Klarides annexes 40 State Central endorsements

By Scott Benjamin

MADISON – Just days after opting to run for the U.S. Senate, former state House Republican Leader Themis Klarides has collected 40 endorsements from GOP State Central Committee members.

After raising money and making a raft of appearances over the last year toward making a run for the party’s gubernatorial nomination, Klarides formally announced on Sunday, January 30, that she would seek the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

The endorsements, which represent more than half of the state Republican party’s governing body, came from across Connecticut. They included former state Sen. Michael McLachlan of Danbury and former state Rep. Will Duff of Bethel.

Klarides, who formerly lived in Derby, apparently changed her political plans after financial executive Bob Stefanowski of Madison, the 2018 GOP gubernatorial nominee, announced last month that he had $10 million to spend in his bid to secure the 2022 nomination and attempt to unseat first-term Democrat Ned Lamont of Greenwich.

Klarides, an attorney, served for 22 years in the General Assembly and was the Republican House leader from 2015 to 2021.

Republican National Committee member Leora Levy of Greenwich is considering making a run for the GOP nomination. Attorney Peter Lumaj of Fairfield, who has run for the U.S. Senate once before, as well as for governor and secretary of the state, has been in the contest for months.

State Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107) of Brookfield has told Patch.com that Klarides was instrumental in achieving the 2017 bipartisan budget agreement, which set a spending cap and a volatility cap. Some observers believe that those provisions have been partly responsible for the state’s improved fiscal stability over the recent years.

The Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate contest in Connecticut since Lowell Weicker captured a third term in 1982.

The seat that Klarides is running for has not been held by a Republican since Prescott Bush of Greenwich retired in early 1963. Bush was the father of former President George H.W. Bush and grandfather of former president George W. Bush.