Greenwich cable television entrepreneur Ned Lamont will officially announce Tuesday morning that he is running for governor.
The announcement will be made at the Old State House in downtown Hartford, which is the same site where Lamont launched his candidacy against U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman. Lamont is best known for defeating Lieberman in the August 2006 primary, but he lost three months later in a three-way race in the general election. Lieberman pulled 50 percent, while Lamont had 40 percent and Republican Alan Schlesinger scored only 10 percent.
One of the key factors was the state’s Republican establishment failed to support Schlesinger in a state where even the weakest Republican statewide candidates usually gain an automatic 35 percent of the vote. As such, many Republicans and independents voted for Lieberman – securing his victory.
Pictures: Possible candidates for Connecticut governor
Lamont is often portrayed statewide as a Greenwich millionaire, but in his hometown, he is viewed as just another neighbor. As a member of the board of selectmen and the town’s finance board in the 1980s and early 1990s, Lamont was never viewed as one of the richest people in town, and he does not live on one of the largest estates in Greenwich – such as the Conyers Farm development where properties are a minimum of 10 acres and the neighbors include World Wrestling Entertainment tycoon Linda McMahon.
Lamont will be joining a field in which three Democrats have already dropped out – Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz of Middletown, former House Speaker James Amann of Milford, and state Sen. Gary LeBeau of East Hartford. The race has become wide open since Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s announcement last year that she was not seeking re-election.
As the leader in the most recent Quinnipiac University poll, Lamont is seen by some as the favorite to win the Democratic primary in August. The Washington Post’s political blog, in fact, says that Lamont has a solid chance of being Connecticut’s next governor. The details are at http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/113-massachusetts-special-election.html
Lamont had 27 percent in the poll, compared to 11 percent for former Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy, who lost in the August 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary against New Haven Mayor John DeStefano. Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi and former state Rep. Juan Figueroa of Meriden are also in the Democratic race.
On the Republican side, the leaders in the polls have been former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley, who has been running 30-second and 60-second television commercials on a steady basis, and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Newington Mayor Jeff Wright, longtime business executive Oz Griebel of Simsbury, former U.S. Rep. Larry DeNardis of Hamden, and Chester First Selectman Thomas E. Marsh are also in the hotly contested race.
Above Photo by Scott Vargas/FoxCT