Griebel, Frank, on the brink

The bipartisan team will likely be on the statewide ballot November 6.

Whether or not he wins the Independent Party endorsement at its weekend caucus, Oz Griebel and Monte Frank, the bipartisan team of unaffiliated candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, will likely be on the statewide ballot Nov. 6.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill on Friday reported that the duo has 7,161 certified petition signatures, as local voting officials continue to verify the names of registered voters from throughout Connecticut.

By next week, Griebel, a former regional business leader from Hartford, could have enough names to exceed the 7,500 needed to make the November election, even without the backing of a political party. There is a Sept. 5 deadline to certify the signatures.

“We’ve been treated very well by the secretary of the state,” Griebel said in an afternoon interview. “We’re continuing to make our voices heard on important issues.”

Earlier this month, Griebel, a former Republican candidate for governor from Simsbury, and Frank, a Democratic lawyer from Newtown, submitted more than 10,000 signatures that as many as 200 volunteers gathered from state voters.

Griebel on Sunday will be among five people, including Bob Stefanowski, the Republican candidate for governor, and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, in Waterbury to seek the state Independent Party’s endorsement to run on that party’s line on Nov. 6. “Folks in the party have

encouraged us and we’ve been articulating that Monte and I are the only independent option,” Griebel said. “We’ve been running as independents from the beginning. I would argue that we are the most independent option.”

Griebel said that if he and Frank win the Independent Party endorsement, they will appear on that line party on the ballot. “It would just make it a little bit easier,” he said.

Unlike Stefanowski, who is assured listing as a Republican candidate, Griebel cannot win two ballot lines. So if he fails to get the Independent Party nod, he

and Frank will only be listed under “Griebel Frank for CT” on the statewide ballot.

Since announcing his intentions to run independently for governor, Griebel has been confident that the required signatures could be accumulated. But without joining the state’s voluntary public-financing program, Griebel and Frank has been way behind in fund-raising.

The July filing Griebel’s campaign submitted to the State Elections Enforcement Commission indicates that they have raised less than $221,000, with a meager $12,624.11 on hand to run a campaign on which other candidates are spending multi-millions.

Griebel