Elliott’s challenge is partly about ‘generational change’

By Scott Benjamin

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Josh Elliott wants to help fund social programs by raising taxes on the wealthy - insisting that they are not going to leave Connecticut.

He has said he also wants to provide a public health care option for municipal employees, small businesses and non-profits.

Elliott, a state representative from Hamden, has contrasted that with the record of second-term Democratic governor Ned Lamont of Greenwich, who has been called a moderate with a philosophy similar to Republican former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.

However, state Democratic Party Secretary Audrey Blondin of Goshen says there are other factors.

In a recent phone interview with Patch.com, Blondin, a longtime member of the Democratic State Central Committee who has been active in the party for 45 years, said that she believes that Elliott’s entry into the race is about “generational change.”

“There is a hunger nationwide for generational change,” Blondin asserted.

“There is a mix out there now,” she explained. “There is my generation [the Baby Boomers] and the people in their 20s, 30s and 40s.”

She said another component is that Connecticut is one of just 13 states, according to U.S. Term Limits, that doesn’t have term limits for its governors.

Since the state adopted a four-year term for governor in 1950, only one governor, Republican John Rowland of Middlebury, has been elected for a third term.

Blondin said that Elliott, who formally launched his campaign in early July, has “spoken numerous times” to her college classes and the students “very much enjoyed” his presentations.

She said that she admires also admires Elliott for being “someone who is not afraid to take a position” on such issues as tax reform.

“The gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ is widening,” Blondin explained.

She said that Republican President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill “is exacerbating these disparities” through reductions in social programs.

Blondin said that there are, for example, Medicaid providers in Connecticut that have not received a raise in 22 years.

She commented that she is “not comfortable labeling,” However, she added that Elliott is considered to be a “progressive” and “most very often progressive becomes the norm.”

Blondin said that Lamont has “done an outstanding job in tackling the issues,” such as the pandemic and the state budgets.

She said that she would support him if he opts to run for a third term. Lamont has indicated that it is likely that he will take that step.

Blondin said she expects that there will be support for both Elliott and Lamont among Democratic Party leaders in the 30th state Senate District.

The last sitting Democratic governor to face a primary was Ella Grasso of Windsor Locks, who was challenged by Lt. Gov. Robert Killian in 1978. Grasso easily won the contest, taking 167 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities, according to “Ella,” a 1984 biography written by Susan Bysiewicz, who is now in her second term as lieutenant governor. She has been Lamont's running mate in the last two gubernatorial elections.

Like Lamont now – who boasts of seven consecutive balanced budgets and $4 billion in the state’s rainy-day fund - Grasso campaigned then on her economic record.

In August 1978, Washington Post political columnist David Broder wrote that she pointed to “ her record of attracting 260 new businesses to the state and bringing it back from a $70 million deficit to a $95 million surplus.”

Democratic former Gov. William O’Neill of East Hampton was challenged at the state party convention in 1982 by state House Speaker Ernie Abate of Stamford and in 1986 by former U.S. Rep. Toby Moffett of Branford. Neither of those challengers annexed the 20 percent of the delegates needed then to wage a primary.

Blondin expects that If Lamont runs, there will be support for both him and Elliott in her home base – the 30th state Senate District - which stretches from North Canaan to Brookfield.

Elliott would need support from at least 15 percent of the delegates to force a primary.

Commented Blondin, “I don’t think 15 percent is a particularly insurmountable hurdle” for Elliott.