Jepsen, now Lamont’s neighbor, was key to election

As Gov. Ned Lamont thanked the retiring members of the previous administration during his State of the State address, one name stood out.

“Where’s George Jepsen? I thought you were down here somewhere,” Lamont joked, pretending to look for the former attorney general who was seated just a few feet to his right on the raised dais in the historic House of Representatives.

“George, you’re just across the street from me now. You can run but you can’t hide,” Lamont said, referencing Jepsen’s Prospect Avenue address, opposite the Executive Residence.

The comment was an obvious nod to Jepsen’s influence over the past two years, and an indication it won’t wane now that he is out of office.

Jepsen’s name provoked a standing ovation from the packed House. That could be because he just stepped down after serving in elected office for most of the last 32 years.

But more to the point for Lamont,

Jepsen was arguably the key player behind the scenes who made the governor’s victory possible. The two became close in 1990, during their campaigns to represent adjacent state Senate districts in Greenwich and Stamford.

He encouraged Lamont to run for governor in the first place; made an early public endorsement of his campaign; was in the room with Lamont and his family during his resounding primary and general election wins; and has co-chaired the Lamont transition team. Lamont has often sought Jepsen’s counsel, both publicly and behind the scenes.

“For over 30 years, outgoing Attorney General George Jepsen has been a close adviser to me but most of all he has been a friend,” Lamont said Thursday, adding Jepsen has been instrumental through the years in helping develop his campaign strategy, going back as far as Lamont’s 2006 run for U.S. Senate.

“The state is fortunate to have had his decades of public service and I am especially fortunate that as governor, I will still be able to seek his wisdom and advice,” he said.

Thoughtful and measured

Jepsen, a popular Democrat known as a gifted political strategist, said he and Lamont talked often in the summer of 2017 after now-former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced his decision not to seek a third term.

Lamont would call to say Jepsen should consider running himself. But Jepsen, who is consistently thoughtful and well-reasoned before he speaks, didn’t want the job and he truly believed Lamont to be the better candidate, and often told him so.

“I try not to impose myself on people, but if anybody asks my opinion, as he does not infrequently, I’m always happy to share it,” Jepsen said.

Jepsen was at the early meetings of the Lamont campaign, helping put it together, and publicly endorsed Lamont in March of 2018. It was an unusually early endorsement from a prominent political figure, but Jepsen, who had also decided not to seek re-election as attorney general, was free to speak his mind.

The endorsement, which came two months ahead of the party’s nominating convention, was huge for Lamont’s campaign. It set him apart as a frontrunner, and candidates quickly began dropping from the Democratic field until Susan Bysiewicz, considered the last serious threat to Lamont before the convention, opted to be his running mate instead. The suggestion to team up came from Jepsen.

Jepsen