Category: Election2010

New Haven Independent: Clean Money Quest Begins At The Bar <read>

To make it to the state Capitol without special interest money, Gerry Garcia had to get to Christopher Martin’s early, to woo New Haveners with bottles of Heineken and slices of filet mignon on toast.

The event Wednesday night was one of many small fundraisers Garcia is hosting as he seeks the Democratic nomination for secretary of state.

Garcia (at right in photo), who lives in East Rock, is the only Democratic candidate for statewide office who has signed up to participate in the state’s clean elections program. The program offers public matching money to office-seekers willing to run “clean”—to limit the size and types of contributions they’ll accept.

To qualify for a public grant, Garcia has to raise $75,000 in small donations of between $5 and $100. That’s what brought him to Christopher Martin’s Restaurant & Pub on State Street, a few blocks from his Bradley Street home.

About 25 people, mostly political insiders, showed up to mingle on an elevated platform toward the back of the bar. They schmoozed over pesto tortellini, wild-caught shrimp cocktail, southern-fried chicken wings and bottles Heineken and Beck’s…

“Your investment in me today is an investment in a healthy democracy,” Garcia said.

He vowed give voice to the voiceless by getting more people to the polls. He stressed his ability to reach out to Latino citizens. Garcia, a Puerto Rican Jew, is one of only two Latinos seeking statewide office this year.

Christopher Keating’s blog at the Courant <read>

“I’ve put about 10,000 miles on my car,” Merrill said. “I am not exploring. I am running for Secretary of the State.”

A longtime legislator and former co-chairwoman of the budget-writing appropriations committee, Merrill is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable lawmakers at the Capitol.

The Secretary of the State’s office is “a place where fair and clean elections must be guarded,” she said.

Merrill has strong support in the House, while another candidate, Sen. Jonathan Harris of West Hartford, has support on the Capitol’s third floor in the Senate.

Merrill was endorsed by some of the highest-ranking and longest-serving lawmakers in the state, including House Speaker Christopher Donovan of Meriden, deputy Speaker Bob Godfrey of Danbury, Rep. Jack Thompson of Manchester, transportation committee co-chairman Tony Guerrera of Rocky Hill, deputy speaker Marie Kirkley-Bey, and Rep. Mary Mushinsky of Wallingford – the dean of the House.

Record Journal:  Farrell campaign is putting family first <read>

The article is focused on the Farrell campaign and a comparison with Brinson campaign, but possibly the most significant news is that according to the party chair, Richard Abbate is not going to continue as a candidate:

In addition to Farrell, only Corey Brinson, a Hartford attorney, has filed to officially seek the party’s nomination, according to Republican State Chairman Chris Healy. Richard Abbate, a Cheshire resident who has previously been linked to a possible run, told him that he does not intend to seek the nomination, Healy said.

With a long head start has visited more of the state, yet Farrell is quickly catching up in contributions:

Brinson, who officially announced his candidacy in June 2009, does appear to have the edge on Farrell in number of town committees visited so far. Brinson said he has visited about 45 town committees as opposed Farrell’s eight and that he was confident he would secure the party’s nomination.

“My competition got into the race a few weeks ago; we’ve been in the race since last summer,” Brinson said. “We’re being well received as we travel across Connecticut.”

The two are about neck and neck in campaign fundraising, however. Both have pledged to use the public campaign financing program, with Brinson saying his campaign has taken in about $15,000 thus far, while Farrell said his team has helped him haul in just over $16,000. They each must raise $75,000 to qualify for a grant of $375,000 through the program.

A federal judge ruled Connecticut’s public campaign finance system unconstitutional last August, a decision that the state has since appealed, leaving some uncertainty as to whether that avenue will even be available for candidates this year.

CT NewsJunkie has the story: Merrill: ‘Moving on and Moving Up’ <read>

“It’s time for me to move on and move up,” Merrill said Monday at the Mansfield Community Center.

She said people have asked her why she wants to be Secretary of the State when she already holds the second most powerful position in the House of Representatives.

“I have always been passionate about civic engagement,” Merrill said. “There is no more important role that any public official can play than to actively engage the next generation of citizens.”…

If elected Secretary of the State Merrill said civic engagement will be a fundamental part of her role as the state‘s chief elections official.

