The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Klarides strongly weighing run for governor
19-year legislator concentrating on state budget first
DERBY » Moving closer to fulfilling her goal of becoming the first woman from her party to serve as Connecticut House speaker, Republican Themis Klarides is eyeing a bigger prize in 2018 — governor.
The 19-year lawmaker from Derby said she has a strong interest in the race to fill the seat of departing Democrat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, characterizing it as a wide-open contest despite the crowded field.
With the two parties at an impasse over a $5 billion budget deficit for the next two years, Klarides sounded more and more like a contender for the state’s top office during a wide-ranging interview with Hearst Connecticut Media.
Or, as she put it, “somebody who is seriously thinking about it because she thinks this state is a mess.”
Klarides, 51, won’t make a final decision on the race until a budget deal gets ironed out, saying it’s not too late to join the half-dozen fellow Republicans with candidate or exploratory committees for governor.
“There’s clearly no frontrunner at this point of the people who are in,” Klarides said. “I think people should wait and see who all the choices are before they make a decision.”
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have been waiting for Klarides, the first woman to lead the House GOP, to make her move. The conventional wisdom has long been that Klarides is holding out for speaker of the chamber, which Democrats control 79 to 72.
Republicans need to pick up just four seats in 2018 to seize control of the House, where Klarides’ younger sister, Nicole Klarides-Ditria, is a freshman lawmaker from Seymour. But the elder Klarides may have other ideas.
“I think the (governor’s) race has a few months here still until it takes shape,” said Liz Kurantowicz, a former chief of staff for the Connecticut GOP and political consultant from Fairfield.
Senate Republican President Len Fasano could also be in the mix after the budget special session.
“I’m keeping my options open,” Fasano said. “I’ve been concentrating on the budget.”
The GOP field includes Dave Walker, the former U.S. comptroller general from Bridgeport; Tim Herbst and Mark Lauretti, the longtime Trumbull first selectman and Shelton mayor, respectively; and state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, of Glastonbury.
It is likely to expand to Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Fairfield immigration lawyer and 2014 secretary of the state candidate Peter Lumaj and Westport businessman Steve Obsitnik, each of whom has formed an exploratory committee.
The notable Democrats with gubernatorial ambitions are state Comptroller Kevin Lembo, Middletown Mayor Dan Drew and Jonathan Harris, the former state consumer protection commissioner and one-time executive director of the Connecticut Democrats.
“I have to figure out where I can best serve the state of Connecticut,” Klarides said. “It changes daily.”
Klarides practices law with the Bridgeport-based Cohen and Wolf in the firm’s Orange office. After law school, she worked as a “ring girl” for the McMahon family-run wrestling giant, the WWE. She got her undergraduate degree from Trinity College, the alma mater of Herbst and state GOP Chairman J.R. Romano.
Not until a budget gets passed, Klarides said, will she allow herself to focus on her political path. She railed on majority Democrats for the stalemate, saying they have blocked six to eight GOP budget proposals because they were afraid they would pass.
“I do believe in my heart and my gut that we have the direction to get us out of this mess,” Klarides said.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said Republicans in the House and Senate can’t even get together on a budget proposal.
“Even if we could pass one of their budgets they wouldn’t survive the other chamber,” Aresimowicz said. “Look, people that are running for higher political office have a different viewpoint. I don’t begrudge her for that, it’s just a different process.”
Klarides and Aresimowicz each have faced criticism from what some members of their caucuses view as their chumminess.
“We do enjoy a good working relationship because we both believe that the legislative branch of government works best when there’s compromise,” Aresimowicz said. “I think when we’ve had our differences we’ve been pretty quick to point them out.”
Aresimowicz pointed out that Klarides would be the first prominent woman on either side of the aisle to run for governor this cycle.
“It’s a tough decision for her,” he said.