This Week's News:

Ned Lamont, Bob Stefanowski spar over inflation, taxes and crime...

In CT's 5th district, a competitive race with national implications...

Eleven is the Number of the Day

Why, do you ask? Is it that there are 11 soccer players on the field? Or could it be that in numerology, the number is a sign that a person would be on the verge of achieving their goals? Others would say that it means if 11 is part of your birthdate that you are very intuitive. In love, it could mean that you are about to meet someone who will become a very important person in your life, and in American football 11 means - 1 running back and 1 tight-end in an offensive formation.

But today, to me, it means 11 days to “go time” – ELECTION DAY!

But isn’t it interesting that the number eleven should have so many similar meanings to what Election Day will mean to so many people across the country? Nationally, it will mean who controls the US Congress for the next two years. It stands for a test of the temperature of the American public. In Connecticut, it could also mean a potential turn in the leadership of our state, and even more change in the 5th congressional district if the polls are correct.

This week, we saw a bunch of new voter opinion polls telling us that the good old blue state of Connecticut is having second thoughts. The race for the congressional seat for the western part of Connecticut is a toss-up. Incumbent Jahanna Hayes, at the start of the campaign, had folks worried that she was not for real, hanging on by the thinnest of margins. The polls have her race solidly in the “margin of error”, meaning for an incumbent 11 days out she’s in real trouble. Her opponent, former state senator George Logan, has had some nasty stuff thrown at him from a lot of out-of-state folks and he’s holding his own. This race is the one that’s got people talking, and at times, not in a good way. The tone, and at times the “meaning” of the ads, have been very close to crossing the line of civility on several occasions. 

The other race that keeps people's attention is the governor's race. Incumbent Governor Ned Lamont is still ahead in the polls, but challenger Bob Stefanowski is not to be counted out just yet. There's still a large number of unaffiliated voters who aren't cooperative with the pollsters. For an incumbent, that should make them a little nervous. Folks are wondering if Governor Lamont has enough built-up loyalty and passion in the cities to bring home the vote. The big discussion right now is turnout.

Without the mailing of absentee ballots to every registered voter as happened in 2020, as well as the nastiness of much of the out-of-state campaign ads, people are wondering how many voters will throw up their hands and not vote.

There are a couple of great candidate-sponsored campaign ads in the governor's race. There’s “the "man/person in the street” supporting both candidates – with a lot of focus on the much sought out “soccer mom” for both candidates. And it seems like there's an increase in the focus on jobs and business than in previous years. In fact, a recent poll showed that the number one and two most important issues are the economy/inflation followed by energy prices. All these issues came in around 20%, somewhat higher than voter concern with other issues which fell off by a lot.  Down – way down in the low double digits you could find those typical election time “core issues”: education, public safety, environmental/social justice. Interestingly, elderly issues were way down in the single-digit ranking. It's a very different mood in CT for sure.

But if you look at the economy over the past 15 years , it has somewhat been robust and folks could look to other issues that needed attention, but not these days. With the pundits telling us we’re not YET in a recession and in the next 12 months, we have a lot more pain to feel, voters are going back to the old adage – “all politics is local”. And this time they mean their own households, it seems. 

So I'm wondering what the number 8 means as in November  8 – election day. In love, it means positive energy, in numerology, it means great balance, stability, resilience, self-confidence, and professionalism! And in most sports, it means the “elite eight” or in a game of pool it is the target ball.

UMMMM, interesting uh? GO VOTE!

Weeks Before Election, Governor Lamont Takes on Reforming the DMV

Any state election platform is bound to include modernizing one of the most unpopular state agencies. This theme has consistently come up in Connecticut.

In CT, the theme of reforming the Department of Motor Vehicles has had multiple chapters, spanning every Governor in recent memory. Governor Lamont's track record on changing the front facing service side of the DMV has been storied the past three years.

Here's a brief history on Lamont's action to reform the DMV:

• In June 2019, Governor Lamont signed legislation he proposed that reduces the frequency residents are required to visit the DMV by requiring driver’s licenses to be renewed every eight years rather than every six years as the law previously required.
• In June 2020, the DMV moved to an appointment-only system that requires customers who plan on visiting an office in-person to schedule a specific time and location to complete their transaction – a move that has significantly helped decrease wait times.
• In February 2021, the DMV added the ability to renew driver’s licenses and non-driver ID cards online.
• In March 2021, the DMV added the ability to request duplicate driver’s licenses, request duplicate non-driver IDs, and request driving history online.
• In June 2021, Governor Lamont announced that the number of customers choosing to renew their licenses over the internet began outpacing the number of renewals being completed in-person at DMV offices, demonstrating that the choice to renew licenses online has become the preferred method for Connecticut residents.
• On top of these changes, Governor Lamont has announced the newly revamped website also contains several expanded language options, including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Additionally, the governor announced that in the coming weeks the DMV will be adding the ability for customers to conduct two more transactions online, including requesting refunds when canceling a vehicle or vessel registrations, and replacing lost titles.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) issues their sixth “issue bulletin” this week aimed at alerting candidates running for state offices of the issues that face local governments, along with their proposed solution. This edition focused on the need for changes in financing to public education. The chronic underfunding of local education by the state has resulted in massive gaps in per pupil spending town by town. Currently, Boards of Education (BOE) are not able to generate their own revenue through property taxes or other sources, they rely heavily on the local government and state to fund the expenses. Currently, public education (K-12) costs approximately $12.3 billion annually, mostly coming from local property taxes. 

