Connecticut Governor Race: Will it be a Democratic or Republican Year?

While the Senate race is trumping all other news in recent days, we must also bring up the Governor race since current Gov. Jodi Rell has decided not to seek reelection. She has brought honor back to our state's government after the corrupt activities of former Gov. John Rowland. While this Republican governor has been so instrumental in helping our state even during this economic recession, the Democratic majorities in the General Assembly have been destroying our fiscal situation by bloating the size of government to unprecedented levels. While Rell has conducted herself with grace and honor, other members of Connecticut's state government have tainted our communal reputation, such as corrupt Mayor Eddie Perez and Sen. Chris Dodd, who was unfairly (and probably illegally) treated to special mortgage rates. Running on the Democratic side, Ned Lamont, who ran a disgraceful campaign against the successful, freedom-loving Sen. Joe Lieberman in 2006, is one candidate who will likely use his Greenwich funds to try to buy the election. Lamont would lose, in a crushing blow to the liberal, anti-war movement in the middle of the first decade of the 2000s. Susan Bysiewicz is a career politician who has managed to clinch the position of Secretary of State for many years. Many more candidates are running, but they probably do not have a chance to these two heavyweights. Of course, we know that the office of the governor has not been held by a Democrat is many years, and with the current path of the Obama administration, voters will not look kindly to their Connecticut proxies. On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele, Tom Foley, and others are also running. According to Foley today, he is ahead in the polls. If they choose to campaign on lowering taxes, providing incentives for small businesses, and creating jobs, the Republicans will win in a landslide. If I had to guess today, we will have Mike Fedele as the next governor of our great state in November 2010. We will continue to monitor this issue.

Protest over Bridgeport Jail Thwarts State Plan

You may have heard today that a group of state legislators and citizens nearly stormed Gov. Jodi Rell's office in protest of a proposed juvenile detention center to be constructed in Bridgeport. Citing unwanted blight and a stack of other state-sponsored projects (like other prisons and the garbage-to-energy power plant), this group has effectively thrown a wrench in the works. After receiving the group's letter, Gov. Rell decided to hold off on the decision for another month. The state has spent $1 million already in cleaning up and developing the 2.75 acres located in Bridgeport. The state is prepared to spend $15 million on the project. It is utterly surprising that this group would be opposed to such a project, as construction workers and state employees would be needed to build and staff the building. This move alone would provide a needed boost to Bridgeport to allow for the increased taxes to be used for other issues in what is Connecticut's largest city. While spending should be trimmed so as to remedy the budget problem, it is surprising that Democratic leaders in the General Assembly would be opposed to a job-creating, development plan.