New Haven Independent

Former State Rep. Juan Figueroa (pictured), who runs the Universal Health Care Foundation (UHCF), has begun approaching potential supporters for a 2010 run. If he wins the nomination, he would become the first Latino major-party candidate for governor.

He would enter a field of Democratic candidates that is growing more crowded, and busier, by the hour since Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell shocked the state Monday afternoon by announcing she won’t run for another term.

Figueroa declined to comment Tuesday morning. A person familiar with the evolving campaign said he plans to make a decision — and file papers for an exploratory committee — by Dec. 1. And he would step down as executive director of UHCF. From that perch, he directed the successful campaign to pass the “SustiNet” law, then override a gubernatorial veto, to set up a universal health care plan in Connecticut.

Tomas Reyes, chairman of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus, is one of the people with whom Figueroa has discussed the run. Reyes’ group formed to promote Latino candidates for office and to advance Latino political interests in the state. Two years ago, it backed Dan Malloy for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Figueroa would make “a fantastic candidate to benefit our community,” Reyes said Tuesday morning. He also said that Figueroa’s “experience here in the state — and his broader experience — make him a viable candidate.”

Figueroa served as a state representative from Hartford for five years. He left the post in 1993 to run the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, a national civil-rights group based in New York. Since January 2003 he has run UHCF.

That latter job gave him a statewide profile on a hot-button issue. That was especially true this year, when the state legislature passed the “SustiNet” bill. The law established a nine-member board charged with coming up with a plan, by Jan. 1, 2011, for a statewide, affordable public health insurance plan (called SustiNet). It was hailed nationally as a model in part because it established the kind of “public option” plan that’s now at the center of the national health reform debate.

A Figueroa candidacy is expected to focus on the SustiNet story — both the way Figueroa’s group developed a coalition of business people, activists, docs, and clergy; and the way it succeeded in lobbying for an override of a veto of the bill by Gov. Rell.

Six other Democrats have formally announced they’re running or “exploring” a gubernatorial run. Democrats seeking or “exploring” seeking the nomination to run for governor so far are Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, former U.S. Senate candidate Lamont, former House Speaker Jim Amann, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, and State Sen. Gary LeBeau.

And on Tuesday morning, Attorney General Dick Blumenthal, a quadrennial potential gubernatorial frontrunner, suddenly opened the door to running this year after staying out of the race. He offered a familiar Hamlet-like refrain when asked the question at a New Haven health care event.

Despite his health care and civil-rights record, Figueroa would by no means have a lock on support from progressive groups. Those liberal organizations and voters play a disproportionate role in Democratic primaries; they enabled Ned Lamont to topple U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in a 2006 party primary. (Lieberman kept the seat by winning the general election running as a Republican-backed “independent.”)

Of the six announced potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates, three — Lamont, Bysiewicz, and Malloy — have longstanding ties to labor, health reform, environmental, civil rights, and citizen action groups comprising the progressive pantheon. So the competition has already begun for their support. A Blumenthal candidacy would upend and restart that competition.

“It’ll be an interesting 2010,” Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG) chief Tom Swan remarked Tuesday. Swan ran Ned Lamont’s Senate campaign; he ran the board for Figueroa’s foundation; and he has worked closely with the other candidates while advocating for state legislation.

Bysiewicz, Malloy, Lamont, and Figueroa all “have claims on different people” in the progressive community, Swan said. He said he has not signed up personally to support any candidate at this point, nor has CCAG endorsed anyone. Stay tuned — months of frenetic politicking await.