Bob Stefanowski Fatally Ignored Local Politics

Republican candidate for governor Bob Stefanowski’s campaign blew the party’s best chance in generations to win control of all three levels of state government: the House, the Senate and the governorship.

His loss was one of the last great chances to change direction dramatically in Connecticut. A big Republican win would have meant “no more business as usual” — despite the looming financial problems — and might have stemmed the flight of young and old from our state. Stefanowski’s loss — not defeat — in what was supposed to be the Republicans’ year will be a factor in many middle-class retirees going South or West. So, the question is, “Why?”

Many blame lack of funding after the primary. Some say he was a lazy campaigner. Others say that the local Republican town committee and party workhorses (state central and elected officials) never got over the primary and failed to get behind Stefanowski’s campaign. Some say President Donald Trump poisoned the well almost weekly.

Another excuse was Stefanowski’s insistence on using the inexplicable fable that the income tax could be eliminated as his main platform. This fallacy was laid bare by most public policy experts and on and on. By snubbing The Hartford Courant, NPR and other media outlets, he forfeited the chance for more extensive, free media coverage. In my opinion, however, the basic reasons for the Republican disappointment are two truisms: “all politics are local” and Connecticut is “the Land of Steady Habits.”

As for localism, the traditional route to the Republican nomination — not taken by Stefanowski — is to travel from town to town in the winter and spring before the election pitching town committees and learning about area problems. Anyone who skips that route will find it hard to build a base of support and knowledge — both missing in the Stefanowki’s campaign. The smart candidate stops in the town senior center, local watering holes, coffee shops and town halls — in January, February, March and April — not in the waning days of the campaign.

Stefanowski’s last-minute tour was full of missteps and cancellations. For example, a stop at the Crown Market in West Hartford is a longtime political staple, which he missed. What a message that sent. And his expectation that, after getting a quick email, local leaders would drop everything to hang around waiting for his campaign to arrive exudes hubris.

The state of steady habits expects to see the candidate and wants him or her to understand everyday issues. Concentrating on just taxes gets old quickly. Nobody expects instant answers to problems like crumbling foundations, Tweed New Haven Airport or the aging I-84 viaduct in Hartford, but candidates for statewide office could and should easily say, “I share your concerns and will listen to your solutions.”

Again, Stefanowski repeatedly stumbled over handling such campaign basics, building a perception that he didn’t know much about the state he wanted to lead or have much interest in the people he expected to help him. Just imagine if right after winning the primary (with 30 percent of the vote) he called all the Republican State Central Committee members and asked them where the state government came up short. Imagine if he put a staff person on the phone to each Republican town chairman. Local themes would have jumped out and, in just a few days, he would have built support and actually learned something about Connecticut, which any statewide candidate should know.

The final nail in the coffin of this failed campaign was ignoring any real effort in the Greater Hartford area. A Republican doesn’t need to win Windsor, Bloomfield or Hartford — just do a bit better, maybe 5 percent, 10 percent. If that had been so, I would be writing quite a different piece.

The only grim consolation for Republicans is that, now that the Democrats control both chambers in the legislature and the governor’s office, they will own whatever happens as they try to pull the state out of its fiscal mess.

Mike McGarry of Hartford was on the city council from 1993 to 1999 and is a member of the Republican State Central Committee.