Politics & Government
Morris calls Logan a talented congressional candidate
Longtime Republican official says the party will probably look to mayors when fielding its next gubernatorial nominee
By Scott Benjamin
LITCHFIELD – John Morris, the longest serving member of the Republican State Central Committee, says the reason that George Logan almost became the first Republican congressman from Connecticut since the W. Bush administration is that “he can enter a room and everyone wants to greet him.”
“Very few politicians can do that,” he explained. “He probably is the most dynamic candidate we’ve had in the Fifth Congressional District since Nancy Johnson,” the Republican from New Britain who served from 1983 to 2007.
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Morris said that Logan ran an “excellent campaign,” even though he lost by about 1,900 votes (50.4 percent vs. 49.6 percent of the tally) to Democratic incumbent Jahana Hayes of Wolcott in the Fifth Congressional District.
The national Republican Party targeted the district, which had swung between Republicans and Democrats from 1972 through 2004, but has only elected Democrats since now-U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy’s victory in 2006. It established a community center in New Britain, a heavily Democratic city that has the third largest population in the sprawling 41-municipality district.
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Logan, a former state senator from Meriden, came closer than any Republican has to winning a congressional seat since former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays of Bridgeport captured his final term in 2006 in the Fourth Congressional District.
Morris, who serves on State Central from 30th state Senate District, said that has “earned” Logan the right to run in 2024 in the Fifth Congressional District.
Hayes – the 2016 national teacher of the year annexed a third term. She has been praised for her people skills and ability to raise campaign funds. Morris noted that Logan was outspent “two to one.”
However, Morris said she hasn’t had enough of a presence in the district.
“You’ve got to show up, you’ve got to stay visible and you have to stay in contact with folks,” he declared in an interview with Patch.com. He said that first selectmen in his district say they “never” talk directly to her, but only to her congressional staff.
Democratic State Central Committee member Audrey Blondin of Goshen differed, stating in an e-mail message to Patch.com that, “I have always found Congresswoman Hayes to be extremely accessible and willing to be of help to her constituents in every way possible.”
Collectively, Hayes’ plurality in the five cities – Waterbury, Danbury, New Britain, Meriden and Torrington – was lower than any of the Democratic candidates in the district since 2006. However, she showed strength in the suburban and rural towns. Overall, she captured 21 municipalities. In 2012, Democrat Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire won only 10 municipalities when she prevailed by just more than 8,000 votes over then-state Sen. Andrew Roraback of Goshen when it was an open seat.
Morris said turnout was lower than usual in many Connecticut cities in 2022, and he thinks if some of those voters that didn’t participate go to the polls in 2024, Logan could prevail if he opts to run again.
“I think there are some people who just didn’t go to the polls that can’t bring themselves to vote for Republicans, but are disappointed with the performance by the Democrats. We need to engage even further in the cities,” exclaimed Morris.
The Republicans also lost their fourth consecutive gubernatorial election, as Democrat Ned Lamont of Greenwich captured a second term with 55.8 percent of the ballots.
Morris declared that Republican nominee Bob Stefanowski, a financial executive from Madison who had lost to Lamont by about 44,000 votes in 2018, had “some terrific ideas on how to make Connecticut more affordable.”
He said that the state has 340 taxes - 200 of which cost more to collect than what they generate in revenue.
However, Morris remarked that Stefanowski was facing an “incumbent governor with between 52 and 57 percent approval.”
“It is hard to beat an incumbent when people are saying that he hasn’t been that bad,” he exclaimed regarding Lamont’s popularity during and after the pandemic. “There was a feeling that he handled COVID well. The governor had the opportunity to be on television every day. People got to know him. He didn’t come off as being extremist.”
Morris also commented that every incumbent governor across the country that sought another term was re-elected.
Regarding Stefanowki’s 2018 and 2022 campaigns: “It was the difference between night and day,” said Morris. “I will give Bob a lot of credit.”
Shortly following the 2018 election, CT Hearst political reporter Ken Dixon wrote, “Stefanowski was kept in a bell jar, with virtually no news conferences beyond five-minute snippets at the few events for which Big Bob came out of hiding.”
Morris declared, “If Bob Stefanowski had run the campaign in ’18 that he had in ’22, he would have been elected and would [have been] running to be re-elected governor.”
What if the election had been held between February 19, 2019 when Lamont unveiled his unsuccessful tolls proposal and March 17, 2020 when the public schools and many of the restaurants had closed as a result of the pandemic?
“It would have been a totally different result,” Morris exclaimed.
