The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
3 GOP hopefuls for Lt. gov.
Markley, Stevenson, Stewart
The crowded race to be Connecticut’s governor has captured the state’s attention, but the outcome of the primaries for lieutenant governor could have big implications for both parties come November.
Three Republicans are vying for the second-incommand post and it could be anyone’s game on primary day, Aug. 14.
State Sen. Joe Markley, 61, the party’s endorsed lieutenant governor candidate, is by far the most conservative in the ring. In the senate since 2010, he would eliminate the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and is staunchly pro-life.
Markley, of Southington, takes a hands-off approach to governance and once proposed legislation to eliminate the state requirement to fluoridate public drinking water. He’s often been the lone “no” vote in the senate, and argued “it’s not for government to decide” on issues like a “yes means yes” policy for cases of sexual assault on college campuses.
In reliably blue Connecticut, some Republicans are worried that Markley’s brand of conservatism could be a turn-off for the unaffiliated voters in the general election. Republicans are outnumbered in the state and need to pull in middle-of-the-road voters in order to win.
“If I were a Republican master strategist, I would try and make sure my lieutenant governor at the very least didn’t alienate voters,” said Ronald Schurin, an associate professor of political science at the University of Connecticut. “It’s hard to imagine Markley bringing in voters. The people in the middle who Republicans need to attract will not vote for Senator Markley so that should be a concern.”
But voters in the party’s August primary are often the more conservative segment of the party, so the odds may be in Markley’s favor to win the nomination, Schurin said.
Schurin said it’s likely Democrats will make an issue of Markley’s conservatism — the lieutenant governor presides over the senate and provides tie-breaking votes when necessary — and be quick to point out how often lieutenant governors have been asked to step up and fill the governor’s seat.
Markley isn’t worried about attacks on his conservative values.
“I represent the state senate seat that Chris Murphy held not too many years before me,” Markley said. “So I think I’ve shown in a district that is Democratic by nature, I’m able to win and win by a big margin. Part of my political conviction is smaller government and creating the circumstances that lead to economic growth, and that’s what people want.”
‘Nicely in the middle’
Darien first selectwoman Jayme Stevenson, 56, has taken to marketing herself as the “middle ground” of the Republican party.
She argues that she would have been the party-endorsed candidate had it not been for the rogue campaign of New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart who switched from the governor’s race to the lieutenant governor’s race on the eve of the convention.
Stevenson favors reasonable gun laws, supports a woman’s right to choose and is a vocal advocate for pay equity and women’s rights — she said she’s faced her fair share of sexism and has four daughters. If she becomes the lieutenant governor, she plans to devote substantial time to finding ways the state can combat the opioid crisis. Stevenson, who has served as first selectwoman since 2011, was re-elected in 2016, the same year Republican-dominated Darien voted for Hillary Clinton.
“I like to say I’m a ‘compassionate Republican,’ ” Stevenson said. “I stand very nicely in the middle of Joe and Erin ... He’s not at all reflective of the general population of Connecticut and what they want in a leader.”
Bringing diversity
Stewart, who was late to jump into the governor’s race and even later to enter the lieutenant governor’s race, and has been an advocate for ticket diversity, playing up her age and gender as imperative to Republican success.
Stewart, 31, said she felt it was important for the Republican party to have a millennial voice — specifically hers — this year.
“I don’t look like the typical politician, and I’m OK with that,” she said. “The Republican party needs diversity on its ticket and that’s a fact. It’s not the only thing that matters, but it is important, especially in Connecticut.”
Even so, Stewart knows primary day will be an uphill battle.
“We’ve done polling,” Stewart said. “We have work to do. There’s no doubt about it. But it’s a three-way race for lieutenant governor.”
Stewart turned in her application for the statefunded Citizen’s Election grant on Friday, the last day to do so. She said she won’t drop out of the race if she doesn’t receive the grant.
“I am not even considering that as an option right now,” Stewart said. “We will continue on the path that we’ve been continuing on thus far, and we would continue fundraising as we have been ... I think we would be just fine.”
Open race
Connecticut is unusual in that it’s one of only a handful of states where the governor and lieutenant governor are separate on the primary ballot, but forced to team up for the general election.
Unlike the endorsed Democratic candidates Ned Lamont and Susan Bysiewicz who are running as a ticket, all five of the Republican candidates for governor have distanced themselves from the lieutenant governor candidates, saying it’s up to the voters to decide.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the endorsed candidate in the governor’s race said he’s spoken to all three candidates, and feels he could work well with whoever primary voters choose.
Stevenson said she’s spoken with all of the candidates for governor, while Stewart said she’s only started to get to know Greenwich hedge funder David Stemerman and has never met Madison business executive Bob Stefanowski. Markley said he’s very familiar with all of the Republican candidates for governor.
“I just think there’s so many candidates, it really should be up to the voters in the primary who they want to be the lieutenant governor and I’ll support their choice,” said Boughton, who attempted to team up with two different running mates the last time he ran for governor in 2014 only to be forced to end his own candidacy when neither alliance worked out.
“I think we’re lucky to have three good people,” he added.