The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Republicans tout running as outsiders
Stewart ineligible to take stage at debate, backers protest
NEW BRITAIN — Erin Stewart walked across the stage at New Britain High School in 2005 to receive her high school diploma. In 2014, she was sworn in as mayor on the same stage.
But on Wednesday night, as Republican candidates for governor occupied that same stage, Stewart was outside with nearly 70 vocal supporters chanting “Let her speak, let her speak.”
“We’re going to keep working toward the goal to see if we can make it to the next debate,” said Jodi Latina, Stewart’s chief of staff.
Stewart spoke briefly with her supporters and left for a fundraising event — she was short nearly $70,000 from the required $175,000 to participate in her hometown debate.
Inside, nine candidates crowded the stage in front of about 400 people, sharing their outsider credentials, attacking the Democratic Party and boasting the strength of the GOP.
Only one candidate gave a nod to Stewart’s absence.
“It’s great to be in a city with a Republican mayor,” said former U.S. Comptroller Dave Walker, of Bridgeport.
State Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, a Glastonbury physician, said he is not a stereotypical Republican. Of the nine candidates, only he and Mike Handler, Stamford’s chief financial officer, said they did not favor a return to capital punishment, which was repealed in 2012 and expanded to include Death Row inmates by the state Supreme Court in 2015.
“For those of us that look at our own state and look at the inmates that we have on death row, how many have finally got to that death row?” Srinivasan said to scattered boos from the crowd. “Yes we have great evidence, convincing evidence, but let’s not go back. Let’s be what the rest of the civilized society does. Put them behind bars for the rest of their lives, but let’s not have the death penalty.”
Handler stuck with his platform, reiterating his claim that he saved Stamford from a “potential” budget crisis.
“This election is about one thing: cleaning up (Gov.) Dan Malloy’s mess,” Handler said. “I understand what our problems are. I’ve seen them firsthand.”
Peter Lumaj, an Albanian-born lawyer from Fairfield, blamed the state’s “failed liberal policies in Hartford” for the state’s fiscal and infrastructure troubles.
“I love this country,” he said. “I love this state. I believe as a complete outsider I am not beholden to anyone.
Ninth-term Danbury mayor Mark Boughton added his voice to the litany.
“Past practice indicates future performance,” Boughton said to the audience. “If we are going to win in the fall, it’s going to take all of us in this room.”
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti claimed his city has the lowest office-vacancy rate in the state as an indication of his belief in a strong business base.
“My city is not on a major hub or corridor,” said Lauretti, who is in his 27th year in office. “We’re in the Naugatuck Valley with old industrial blue-collar roots.”
David Stemerman, a hedge-fund millionaire from Greenwich, made his first appearance in a debate, saying he’d been busy running his financial firm until December.
“The type of leadership that we need in this state are the ones that we exhibited at my business,” Stemerman said. “The first is we were able to make tough decisions, the second is we were able to see opportunities other people could not, and the third was being able to bring great teams together.”
“We are in this mess because for 40 years politicians in both parties have focused on the next election,” said Tim Herbst, the former Trumbull first selectman. “If ever there was a time to elect a proven outsider to go to Hartford, the time is now. This election is about your future.”
Westport businessman Steve Obsitnik warned Democrats were going to “make this a nasty, negative campaign because that’s all they have on their side.
“Your governor has to do two things: walk and chew gum,” Obsitnik said. “Politicians will talk about plans but I have the experience of building jobs.”
Bob Stefanowski, a former chief financial officer of UBS Investment Bank, declined the invitation to participate in the debate. He plans to skip the convention and will petition his way onto the August primary ballot, he said.