Morris also lamented that the other Republican candidates for the state constitutional offices were defeated in the November 8 balloting.
He said “we could not have found a more qualified person” for state treasurer than state Rep. Harry Arora of Greenwich. Arora had spent decades working in investments.
Morris added that Mary Fay of West Hartford, the GOP candidate for state comptroller, had “outstanding” credentials in financial services.
“Politics trumps experience,” said Morris.
Lamont has boasted about paying down $5.4 billion in pension obligations since taking office. Part of that stemmed from a volatility cap in a bipartisan budget agreement that was approved in 2017, a year before he was elected.
“It is going to take more,” said Morris regarding a pension system that as of the September 2021 Truth In Accounting report was only 43 percent funded. State Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107) of Brookfield, who will become a state senator on January 4, said this last October that Connecticut’s pension obligations for its state employees is the second worst in the country, after Illinois. It reportedly was structurally underfunded each year from 1939 through 2010.
“It is an issue that has to be addressed since there are promises made that the state can’t deliver on,” said Morris. “However, I don’t think that the average voter votes on pensions.”
How do the Republicans regain the governorship, which they controlled from 1995 to early 2011 under John Rowland of Middlebury and then M. Jodi Rell of Brookfield?
“The Democrats’ bench is wide and ours is not,” Morris lamented. “It hurts a lot.”
“I don’t think there is going to be an appetite for a business person,” Morris remarked in an apparent reference to Stefanowski, who had been a financial executive with General Electric and UBS, and 2010 and 2014 nominee Tom Foley of Greenwich, who had spent most of his career in private investment.
“We have to go to your mayors,” he said, adding that, among other things, being a municipal chief executive may be better training than serving in Congress or private industry if you become governor.
He said New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, who placed second in a three-way field in the race for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in 2018, might be a prime contender. He said another potential candidate is state Sen. Heather Somers (R-18), who served as mayor of Groton and was the party’s candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014.
Morris said the impact of social media over the recent years has been one of the biggest changes in his career in politics, which dates to 1976 when as a freshman at Fairfield University he was a volunteer on then-U.S. Rep. Stewart McKinney’s campaign in the Fourth District.
He said it allows candidates to “target a message,” but that it is very hard to pinpoint the effectiveness of it.”
Morris, a Litchfield resident who works as a financial representative, said he sought a seat on the State Central Committee after the late Dell Eads, who was the first women to serve as state Senate president pro-tempore, asked to seek on of the two seats in the 30th District.
Morris said he has become a no-cost political consultant for the candidates in the 30th state Senate District.
“I know my district very well and people like to pick my brain,” he explained
In an e-mail statement, state Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107) of Brookfield wrote that Morris’ “belief and support for smaller bureaucracy, reduced taxes and fees, and transparency in government has resulted in countless successful campaigns throughout our area of the state.”
Harding recently garnered more than 55 percent of the vote to capture the seat in the 30th state Senate District.
In an interview, state Rep. Patrick Callahan (R-108) of New Fairfield added that Morris “is so involved that he goes to more events than he has to.”
Nationally, Morris said Republican former President Donald Trump poses an intriguing contrast.
Morris said Trump “has not played well” among Connecticut voters. Gary Rose, the chairman of the Government Department at Sacred Heart University, said shortly after the 2018 midterm elections that primarily due to Trump, suburban women in Connecticut began to trend more toward the Democrats.
Morris said to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, Trump will have to “stay on focus and on message, and stop the personal stuff.”
Morris said he is “leaning” toward supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he said has “turned a purple state into red.”
“The problem with Trump was his personality,” he added. “And he did not help himself with his reaction to the [2020] election. It turned a lot of people off.”
Nevertheless, Morris commented, “His platform was great.”
The unemployment rate was the lowest in 50 years, the border was more secure and the United States became an exporter of energy.
Morris remarked, “I think Trump will go down as one of the greatest presidents.”
Resources:
Interview with John Morris, Patch.com, Saturday, November 26, 2022.
https://apnews.com/article/afbe49a3be3b4d20b8d098124c501b26
https://patch.com/connecticut/...
https://patch.com/connecticut/...
Patrick Callahan interview, Patch.com, Sunday, December 4, 2022.
Stephen Harding, e-mail statement, Patch.com, Friday, December 9, 2022.
Audrey Blondin, e-mail statement, Patch.com, Wednesday, December 14, 2022.
https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/panel-insists-stefanowski-lost-election-because-two-enemies
https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2022/11/11/analysis-jahana-hayes-nearly-lost-the-5th-why/
