The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
GOP foes clash over primary eligibility rules
The sign outside Connecticut’s so-called “big tent party” reads: elephants only.
But if Dave Walker had his druthers, Republicans would switch to a “semiopen” primary to allow the state’s largest electorate bloc, unaffiliated voters, to cast votes for the party’s candidates.
The gubernatorial hopeful and former U.S. comptroller general, who resides in Bridgeport, said there’s a legitimate upside to changing the eligibility rules of the GOP’s closed primary system.
“Republicans represent 21 percent of the voting base,” Walker said. “I think it could help us broaden our appeal and better position us for general election victories.”
Connecticut’s GOP briefly allowed unaffiliated voters to participate in its primaries in the mid-1980s, but reverted to a closed system when John Rowland was governor. Nineteen states have some form of open primaries.
To change the party’s bylaws, it would require the approval of the Republican State Central Committee and delegates at the state party’s nominating convention in May, which Walker acknowledged won’t happen this year. Walker was a member of a state GOP task force that examined the issue, but took no action.
The subject of open versus closed primaries, or some hybrid, has long been a contentious one in GOP — and now is no different.
Tim Herbst, a bitter adversary of Walker in the governor’s race and former Trumbull first selectman, staunchly opposes opening up the primary to anyone and said that checks and balances for party switches aren’t foolproof.
“What could happen is Democrats could infiltrate an open primary process to nominate a candidate they felt was more beatable,” Herbst said.
He took Walker and fellow GOP gubernatorial contender Mark Boughton, Danbury’s mayor, to task over their current and past support for allowing unaffiliated voters to cast primary ballots. In a 2014 op-ed piece for the Hartford Courant, Boughton advocated for the change. Herbst noted that Walker finished third that year in the GOP lieutenant governor primary and that Boughton suspended his campaign before the primary.
“I find it very interesting that both Mr. Walker and Mr. Boughton after both lost a nominating contest and a primary sometimes take their toys and go home and rewrite the rules to suit them,” Herbst said.
Boughton said he no longer supports a semi-open primary, however.
“I kind of changed my thinking on that a little bit,” Boughton said, adding that the large GOP field for governor shows the energy in the party. “The Connecticut Republican Party is alive and well.”
In it for the long haul
Dita Bhargava bristles at talk that she could run for a different office instead of governor.
State treasurer is one that the former hedge fund portfolio manager’s name has been linked to by some rival Democrats. Whether it was on Wall Street or running for the Legislature two years ago, the Indian-American businesswoman from Greenwich said she’s grown accustomed to others trying to pigeon-hole her.
“I’m used to people telling me I don’t belong somewhere,” said Bhargava, who previously worked for Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Citadel, a major hedge fund.
During her finance career, Bhargava said she endured sexual harassment in the workplace.
“Yeah, absolutely,” she said. “It was the 1990s. At that time, you either took it and continued to work hard toward your goals or you left. Leaving was not a choice for me.”
Bhargava said she hasn’t ruled out anything, including switching her exploratory committee to a candidate committee for governor. She contends that her pro-business platform makes her more electable than other Democrats, many of whom she said bring baggage to the race.
“I think I have the best chance to keep our state blue by winning in a general election,” said Bhargava, the party’s former vice chairwoman.
From capital to undercase
“Let them go bankrupt!” That was the subject line of an email Friday from Republican gubernatorial candidate Peter Lumaj to his supporters blasting the state’s imminent bailout of Hartford.
The capital city was $32 million in the red in 2017, a number that could grow to $61 million in 2021. The state has set aside $48 million in a special fund for distressed cities and towns.
“This move is irresponsible and places an undue burden on the backs of taxpayer’s in cities and towns who are able to manage their finances properly,” Lumaj said. “This is an attempt, by (Governor Dannel P.) Malloy, to punish successful towns and redistribute wealth to his political allies.”