Candidates say they have the signatures

The campaigns of nearly all petitioning gubernatorial candidates say they have passed a hurdle in the race to the governor’s office and will submit enough valid signatures by Tuesday afternoon’s deadline to compete in the primary.

“We’re more confident than ever that we’ll be on the primary ballot in August, as we continue to move forward with the process,” said Ted Lorson, spokesman for Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who is seeking to challenge Ned Lamont, who easily won the Democratic endorsement last month.

Lorson said more than 29,000 signatures will be turned in for Ganim; nearly twice the 15,458 names of registered Democrats required. So far, the secretary of the state’s office has tabulated 4,938 of them.

Guy Smith, a Democrat and Greenwich businessman, said he will submit about 23,000 signatures and spend much of Tuesday delivering them to voter registrars in towns and cities across the state, who will then have a week to certify the signatures before sending them to the Secretary of the State. Many will mail the results in, said Gabe Rosenberg, spokesman for the secretary of the state, so it could easily take until the end of the month for results to be official.

“In an especially dangerous time, I think the 169 registrars and the team in the Secretary of State's office are the bulwark of our democracy,” Smith said on Monday. “I have had the opportunity to speak with Connecticut Democrats across the state who have enthusiastically signed my petition to be on the ballot. I am thoroughly energized by all of the wonderful people I am meeting as they voice their frustration with Hartford.”

On the Republican side, where 9,081 signatures are needed, businessmen David Stemerman, of Greenwich, and Bob Stefanowski, of Madison, said Monday they are confident they will exceed the threshold.

“Bob Stefanowski is submitting over 15,000 signatures from 154 towns across Connecticut,” said Patrick Trueman, his spokesman. “We were the only campaign that went almost exclusively door-todoor to thousands of Republican voters and are confident that Bob will be on the ballot in August.”

Albert Eisenberg, Stemerman’s spokesman, said the campaign has collected nearly 20,000 names, from almost all the state’s town and cities. He said that volunteers, family friends and paid staff participated in the drive for petitions, which required the support of registered Republican voters.

“We are very confident we will be on the ballot,” Eisenberg said. “As far as taking the outsider-candidates onerous track, we’re glad we’re doing it. David’s the outsider candidate with a credible plan and we’re proud to take that message to voters.”

Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who did not begin his petition drive until after the GOP convention, where he failed to reach the 15 percent delegate support to automatically reach the ballot, said Monday night that he doesn’t know how many signatures he’s gathered. “It’s anyone’s guess, at this point,” he said. “I haven’t spent time counting because I’m out collecting.”

Republican petitioners would challenge Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the convention-endorsed candidate, as well as Tim Herbst the former Trumbull first selectman, and Steve Obsitnik, a tech entrepreneur from Westport, who qualified for the primary at the convention.