Lamont reprises run for governor

Ned Lamont, the progressive crusader who gave Joe Lieberman a re-election scare and later fell to Dannel P. Malloy in the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial primary, entered the race for the state’s top office Wednesday.

The Greenwich cable television entrepreneur has been exploring another statewide candidacy since late November. He commissioned a poll to gauge the longevity of his political brand, one in which he invested $26 million of his own money with his previous runs for the U.S. Senate and governor.

Lamont, 64, joins a record number of Democrats and Republicans vying to succeed Malloy, who is not seeking a third term. Malloy’s job approval ratings have cratered amid budget deficits, tax increases and the loss of corporate headquarters such as General Electric and Alexion.

“This is not Malloy 3.0,” Lamont told Hearst Connecticut Media. “This is going to be a new start for the state of Connecticut. Everybody knows I’m my own man. I’m a different type of Democrat. I’m not afraid to take on the status quo, even in my own party.”

It’s been 12 years since the underdog Lamont shocked the political world by upsetting Lieberman in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. The former one-term Greenwich selectman tapped into strong opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq and the hawkish reputation of Lieberman, who was infamously kissed on the cheek by President

George W. Bush during his 2005 State of the Union address.

At the time, a number of major figures from the political left came to Connecticut to campaign for Lamont, including the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who made an appearance with the nominee at Bridgeport’s Mount Aery Baptist Church. Lieberman survived Lamont’s insurgency campaign in the general election, but was forced to run as an independent petition candidate.

Sidelined by another progressive

In 2010, Lamont appeared to have the inside track to his party’s nomination for governor, but was derailed by Malloy, the former longtime Stamford mayor. In that race, Malloy was the first major beneficiary of public campaign financing under the state’s clean-elections program. Lamont went the self-funding route, which could again become a major plotline.

Lamont said he will emphasize small-dollar donations from grassroots supporters to go along with his personal funds.

“While I’m not going to take the public financing myself, I’m going to fight for the program because it allows more people to compete, and that’s good for our democracy,” Lamont said.

On the Democratic side, Lamont is expected to face competition from the mayors of Bridgeport (Joe Ganim) and Hartford (Luke Bronin), former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, the former commissioners of consumer protection (Jonathan Harris) and veterans affairs (Sean Connolly), and former state party vice chairwoman Dita Bhargava.

“I’m sure that he has the finances to make a big splash in this field of inexperienced, unknown or ethically challenged candidates,” said Scott McLean, a political science professor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. “He can say ‘I’m none of those things.’ He’s well known. He has a large bank roll to finance this. He doesn’t have any government record to have black spots on, unlike Ganim.”

Bridgeport voters returned Ganim to the mayor’s office in 2015 after he served seven years in prison for corruption.

State GOP Chairman J.R. Romano said that Democrats have become the party of the rich, noting that Lamont, Bhargava and Bronin all have Greenwich ties. Bronin’s parents live in the same part of town as Lamont, who is the great-grandson of Thomas W. Lamont, an early chairman of J.P. Morgan & Co.

“I think that it’s absolutely hysterical and ironic that the Democratic field is basically Greenwich guys at this point between Luke Bronin, Lamont and Dita,” Romano said. “According to Democrats, I thought (Greenwich residents) were evil.”

A GOP gubernatorial candidate, hedge fund mogul David Stemerman, is also from Greenwich.

Wasting no time

Lamont has already started staffing up with veteran political operatives, hiring Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman’s spokeswoman Juliet Manalan, former Bill Finch press aide Brett Broesder and Ted Kennedy Jr. political adviser Rob Blanchard, who is a member of Middletown’s Common Council. Broesder has also done work for Bronin.

Lamont’s entry into the race comes less than a week after Middletown Mayor Dan Drew, who tried to position himself on the progressive left flank of the party, abandoned his bid for governor. Drew’s campaign racked up debt and the mayor lost his seat on the Democratic Town Committee in Middletown.

Lamont said he would be reluctant to raise taxes, but won’t rule it out, and that it would have to be part of a comprehensive tax reform. In contrast to Republicans, he said he would not try to reopen a state employee union concessions deal that passed along party lines last summer. The deal is expected to save the state $1.5 billion over the next two fiscal years, but was uniformly criticized by Republicans for its no-layoff guarantee for the next four years.

“I think a contract is a contract,” Lamont said. “We know that in business. These are teachers, firemen, cops, nurses. We have a commitment to these folks.”

One thing Lamont would tax would be marijuana, which is legal for medical but not recreational use in Connecticut. “Legalize it,” he said. Lamont also supports a high-speed tolling system on the state’s highways, where toll plazas were eliminated after a spate of accidents in the 1980s.

“We’re the town that gave you the Mianus Bridge collapse,” Lamont said of Greenwich. “Look, I think one of the worst things this state has done is not invest in our transportation infrastructure. It’s a disaster.”

While he’s had his differences with Malloy, expect Lamont to stick to the immigration policies of the current administration, whether it’s bucking the Trump administration’s deportation orders or protecting so-called “Dreamers” from deportation.

“I’m proud of the fact that we welcome people from a wide variety of countries and backgrounds,” Lamont said. “That’s what Connecticut is all about.”

“I’m sure that he has the finances to make a big splash in this field of inexperienced, unknown or ethically challenged candidates.” Scott McLean, a political science professor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden

Ned Lamont