“With more and more money pouring into politics as it will this year with the recent Supreme Court case it will be increasingly important to protect our electoral process from the potential influence of that money,” Merrill said.

Here is her website we note that the News section as of now has not been updated with items after December 19th and apparently it has no information announcing or covering today’s event.

Update: From the Courant:

Legislature’s Denise Merrill Enters Race For Secretary Of The State <read>

Merrill has promoted efforts to increase the efficiency of state government and said that, if elected, she would use the office of secretary of the state to continue those efforts. Among other things, Merrill said she would redesign the state’s registration to enable businesses of all sizes to submit required forms and applications online.

“I would do a lot more with online registration for just about everything,” she said. “We are way behind other states in that area.”

We agree that the Secretary of the State’s web site could be improved dramatically.  We aren’t familiar with the business registration process, but we certainly have a long way to go in improving election information.  On the election side we would start with having accurate, downloadable, and detailed district by district election results.  Connecticut did not come out well on the Pew study last year where we came in 48th.

The Hour: Garfunkel to run for Secretary of the State <read>

Democrat Andrew S. Garfunkel thinks 10 years as Norwalk’s town clerk make him the perfect candidate to replace Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz…

“Engaging our young voters and getting them to register and then vote on Election Day is important to me,” he said. “I will reach out to them where they are, on Facebook and those places.”

He said he wants to make the office more accessible with “alerts” and “reminders”.

“It is reaching out them on the electronic level,” he said. “Remind them how to vote and when to vote.”

Garfunkel often points to technological upgrades made in the Norwalk city clerk’s office since he was first elected in 2001. They include putting maps and other documents online and introducing payment by credit card. The changes have come as the office itself has seen staffing and other cuts.

Secretary of the State Candidate Corey Brinson press release <read>

In addition to ending the business entity tax, Corey Brinson will seek to attract and retain young professionals in Connecticut by creating and chairing a young professionals’ state commission that will advocate for young professionals throughout Connecticut. “If we can have generous tax credits to attract and retain the movie industry in Connecticut, we should also have generous tax credits to attract and retain young professionals who are Connecticut’s future tax base and leadership,” says Brinson.

What is more, as the state’s Chief Elections Officer, Corey Brinson will serve as Connecticut’s “Chief Inspirational Officer,” and will inspire a new generation of leaders to run for local and state office. Corey Brinson will also work to ensure that all elections in Connecticut are clean, fair and free from partisan politics.

Since announcing his candidacy for Secretary of the State, Brinson has been traveling throughout the state “actively” listening to residents. He has received tremendous support throughout the state from both Democrats and Republicans alike. His campaign has received over $11,000 in small contributions, which count toward his campaign public financing goal of $75,000 in campaign contributions.

We also note that Brinson has posted issues on his web site, which include several items associated with elections and voting integrity:

Elections

• Fair, clean elections free from partisan politics
• Inspiring more ordinary people to run for local and state office
• Increased supervision and training of elections officials
• Increased resources for voter registration and Election Day turnout
• Establishing Election Day as a state holiday during even year elections
• Modification of public finance campaign laws based on feedback from candidates

In addition to ending the business entity tax, Corey Brinson will seek to attract and retain young professionals in
Connecticut by creating and chairing a young professionals’ state commission that will advocate for young
professionals throughout Connecticut. “If we can have generous tax credits to attract and retain the movie
industry in Connecticut, we should also have generous tax credits to attract and retain young professionals who
are Connecticut’s future tax base and leadership,” says Brinson.
What is more, as the state’s Chief Elections Officer, Corey Brinson will serve as Connecticut’s “Chief
Inspirational Officer,” and will inspire a new generation of leaders to run for local and state office. Corey
Brinson will also work to ensure that all elections in Connecticut are clean, fair and free from partisan politics.
Since announcing his candidacy for Secretary of the State, Brinson has been traveling throughout the state
“actively” listening to residents. He has received tremendous support throughout the state from both Democrats
and Republicans alike. His campaign has received over $11,000 in small contributions, which count toward his
campaign public financing goal of $75,000 in campaign contributions.In addition to ending the business entity tax, Corey Brinson will seek to attract and retain young professionals in Connecticut by creating and chairing a young professionals’ state commission that will advocate for young professionals throughout Connecticut. “If we can have generous tax credits to attract and retain the movie industry in Connecticut, we should also have generous tax credits to attract and retain young professionals who are Connecticut’s future tax base and leadership,” says Brinson. What is more, as the state’s Chief Elections Officer, Corey Brinson will serve as Connecticut’s “Chief Inspirational Officer,” and will inspire a new generation of leaders to run for local and state office. Corey Brinson will also work to ensure that all elections in Connecticut are clean, fair and free from partisan politics. Since announcing his candidacy for Secretary of the State, Brinson has been traveling throughout the state “actively” listening to residents. He has received tremendous support throughout the state from both Democrats and Republicans alike. His campaign has received over $11,000 in small contributions, which count toward his campaign public financing goal of $75,000 in campaign contributions.

