The gloves are off, the TV is on

Candidates figure to spend big and get nasty in race

If you think the Republican and Democratic primary campaigns featured vicious attacks, just wait for the main event, when Republican Bob Stefanowski of Madison and Democrat Ned Lamont of Greenwich, along with the independent Super PACs aligned with each of them, raise the ante for the governor’s campaign by lowering the tone and buying up the TV time between now and Nov. 6. Where’s the mute button?

With neither candidate joining the state’s voluntary public-financing program — and their $6.5 million spending ceilings — the sky could be the limit. The dueling duo will find themselves in the middle of a proxy fight, as Republicans

try to align Lamont with the unpopular Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, and Democrats liken Stefanowski to President Donald Trump, for the heart and soul of Connecticut’s blue-state reputation.

In Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, whose federal felony conviction precluded him from participating in the Citizens’ Election Fund, Lamont did not have an adversary who could attack him beyond a few uncomfortable minutes during debates. Ganim was ultimately unsuccessful in framing Lamont as an outof-touch rich guy, and lost 168 of the state’s 169 towns.

Stefanowski, though, having been on TV since January in his successful effort to turn the traditional GOP nominating process on its head, will have millions upon millions to attack and promote his candidacy. Lamont, from Greenwich, with a personal fortune estimated between $100 million and $300 million, will be able to go toe-to-toe.

It’s likely that spending in the 2018 race for governor will exceed the more than $15 million of 2014 campaign, in which Malloy was re-elected over Tom Foley of Greenwich for a second time.

On the attack

The statewide returns hadn’t even arrived at the Secretary of the State’s Office the morning after the primary on Wednesday, and Lamont was calling his Republican opponent “Trumpanowski,” while the Republican gave the Democrat the “Ned Malloy” appellation.

Jerry Dunklee, a Southern Connecticut State University journalism professor who spent four decades in radio and TV, says that the evolution in election law means that the candidates don’t even have to truthful anymore in their ads. “I think it’s clear that there is going to be a deluge of outside money coming into both the governor’s race and the 5th Congressional District,” Dunklee said Friday. “A lot of it will be TV advertising. During the primary, I was amazed at the number of commercials on TV. It’s a boon for TV and radio.”

Dunklee, who teaches a course on media law and ethics, says that the 2016 presidential election essentially bypassed Connecticut, but this year, TV and radio will be awash in cash. Out-of-state money might filter down to the races for attorney general, state treasurer, maybe even state Senate contests.

He said that while the so-called equal-time rule is on the books with the Federal Communications Commission, exemptions have expanded to the point where talk shows don’t even have to pretend to air views on the opposite side of political arguments. “The need for equal time has really become very flaccid and it’s not as enforced as it used to be,” Dunklee said. “I’m seeing this more and more in the national media.”

And with TV and radio stations safe from legal liability under requirements that they cannot censor political commercials, the battling candidates and PACs can say virtually anything they want. “TV has to accept the advertising of legally authorized candidates,” Dunklee said.

“I think it’s clear that there is going to be a deluge of outside money coming (in) ...”

Jerry Dunklee, journalism professor, Southern Connecticut State University

Lamont

Stefanowski