The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
State again delays public finance grant to Obsitnik
HARTFORD — With an Aug. 14 primary fast approaching, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Obsitnik suffered another blow Thursday in his quest for $1.35 million in public financing, leading his campaign manager to say he may “consider other options.”
The State Elections Enforcement Commission again decided Thursday not to award the Westport tech entrepreneur the money, delaying his application without prejudice — meaning it remains in limbo.
The holdup: Obsitnik’s grant linked in part to an SEEC investigation into his fundraising and his campaign’s relationship with an independent group set up to support his candidacy.
The investigation could produce information “relevant” to Obsinik’s grant, said Michael Brandi, executive director of the SEEC. Therefore, the SEEC will not act on the grant until they have “sufficient information,” he said.
Obsitnik’s campaign blamed the delay on a minor technicality with a few contributions.
“The wait continues for an SEEC response on what the Obsitnik campaign is being told are ‘technical issues’ regarding a small number of donor forms,” said campaign manager Dan Debicella in a written statement. “Back on June 13th, 2018, fixes to these forms, as well as on additional new donations, were submitted to the SEEC, and there has not been an official response from them in three weeks.”
Brandi said the SEEC has been in communication with the campaign.
The delayed funding is a severe handicap for Obsitnik because two of his opponents, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the partyendorsed candidate, and Tim Herbst, of Trumbull, received their public financing grants last month. The two other GOP hopefuls, Bob Stefanowski, of Madison, and David Stemerman, of Greenwich, are self-funding multi-millionaires who petitioned their way onto the primary ballot with signatures.
“There also comes a point where we may have to consider other options, should we not receive timely feedback on the status of our grant,” Debicella said. He did not spell out what those options might be.
The investigation, which the SEEC voted to commence last week, could take months. One issue is whether Obsitnik’s campaign coordinated with an independent group supporting it — which would violate state law.
Brandi did not provide an update on the status Thursday, and did not say how the campaign’s immediate need for money in order to compete, and the time needed to conduct a broader investigation, would affect each other.
“We’re committing all the resources we have available to the matters to try to resolve them as quickly as possible,” Brandi said.
Obsitnik could still be awarded participation in the voluntary Citizens’ Election Program if the SEEC determines that he properly raised $250,000 in contributions under $100 each. The last date Obsitnik could win a grant for the primary is July 27, Brandi said. That would give the camapign 18 days before the primary.
While state elections rules don’t specifically address scenarios similar to Obsitnik’s, in the past candidates have received grants while they were under investigation, Brandi said.
The SEEC, which has issued an investigative subpoena, will look deeper into Obsitnik’s connection with FixCT Inc., an independent group that has raised $137,000 to support him.
The state law barring coordination between independent groups and campaigns prohibits the sharing of vendors. Records on file with the SEEC indicate that Obsitnik and FixCT had at least one consultant in common, Connect Strategy Communications of Dallas. According to the latest campaign-finance filings, Obsitnik paid more than $7,000 to the firm, which was hired to manage digital services.
The contract with Connect Strategy ended last year, before FixCT hired the firm for more than $70,000, said Ben Proto, senior advisor to the Obsitnik campaign, earlier this week.