elected to the state Senate from Greenwich since the Great Depression, and her win was emblematic of the GOP’s waning fortunes in Fairfield County.
Fazio won a full term in 2022 with just 50.1% of the vote, and he was targeted by Democrats during the 2024 presidential year. But he outperformed Trump, whom he rarely if ever mentioned during this campaign, and was reelected with 52% of the vote.
In the legislature, he has made electric rates his key issue as the ranking Senate Republican on the Energy and Technology Committee and contributed to the drafting and passage of a bipartisan energy bill that will result in a modest reduction in electric rates by shifting some expenses off ratepayers.
The measure authorized state bonding of $155 million to offset a portion of the public benefits charge in monthly bills. The charge is a levy on ratepayers for programs that, among other things, provide financial assistance for low-income customers and encourage energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives.
In his announcement video, Fazio made specific promises about lowering the cost of living in Connecticut.
“Let’s cut electric rates by 20% and eliminate the public benefits charge. Let’s reduce income taxes by $1,500 for the average family and cap property taxes,” Fazio said.
In an interview, Fazio said he believes property taxes can be capped without shifting local expenses to the state budget. One way, he said, would be to eliminate some of the unfunded mandates on municipalities.
Choosing specific goals for electric rate and income tax cut was deliberate, he said.
“I’m running for very specific reasons and to do very specific things,” he said.
He acknowledged the governor’s reputation as a fiscal moderate poses a challenge for Republicans, but there is ample room to run to his right on the issues of affordability,
“There is not a corner of the state you can go to where you don’t hear concerns about electric bills, property taxes, the ability of young people to get a job and seniors to retire comfortably,” Fazio said. “It’s not just numbers on a page. It’s people’s lives. People have been hurting here for a long time.”
Fazio said he will participate in the state’s Citizens’ Election Program, which provides public financing for qualifying candidates who agree to spending limits. The general-election grant for a major-party gubernatorial nominee in 2026 will be $15.5 million, a sum increased in 2023 after two cycles dominated by self-funded candidates.
Fazio recently became engaged, and his fiancée, Amy Orser, is featured in the announcement video. He was unsure how a wedding and a campaign would be coordinated.
“You don’t plan these things, and here you are,” he said. “These are both great things and exciting things.”
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
