Walker, Drew dive into gubernatorial race

The field in a wide-open governor’s race is starting to crystallize, with the Democrat Middletown Mayor Dan Drew and former U.S. Comptroller General Dave Walker, a Bridgeport Republican, moving from the campaign exploratory phase to declared candidates.

The pair join Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst and Glastonbury state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, all Republicans, as prominent candidates for the state’s top office.

Both have been crisscrossing the state to curry favor with their political base and raise money to try to qualify for public campaign financing under Connecticut’s clean-elections program.

Drew has raised $174,883 from more than 2,000 contributors since the beginning of the year, while Walker netted $72,156 for his first fundraising period.

“I didn’t see any reason in waiting any longer,” said Drew, who is in his third term as mayor. “I think I’m the progressive in this race.”

Drew, 37, was the first major Democrat out of the gates, creating an exploratory committee three months before the sitting governor from his own party, Dannel P. Malloy, revealed that he would not seek re-election in 2018. He will kick off his campaign Wednesday at Harbor Park in Middletown.

“I’ve been heartened by the support I’ve received from people around the state,” said Drew, the head of the state’s Democratic mayoral coalition.

Walker, 65, the head of the Government Accountability Office under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, was an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014. He is marketing himself as a fiscal guru and turnaround specialist who can appeal to Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters, the state’s largest electoral bloc.

“I have by far the greatest cross-party appeal of any candidate,” Walker said. “It’s not even close.”

Republicans and Democrats could have a record number of candidates to choose from during their state party conventions in May and primaries next August. Walker and Drew each created an exploratory committee, a soft launch for those who aren’t ready to be bound by candidate spending limits.

“It also allows people not to go full speed ahead if they put their toe in the water and the reception isn’t very good,” said Ronald Schurin, an associate professor of political science at the University of Connecticut.

In Drew’s travels across the state, including meetings with Democratic Town Committees and liberal groups such as Democracy for America, he has promoted Middletown as an example of economic development, downtown revitalization and educational investment. He has spoken against “austerity budgeting” and called for increases to the minimum wage and collective bargaining protections.

“He talked very explicitly about raising taxes, which everyone else has been treading very gingerly toward,” Schurin said of a DTC meeting where he saw Drew speak.

Walker has taken a more circuitous path toward running for governor, with the Alabama native adopting Bridgeport as his home in 2009, when he purchased the Black Rock property of former Congressman Christopher Shays.

From 1969 to 1976, he was a Democrat. Then, he was a Republican through 1997, when he switched to unaffiliated status as comptroller general. He was recommended for the post — in charge of the nonpartisan auditing and investigatory arm of Congress — by a bipartisan committee, nominated by Clinton and approved by the Senate.

“Walker will be representing himself as the thinking person’s candidate,” Schurin said.

Walker rejoined the Republican Party in 2014, when he was the running mate of gubernatorial candidate John McKinney. Each lost in the primary.

“You need to be an independent both in form and substance when you’re comptroller general of the United States,” Walker said of his changing political affiliation.

Had the real estate market panned out differently, Walker wouldn’t even be in the conversation for governor. In October 2014, he listed his waterfront home for $1.7 million, but pulled it off the market last September. He has said the property diminished in value by 30 percent since he bought it, while its taxes have gone up 70 percent.

“Look, I love the state,” Walker said. “I did have my house on the market for a little while. But because of failed leadership and poor policies at the state and local level, I couldn’t sell it for a decent price.”