ELECTION 2018
STEVE OBSITNIK, R: “I think I’m the only candidate who has lived in four ZIP codes around the state. I grew up in Stamford, I live in Westport now. I’ve lived in Enfield and Windsor ... If it’s the area codes of 203 or 860 or if it’s the public universities that don’t really talk to the private universities who don’t talk to the Fortune 500 companies that are still here, we are a siloed state. We are a state with gaps. We have an achievement gap, a skills gaps and we have an income gap. So the silos have created these gaps. Communications does not flow well across those silos. ... People are thirsting for leadership across these silos right now. ... It comes back to a favorite quote of mine that ‘ We may all be in the gutter together, but a few of us are looking up to the stars.’ ... We have the bones in the state, but what we’re missing is the tone and the leadership.”
NED LAMONT, D: “I’m not Pollyannaish, I know what’s going on, but you also need somebody who is a champion for the state. So after the GE deal, I saw how important it was to have people with technology skills bringing our work force into the 21st century ... When we finally got ( Infosys President) Ravi Kumar up to Hartford, I didn’t want him to meet the politicians, I wanted him to meet the business community. And I wanted them to say why they were in Connecticut and give people some confidence. And we had Stanley Black & Decker and we had Hartford Health. We had insurance guys, as well as universities; they sold the State of Connecticut. They said, ‘ We’re here because we want to be here, not because we are stuck here. We’re here because we love the quality of life. ’ ... That doom and gloom and all those TV ads, that doesn’t help get us where we’ve got to be. You
need somebody who is a champion for the state.” DAVID STEMERMAN, R:
“When I go to diners, I introduce myself... and ask a simple basic question: ‘ How do you think we’re doing here in Connecticut?’ And I get one of two answers. Either they look down at their feet, they look back at me and say, ‘ Not so good,’ or they start laughing and say ‘ C’mon, you’re not really asking me that question. We all know how bad it is.’ And so I say, ‘ Why do you say that?’ and they say, ‘ My neighbors are leaving, my kids are leaving, I’m thinking of leaving.’ I can’t count the number of people who have said to me, ‘ Within the next five years if this doesn’t change, I’m going to leave the state.’ I say, ‘ Why is that?’ They say, ‘ I love this state and this is where I want to stay; this is my home; this is where my family is, but I cannot afford to live here anymore. The taxes are too high. The cost of living is too high. I can’t find a job. My kids can’t find a job. I’m literally being driven out of my home.’ ... What people want is they want their government to treat them with respect. ... Their view is spending is being abused.”
JOE GANIM, D: “I talked to a lot of people outside of my city and saw a lot of people unsatisfied with the challenges they’re facing in their lives, whether they are school teachers facing challenges in the classroom, especially in our urban centers. People who are out of jobs. People that felt it was too costly to live here or think things they want to see in Connecticut are not being addressed. ... Everybody thinks whatever we’re paying in taxes is more than enough or too much. ... As governor I’m committed to fixing the mess, dealing with it, and then communicating as you go through what you’re going to do and why. I’m not hearing a lot of people saying ‘ Hey, this is booming for me.’ ... They feel there’s been a failure on the part of state government that kind of let them down, and as a municipal leader I feel the same way. I feel they’ve let down cities and towns in varying degrees.”
MARK BOUGHTON, R: “One of the things we’ve talked a lot about out on the trail is we don’t know a lot about who we are. And from 50,000- foot level, we’ve never had an identity. If you go to Massachusetts, you sense some pride and ownership of Massachusetts. If you’re a New Yorker, you’re a New Yorker, but Connecticut people, we’ve struggled to figure out that we’re not just that place between New York and Boston. Part of that is we’ve been somewhat transient. ... I think part of the challenge for the next governor will be to plant that seed of who we are. We are an incredibly diverse state. Danbury is one of the most diverse communities not just in the state but in the United States of America. ... We can develop that sense of place for Connecticut. ... Part of our marketing niche has to be that we have to have an identity so people go, ‘ Oh you’re from Connecticut. It’s not just the Constitution State, we understand what you’re about.’ ”
TIM HERBST, R: “My parents were teachers. I came from a very middle class beginning. A household where you needed to have two- income parents to be able to afford to have the opportunity to live in a great town, go to a great school system and afford to send their kids to college. ... When I went to college, and I got out of Trinity in 2002, I started to see the shift in the state. ... Probably about a quarter of my graduated high school class lives in Florida or South Carolina. ... When I look back to 2007, when I graduated from law school right before the Great Recession really hit, it’s staggering to me that our real estate losses have not recovered ... because of the fiscal volatility in the State of Connecticut: high property taxes, which I think have an adverse impact on property values, the high cost of living. It has a cyclical effect. I look back on my life and I remember the Connecticut we once had.”
BOB STEFANOWSKI, R:
“People used to be proud of this state. We had a vibrant economy before the state income tax. I would point out in 1991 we were the fastest- growing state in the nation. I think people are still proud of Connecticut but they’re frustrated. To me it goes back to leadership. ... This is going to take a while, but you need to start to do some things so people see that there’s hope and there’s a person in that corner office that actually has common sense and is going to fight for the right solution. ... That starts to build a virtuous cycle where people start to feel better about it. Most of the people I talk to who leave Connecticut... don’t want to leave. They like it here. They’re not leaving because they don’t want to be close to their grandkids. They’re leaving because they can’t afford to be here. The other thing I have a better appreciation for having run for governor is how diverse the state is. It is really a benefit. ... There are some great people out there.”