CCM suggests that among many other proposals that the state of Connecticut fully fund their share of the local education funding that has over time lagged far behind originally intended levels. They also suggest that the state give more leniency on the Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR), which would allow those communities with declining student populations an opportunity to reduce costs. The other large cost born by local governments is the cost of special education, which exponentially increases annually. Currently, local taxpayers pick up over 66% of the costs associated with this. CCM suggests the state find a better way to fund those unanticipated and fluctuating costs.

 Checking In on Targeted Races – Down to the Wire!

Over the past few months, we have discussed several election related topics. One of the more exciting issues we elaborated on in this particular blog was targeted races. Targeted races, identified by state party leadership, receive more resources and more volunteers. These races are important for various reasons, but maybe the largest reason is that they represent the referendum on where voters think the state could be heading. If you are upset at the status quo, you may work hard to “flip” a seat in your area. These races represent seats that could potentially be flipped. The state party leadership knows that and with just a few weeks out, so do the local constituencies which makes for an exciting and energetic time to follow politics. Let’s check in on a few.

A few weeks ago, we discussed the importance of a Senate seat in the Wilton-Westport area. With Senator Will Haskell departing, his seat was left open for Democrat Ceci Maher and Republican Toni Boucher to run for. Since we last checked in, there have been a ton of events to support both candidates. Toni Boucher has the name recognition, but Ceci Maher has been hitting doors, a lot of them. Look for this seat to come down to the wire. It may just come down to Westport where 8,300 voters are registered as Democrats, 3,500 are registered Republicans and 7,100 are registered Independent creating an extremely exciting environment for an election. If turnout is high, Ceci Maher could very well be the next state senator. But if turnout is low, the Republican could be favored to take this seat.

On the House side, we also discussed State Representative Christine Goupil running against challenger Chris Aniskovich and Green Party Candidate Hugh Birdsall. This is a tough race because of the district. Clinton, Killingworth, and parts of Westbrook lean towards the middle of the political spectrum. Goupil is a Democrat, but Aniskovich has some good name recognition as a Republican. If you frequent Chip’s Pub in Clinton like I do, you’ll know all three candidates are residents of Clinton and their lawn signs are everywhere. You also know the back and forth this district has, flipping to Democrat from Republican last cycle. Resources have poured into this race from both sides. Door knocking and phone calling shifts along with bigger named events bring this seat to the forefront of targeted races this year.

Why are targeted races important? Resources! Just look at a huge race in New Hampshire for Senate. Recently, the National Republican recently pulled resources from this targeted race for Senate which has Senator Maggie Hassan running against Don Bolduc. Hassan is just too far ahead in the polls. Targeted elections like this are not different than local ones. The money may be smaller, but the impact that expanded resources have is similar. Look for the above races to be two that matter heading into Nov 8^th. 

October 28: Activist Celebrities Help A Determined Family Found the Connecticut Women's Suffrage Association

Today in 1869, at a meeting in Hartford featuring civil rights luminaries Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, William Lloyd Garrison, Julia Ward Howe and a celebrity cast of the nationally famous Beecher family, Isabella Beecher Hooker and her husband John formally established the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association.

Isabella was born into the famous Beecher clan of Litchfield in 1822. She and two of her sisters were destined to leave their marks on American history as influential and nationally renowned 19th century reformers: Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ignited national conversations about the evils of slavery; Catherine Beecher established herself as a pioneer of women’s education; and Isabella Beecher Hooker became an outspoken advocate for woman’s suffrage and legal rights.

While nationally known celebrities such as Stanton and Garrison helped create a celebrity “buzz” for the organizing convention, an equally important draw was the presence of so many members of the celebrated Beecher family. In addition to Isabella and Harriet (Catherine was alone in the family in her opposition to woman suffrage), Harriet’s husband, the Rev. Calvin Stowe, spoke at the two-day meeting as did the women’s brother, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, then one of the nation’s most well known religious figures. Their collective appearance at Hartford to advocate for woman suffrage presented a sharp contrast to the opposition of another Hartford luminary, the Reverend Horace Bushnell, who had recently published an anti-suffrage book titled Women’s Suffrage: The Reform Against Nature.

During her 36-year tenure as leader of the CWSA, Isabella Hooker organized multiple high-profile conventions to draw attention and support to the cause of woman’s suffrage, and tirelessly petitioned both the Connecticut General Assembly and Congress to legally recognize women’s right to vote. Unlike many of her fellow suffragists, Isabella enjoyed the full support of her husband John, a Hartford lawyer who supported her efforts financially and helped her draft a bill which eventually became Connecticut’s first law to address the legal property rights of women. Even though Connecticut did not vote in favor of woman’s suffrage until the 19th Amendment had already passed in Congress, the CWSA was able to gain incremental victories towards woman’s suffrage at the state level, earning women the right to formally vote on local matters like school and library expenditures.

Even though Isabella Beecher Hooker passed away in 1907, 13 years before her lifelong dream of woman’s suffrage would become a reality, the foundation she laid with the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association proved to be strong: CWSA membership peaked at over 32,000 members in 1917, and the organization remained an influential political force until 1920, when it formally disbanded following the national ratification of the 19th Amendment, which finally gave women across America the right to vote.

To view the full story on the CT Historian's website, click here.