The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Lamont sharpens his urban focus in area
With less than a week to go before the state’s Democratic Convention in Hartford, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont has spent much of his time focusing on New Haven.
The wealthy Greenwich businessman opened his campaign’s second New Haven office at 560 Whalley Ave. on Saturday with a high profile supporter, state Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr, D-Branford.
Lamont and Kennedy gave campaign volunteers a pep talk before sending them out around the city to do voter outreach and touch base with delegates to next weekend’s state convention at the Connecticut Convention Center.
“We opened the new office as a way to show that we are going to focus intensely on grassroots organizing,” Lamont said.
The campaign main base of operations in New Haven is on Willow Street. Lamont said the city is not only important to his campaign, but to the state’s well being.
“You got the ‘eds and meds’ economy here as well as great leadership in the city,” he said. “I really think that the future of Connecticut runs right through New Haven.”
Kennedy, who is not seeking re-election in November, said he has known Lamont for more than 25 years.
“I know that he shares the same values that we all believe in,” Kennedy told Lamont’s campaign workers. “Ned believes in hard work, giving back and working toward equitable solutions for all of us.”
Kennedy’s endorsement and the opening of a second New Haven campaign office capped off what was a successful week for the Lamont campaign. He was in New Haven on Thursday to learn more about the school’s Career Pathways Construction Technology program, which combines classroom instruction with hands-on experience that students require to successfully complete an apprenticeship program.
Lamont also landed endorsements from other high-profile Democratic political leaders. Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary announced his support for Lamont on May 9 and was followed two days later by House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford.
Gary Rose, chairman of the government and politics department at Scared Heart University in Fairfield, said Lamont’s urban strategy will benefit him if he faces a primary challenge and in the November general election if he ultimately becomes the Democratic nominee.
“That’s where the core of the Democratic Party is,” Rose said of the state’s cities. “If you can win in the cities, you’re going to win the primary. And if you can win them in a big way in November, you’re going to be governor.”
Rose said Lamont has achieved what he called “folk hero status” within some segments of the Democratic party after he challenged then-incumbent U.S. Sen.Joe Lieberman in a 2006 primary.