The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Stefanowski leading early
Three challengers drop out of GOP guv race
Even before the polls closed Tuesday night, Republican Party leaders were reminding GOP voters throughout Connecticut that in order to win the governor’s race in November, they must soon close ranks and support the various primary winners.
With 44 percent of precincts reporting, Bob Stefanowski of Madison, a former business executive, had the lead over long-time Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. Stefanowski had 30.38 percent to Boughton’s 19.49 percent. More than a hundred people gathered in a Madison hotel conference room among celebratory red and white balloons, talking confidently about Stefanowski's chances of winning.
By 10:20 Tuesday night challengers David Stemerman of Greenwich conceded in a Westport hotel conference room. At the same time, Tim Herbst gave up his effort in New Haven and Steve Obsitnik surrendered in Westport.
There didn't seem to be a doubtful face among the crowd as people gathered around a television watching election results that placed Stefanowski in the lead all night.
With a reputation as a blue state and voter registration that’s far behind the
those of unaffiliated and Democratic voters, Republicans have to pull together quickly for the fall election, said J.R. Romano, state GOP chairman.
“At the end of the day, obviously I have been extremely impressed and happy with each candidate,” Romano said Tuesday afternoon. “Tonight is a culmination of the effort. People fought passionately and now we have to hit the reset button. The state’s fiscal health hangs in the balance. We’re talking about the future of Connecticut.”
Democrats will surely seize on the broad support all five GOP hopefuls have expressed for President Donald Trump in a primary campaign where gun rights and immigration took center stage as often as taxes and the state’s economic progress.
The grueling, bruising threemonth-long primary campaign for governor was highlighted by personal and professional attacks, when Stemerman and Stefanowski, the two millionaire petitioning candidates, got out front early with attack ads focused first on each other and then on other candidates. Herbst questioned their loyalty to the GOP, and loudly criticized their past Democratic registration and contributions.
With public records as town and city leaders, Herbst, the 37-year-old former Trumbull first selectman, and Boughton, 54, who won the party endorsement at the May convention, were targets of criticism from both businessmen who sought to label them as political insiders.
Neither Stefanowski, 56, of Madison whose last executive job was with a controversial high-interest, short-term lender in London, and Stemerman, 49, who closed his multibillion-dollar hedge fund last year to seek the governor’s office, have any records of public-service records. They each petitioned their way onto the ballot and the run for governor was a first campaign for each of them.
By 10:20 Tuesday night Stemerman conceded in a Westport hotel conference room. At the same time, Herbst gave up his effort in New Haven.
Obsitnik, a 51-year-old Westport tech entrepreneur and former U.S. Navy submariner, lost a 2012 race against 4th District U.S. Rep. Jim Himes. Obsitnik, who along with Herbst, gathered enough convention support to reach the primary ballot, had trouble clearing regulatory hurdles. That delayed his public funding grant and made him last in getting TV commercials on the air.
Romano, the party chairman who has remained neutral throughout the primary campaign, said he is deeply concerned of bad feelings and party dogma getting in the way of what he believes can be a strong Republican year.
“We’re not going to have a perfect candidate,” said J.R. Romano, the state party chairman, who last week in a podcast called on Republicans to unify around the various primary winners. “I don’t think there is one. What we have to understand is what’s at stake.”
He said that among the various Republican candidates, there is common ground on about 80 percent of public-policy issues. “The 20 percent, that’s where we argue, whether it’s the 2nd Amendment, whether it’s immigration, whether it’s urban development, economic development, you know, simple strategies and policies is where Republicans may disagree.”
Romano said that the 20 percent should not be used as a wedge to tear apart Republicans.
There are 451,869 registered Republicans in the state compared to 769,414 Democrats and 857,056 unaffiliated voters, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill reported this week
Even before voting began early Tuesday, the Democratic Governors Association noted the high praise that each of the candidates had voiced for Trump.
“There is no daylight left between Connecticut Republicans and President Trump,” said DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold, in a statement. “If the GOP candidates won’t speak out against Trump, how can voters trust them to stand up for Connecticut as governor?”
“Let’s be very clear, this primary was a test of which Republican loves Trump the most,” said Connecticut Democratic Party spokesperson Christina Polizzi. “That means rolling back gun violence prevention, dismantling health care, and attacking women’s health. The stakes in this election could not be higher--and a Republican Governor would bring Trump’s chaos to Connecticut and drag the state backward.”