Lamont, Bysiewicz, Tong visit diner

Candidates pounding pavement as primary looms

MIDDLETOWN — Along with their eggs, bacon and toast or flapjacks, patrons at O’Rourke’s Diner got a side order of primary politics Friday morning.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont, lieutenant governor candidate Susan Bysiewicz, and William Tong, candidate for attorney general, were joined by State Rep. Joseph Serra, D-Middletown, and Middletown Common Councilor Robert Blanchard for a combination breakfast, campaign appearance and strategy session.

The three candidates were heading out for another day of campaigning, criss-crossing the state to meet Democratic voters in advance of Tuesday’s primary.

Lamont arrived at the iconic diner first, following a 6 a.m. grip-and-greet with workers filing into the massive Electric Boat shipyard in Groton.

In the company of Serra, Lamont made his way into O’Rourke’s just after 8:30 a.m.

Once inside, he worked his way down a row of booths, introducing himself where necessary or saying hello again to people he knew.

He then settled into a corner booth, where he and Serra both ordered poached eggs and waited the arrival of Bysiewicz, who appeared shortly thereafter.

In turn, Tong and Blanchard arrived.

Lamont is locked in a close race with Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, while Bysiewicz is hoping to beat back a challenge from political newcomer Eva Bermudez-Zimmerman.

Tong, the state representative for the 147th Assembly district in Stamford/New Canaan, is one of three candidates for the attorney general’s nomination.

He is the party-endorsed candidate. The other candidates are State Sen. Paul Doyle and Chris Mattei.

Bysiewicz left the diner first.

As she did, she was asked if campaigning ever gets old.

“Not for me,” she said, and then quipped, “I’ll let you know when it does.”

Lamont was headed to Bristol and then New Britain for the next of what he anticipated would be four or five stops Friday and again Saturday.

“We’re going to be going flat out for the next 72 hours,” he said.

Lamont said making himself seen and known to voters on a personal level is essential.

“People want to see you in person,” he said.

And so, going back again and again is a campaigning essential.

“Why haven’t you been in Coventry?” a resident asked him just the other day.

He had been in Coventry — and more than once.