Lamont leans toward naming interim comptroller
Gov. Ned Lamont signaled Monday he will not be drawn into political intrigue over the selection of a successor to Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo, who announced Friday he was resigning at month’s end due to poor health.
Lamont said he was disinclined to pick someone who would use the appointment as a platform to seeking the Democratic nomination next year, when comptroller and the other five statewide constitutional offices are up for election.
In doing so, he would be following the example set by Gov. William A. O’Neill, who chose caretakers to fill vacancies for secretary of the state, treasurer and attorney general.
“I think Gov. O’Neill was a pretty wise man,” Lamont said.
Lamont said his general counsel, Nora R. Dannehy, advised that no member of the General Assembly can be appointed to elective office, the same prohibition that applies to all executive or judiciary branch jobs.
“Nora checked that pretty closely,” Lamont said. “And it’d have to be at the end of a term for a legislator be able to step up. So I think we’ll probably think about a controller in an interim position.”
Lamont said he hoped to make an appointment by the end of the week. He said he has had plenty of calls from potential appointees.
“By the dozens,” he said. Smiling, he added, “I think they want to serve. It’s a really good problem.”
Were they still interested when he indicated that his choice would be asked not to run in 2022?
“It brings different reactions,” Lamont said. “But I think it’s the fairest way to go, easiest way to go.”
Lembo announced last Friday that a serious cardiac condition would force him to leave the fiscal watchdog post he’s held for the past 11 years. The governor only said he would reach a decision soon, since Lembo will leave the job on Dec. 31.
The comptroller’s announcement left many in political circles wondering which approach Lamont might take with his announcement.
Instead of appointing a caretaker — a veteran of state government who would fill the final year of Lembo’s term and then resign — Lamont could have opted to appoint someone with ambitions to run in 2022. An appointee under that scenario would have a huge advantage, running as an incumbent.
But several veterans of state government and party politics said that while the choice is Lamont’s, the caretaker option comes with fewer complications.
“My guess is that the race for comptroller next year will be contested, regardless of whether the person [Lamont appoints] is thought to be a caretaker,” said George Jepsen, whose political career included stints as Democratic state chairman, Connecticut attorney general and Senate majority leader.
“These statewide constitutional office vacancies don’t occur very often, and Connecticut is brimming with talented officeholders who are naturally going to want to move up.”
State Rep. Sean Scanlon, DGuilford, who co-chairs the legislature’s Finance Committee, has been openly exploring a possible bid for comptroller in the event Lembo — also a Democrat — chose not to run again.
And while a Democratic field for comptroller hasn’t filled out yet, a glance at another race proves Jepsen’s point.
Longtime Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, a Hartford Democrat, declared in June she wouldn’t seek another term. Three Democrats and two Republicans are exploring bids for that office and a fourth Democrat, Rep. Stephanie Thomas of Norwalk, declared her candidacy last week.
More legislators besides Scanlon are expected to jockey for Lembo’s job, and Lamont would ruffle more than a few feathers if he tapped a political outsider to be anything more than a placeholder.
Still, Lamont prides himself on reaching outside government circles to find innovative solutions to political challenges. He has relied heavily on appointees from the private sector to help him guide health, business and education policy throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor also surprised many when he sought — and received — legislative approval to launch a public-private education partnership with hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio’s charitable trust.
And while that controversial partnership — which Lamont and lawmakers exempted from state ethics and disclosure rules — fizzled after one year, the governor vowed even as it dissolved in May 2020 that he would continue to look outside of traditional political circles.
“I was one of the first non-politicians, more of a business guy, in a long time here,” Lamont said at that time. “And I really wanted to get the private sector — big business, small business, academics, not-for-profits — more invested in their state.”