Betsy McCaughey, the Newsmax host and former New York lieutenant governor under George Pataki in the 1990s, told the Stamford Republican Town Committee on Wednesday night that she is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Connecticut.
A campaign website went live with a donation page not yet active. She has yet to register as a candidate, a step required before raising or spending money.
WTNH, Channel 8 and the New York Post, which has published her columns, reported her announcement.
McCaughey makes her debut as a Connecticut candidate at age 77 with a profile in national right-wing politics but facing a difficult task for qualifying for public financing by raising $250,000 in small-dollar donations.
The other two Republicans in the race, former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart and Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, have crossed the $250,000 threshold, and Stewart’s campaign already has received a convention grant of more than $800,000.
WTNH reported that McCaughey was asked by a woman if she could win the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
“I will say this,” McCaughey responded. “I’m running on my own, but it’s very possible President Trump will support me.”
The Democratic Governors Association was quick to associate her with Trump.
“Betsy McCaughey has spent the last years of her career shilling for Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular agenda that is driving up costs for middle-class families,” the DGA said. “The last thing Connecticut families need right now is a Trump mouthpiece as their governor.”
McCaughey grew up in Westport and returned to Connecticut after living in New York. She now resides in Greenwich. She was briefly married in the 1990s to Wilbur Ross, the wealthy financier and former U.S. Commerce secretary.
She has been broadly hinting at a campaign in recent weeks, visiting other Republican town committees and criticizing Gov. Ned Lamont over the high cost of living in Connecticut.
McCaughey read a poem that places her on the side of homeowners and property tax payers, not renters, WTNH said.
“I wrote a little jingle for you,” she said. “Owners vote red. Renters vote blue. Fight for homeowners. It will make a winner out of you.”
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