As the election year progresses, we look forward to further details from Brinson and all of the candidates for Secretary of the State.

Not the greatest video from my digital camera, but the sound is good.

Don’t choose me just because of my name, but see as a benefit where I come from and how that can impact on the ticket.

In response to my question about the need for more accurate, citizen verifiable election information online:

The Secretary of the States’ office really needs an overhaul…the website is not user friendly, its incomplete…I’m of a different generation, a generation that expects… to be able to distribute it accurately, online, in as close to realtime as a system can offer.

What attracted you to the office of Secretary of the State?

What excites me…I am actually passionate about giving voice…I what is not there, who is not at the table…who gets a voice and has standing is deeply personal for me…the SOTS office should be the one stop point of contact for small bussiness in Connecticut…I have no designs on any other office.

I’m the only candidate for any constitutional office, so far, to have opted in to the Citizens Elections Program…I hear a lot of people running for office talking about the program, applauding the program

Meriden Record Journal: Farrell likely to seek Secretary of the State position <read>

Jerry Farrell Jr. seems to have received the support of his fellow Republicans, both locally and on the state level, as he makes his first push for a statewide elected position.

Farrell, who has served as a Republican member of the Wallingford Town Council since 1995 and was appointed commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection by Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2006, announced Tuesday that he intends to run for a statewide office this November, but would not say which one.

Farrell has scheduled a press conference, 3 p.m., Jan. 19 at Component Engineers in Wallingford, to officially announce what position he will seek, but a number of sources, both locally and statewide, hinted Wednesday that he would announce a run at the position of Secretary of the State.

Video as Denise Merrill makes her case to the Danbury Democratic Town Committee for Secretary of the State <video>

Some of Rep Merrill’s statements: Would ask registrars, towns, and cities what they think would work.  So far, the State is not good at information technology.  Would help make democracy work for everybody.  Would listen to people about what works and dosen’t work.

Merrill was introduced by Rep Godfrey who supports her and whose name has come up on CTVotersCount previously, related to voting integrity:  <Here> <Here>

New Haven Register: Secretary of the state candidate wants people to ‘engage the system’ <read>

“I would like to transform the Connecticut climate to be one where businesses chose to come. I’m tired of seeing people frustrated because they can’t find a decent job. I’m tired of seeing my friends move out of state,” said Garcia, who graduated from the Yale’s School of Management, and worked at the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers in New York, before returning to New Haven to start his own business.

A graduate of New Haven public schools, Garcia was a city alderman from 1996 to 2001, where among other things, he co-sponsored the state’s first living-wage legislation, which was adopted in 1997.

“Voter equity and jobs you can build a family around are things that are values of mine,” Garcia said. He said he was inspired to get back into politics by Barack Obama and his nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

He is vetting a lot of ideas on how to increase voter turnout in the state, particularly around early voting.

“We think too often that the way things are in Connecticut are the ways things are everywhere, but the truth is there are plenty of other states that have more progressive ways of doing it,” Garcia said.

He said obstacles to voting affect a cross-section of residents from single parents, who may be choosing between an hourly wage and time to vote, to senior citizens, to people who are sick and Fairfield County commuters, who leave the state early and return late.

Garcia is looking at solutions that might leverage the statewide voter registry and use of driver’s licenses, which could allow greater flexibility about where people cast their ballots.

“I’m running to give voice and to inspire people to engage the system, to come out to vote because I believe that when more Democrats vote, we get better Democrats elected,” he said.