The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
State Republican Party chair won’t seek 4th 2-year term
J.R. Romano, the threeterm chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, will hang up his gavel next year after six years that brought the Connecticut GOP into a brief, two-year-long tie in the state Senate and within 1.3 percent of regaining the governor’s office in 2018.
The 42-year-old Romano, who at one point was the youngest state party chairman in the country, doesn’t know what he will do when he leaves office next June.
“I truly love helping people and what I believe is that the stronger Republican Party is, the better we can help hard-working middle-class families who have had a hard time in this expensive state because of policies supported by Democrats over the last decade,” Romano said in an Wednesday interview.
He pointed to the recent announcement that East
Hartford-based aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has announced plans to open a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
“That’s a direct result of poor leadership by the Democrat Party,” said Romano, who said that the highlight of his tenure was the 2016 General Assembly election that resulted in a tie in the state Senate and shared committee leadership that led to compromise state budgets.
“We stopped the tax increases and slowed the spending sprees that the Democrats like to push,” Romano said.
This year, Romano was criticized inside and outside the party over an alleged domestic incident involving a 2nd Congressional District candidate, with some high-profile state Republicans calling for his resignation.
Romano might be best known, however, for a string of governor debates in 2018 that took place in each of the state’s five congressional district, showcasing candidates that led to the endorsement of Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton at the party convention, followed by the primary victory of former business executive Bob Stefanowski, of Madison, who lost the general election to Ned Lamont.
“I was criticized for those debates, but it helped the party decide on who to nominate,” Romano said. “We raised a significant amount of money. Between Sen. Chris Murphy and Lamont using his own money, we were outspent by $30 million. It’s tragic that the ball didn’t bounce our way.”
Romano said Wednesday that the state’s party-convention process is outdated and should be replaced by run-off elections
“I think that it would be better for Democrats and
Republicans alike, but it’s not likely to win approval in the General Assembly,”
State Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, RNorth Haven, said Wednesday that Romano is doing a good job in a tough position for a party that is outnumbered by Democrats by about 800,000 to 460,000.
“It’s tough to be a chairman of the Republican Party in a blue state,” Fasano said in a phone interview. “There are not many victories you can count on. You have to do a lot of hand holding for candidates, and it’s a job that’s easy to criticize. I applaud a party chair who can stay that long without taking a majority in the state House, Senate or congressional delegation. Some are more appreciative than others.”
In particular, Fasano said Romano was instrumental in introducing contributors to the Senate political action committee. “He would always ask me what did I
need,” Fasano recalled. “I think he’s done a very good job.”
“I wish him well,” said Romano’s counterpart, Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo, of Trumbull. “But right now,
it’s time to focus on the important election that’s happening for all Americans and democracy itself, on Nov 3.”