New Haven Independent

At the Imperial, a Chinese restaurant south of downtown, Malloy hosted more than 100 Connecticut convention-goers, who joined him for lunch Tuesday courtesy of his personal political action committee, “DANPAC.”

Malloy lost the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary to New Haven Mayor John DeStefano by a slim margin. “It’s a little early for a formal declaration,” for a 2010 campaign he declared between greeting guests. However, while he would neither confirm or deny his interest in the state’s top office, another run for the governor’s office seemed to be on the horizon for the former prosecutor turned mayor. DeStefano too is believed to be contemplating a run but has made no public remarks about his intentions.

State Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, said Malloy is an “amazing executive leader” and would love to see him run for governor in 2010.

In a brief speech to a packed restaurant, Malloy said Democrat Barack Obama is poised to take over the White House and and Democratic challenger Jim Himes is ready to win Connecticut’s last Republican seat in by defeating Chris Says in the Fourth District. That means, he argued, the stage is set for a Democrat to be elected to the governor’s office.

“But we’re not going to talk about that now,” said Malloy, wearing one of his signature lime-green ties.

The Democratic Party has not been able to elect a governor in the Nutmeg state since 1986.

State Rep. Steve Fontana, D-North Haven, said there are a number of people in the party interested in running for governor in 2010. Malloy “is a good candidate,” he said. “He’s someone to keep our eye on.”

Other Democrats who have expressed interest, or are unofficially expected to express interest in running for the state’s top spot include, besides DeStefano, Speaker of the House James Amann, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Fontana said he expects the public campaign finance system to bring forward more candidates. As vice-president of the Democratic State Central Committee, Fontana said “I think I speak for everyone here when I say, it’s been far too long since we’ve had a Democratic governor.”

Malloy was joined by his wife and his sons, Ben and Sam, at Tuesday’s lunch. Later in the afternoon Malloy was scheduled to speak at the Colorado Convention Center regarding his participation in the United States Conference of Mayors 10-point plan. The plan asks the next president to invest more resources in America’s cities. The second part of the 10-point plan focused on more federal funds for community policing, which was discussed in detail at a press conference on Monday.