Betsy McCaughey, who served as New York’s Republican lieutenant governor in the 1990s, announced Wednesday that she’s running for governor of Connecticut.
In an announcement video, McCaughey said she grew up in Milford and Westport and is “ready to take on the biggest battle of my life to make Connecticut a booming, prosperous state.”
McCaughey served in New York under Republican Gov. George Pataki. Reached by phone Thursday, Pataki spoke highly of his former lieutenant.
“She’s bright, she knows the issues and delves into them in great detail, and I think has the ability to be a very good governor,” Pataki said.
Pataki and McCaughey’s relationship strained over the course of their first and only term in office together, leading Pataki to drop McCaughey from his reelection ticket and choose a different running mate and McCaughey to enter the race for New York governor as a Democrat. Pataki said that was all water under the bridge.
“Of course we had our differences, but that's inherent in the relationship between governor and lieutenant governor when you have two people who both have strong opinions or strong ideas,” Pataki said. “I have nothing but very positive feelings towards her.”
Pataki said he would endorse McCaughey for Connecticut governor should she win the party’s nomination.
Her competition includes Greenwich state Sen. Ryan Fazio and former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart.
Since her service in Albany, McCaughey has been a columnist for the New York Post and a host for the right-wing television news network Newsmax. In a recent social media post, McCaughey called incumbent Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont an “anti-American radical leftist.”
She also claimed that Lamont’s recently passed housing reform law will “wreck our neighborhoods and make our property taxes soar even higher.”
“I want to protect your suburban neighborhood and your home,” McCaughey said in her campaign announcement.
Asked Thursday for his thoughts on McCaughey’s entrance into the race, Lamont said, “It’s a free society. Jump in, the water’s fine.”
Lamont is currently seeking reelection to a third term. He faces a primary challenge from his left by Hamden state Rep. Josh Elliott.
