Malloy, Lamont Woo Latinos

Sections

Neighborhoods

Features

NHI Newsletter

Legal Notices

Some Favorite Sites

Government/ Community Links

by Melinda Tuhus | Apr 5, 2010 8:11 am

(12) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Politics, State

Melinda Tuhus Photo Campaign cash made a hit with a roomful of potential influential endorsers in the governor’s race. The question was not who had the most of, but who would accept limits on it.

That issue emerged as the most significant difference between two leading candidates for the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial nomination Saturday. The candidates—Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy—pitched their candidacies to the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus, a statewide organization of politicians, community activists, teachers, clergy and others aiming to promote the election of qualified Latino candidates—or failing that, qualified candidates who have a “Latino sense” in relating to their community, in the words of caucus chair Tomas Reyes.

Twenty members of the group who spent three hours interviewing two candidates Saturday morning at the Spanish American Merchants Association office on Grand Avenue in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood. They heard lots of similarities between the two—and a key difference in their positions on campaign finance reform.

The group didn’t yet make an endorsement. It plans to interview other potential candidates once they, like Lamont and Malloy, move from fielding “exploratory” campaigns to officials campaigns. Chief among them is the state’s first-ever Latino gubernatorial candidate, Juan Figueroa.
The group endorsed Malloy when he ran for governor in 2006. And he was warmly welcomed as the first visitor for Saturday morning’s candidate-interview session. He answered a series of questions from a panel of five Latino activists (including, pictured from left, Fair Haven Alderwoman Migdalia Castro, Fair Haven Alderman Joey Rodriguez, and Yolanda Castillo of Manchester).

The panel asked Malloy about the state’s campaign-financing law, which offers matching money to candidates who swear off big contributions and special-interest money.

“I support it, and you should, too,” Malloy told them. Without it, neither he—a politician of modest means—nor members of the Latino community, would have much chance to win elections, he opined. “When the system gets rigged so only millionaires can run, and we reward them for that, then we’re in big trouble.”

His response prompted head-nodding all around.
Ned Lamont is one of those millionaires, and he demonstrated he wasn’t afraid to spend some of those millions in 2006 when he upset U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in a Democratic primary. (Lamont lost in the general election, in which Lieberman ran as an independent.)
Lamont is again signaling that he’s ready to spend millions on this race, his 2010 quest for governor. He has opted not to participate in the public finance system, which would limit how much money he could contribute.

“I know Ned says he supported it then [when the campaign finance law passed] but he doesn’t support it now, and [he says] he’ll support it again when he’s governor,” —that doesn’t fly with me,” Malloy told Saturday’s panel.
When it was Lamont’s turn Saturday, the panel asked him the same question. He said he’s leading in the polls now in the race for governor. But he sees Tom Foley, a millionaire Republican, gaining on him through his use of television advertising.

“If all the candidates, Republican and Democrat, agreed [to use public financing, thus limiting their own spending], I would be the champion of campaign finance reform,” Lamont said. But since that’s not the case, he plans to spend his own money in addition to the donations he’s been raising in small amounts from supporters, he said.

Rodriguez asked Lamont if he would abide by public spending limits just among Democratic candidates leading up to the primary (something Malloy has already challenged him to do). Lamont declined; he said that’s a recipe for losing. But he assured them, echoing former U.S. Sen. Lowell Weicker’s 1980s-era campaign slogan, “I’m nobody’s man but yours. We’re going to win this race, and it sure helps being able to pay for a little TV.” He said he’ll be appearing in campaign ads within two weeks.
Lamont (pictured with Hartford State Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, a supporter) emphasized his teaching career as a volunteer at Bridgeport’s Harding High School and currently as an instructor at Central Connecticut State University, as much as his business credentials.

Malloy differentiated himself by saying that other “millionaire candidates” want to run state government like a business. “I want to run state government like a great government,” he said, touting his 14 years as mayor of Stamford, reducing crime, adding jobs, building affordable housing. He said in pursuing those goals, “To be very honest, I would rather raise taxes than eliminate [social] services.”

Other questions the candidates addressed included how they would increase PILOT allocations (payment in lieu of taxes on tax-exempt property, which is concentrated in cities); discussing their views on educational equity and affirmative action; restoring prison rehab funding; making state government more representative of the Hispanic/Latino community, and making a Latino his running mate. On all of these issues the two candidates gave broadly similar answers.

{h5}Figueroa’s Turn Is Coming

Reyes (pictured) said the reason Puerto Rican gubernatorial candidate Juan Figueroa was not invited to the forum is that he has not yet formally declared his candidacy. The bylaws of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus limit endorsements to those who have formally declared. "We fully intend to have him go through the same process. The moment he's a declared candidate he will be interviewed by our group," Reyes said.

Will he have a leg up, being a Latino and having served in several high profile positions, including state representative, director of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund and president of the

Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut?

“I would say he doesn’t,” Reyes answered. “We’re very happy that a person of his qualifications and his stature is actually considering to run. But we’ll be asking him the same questions we’re asking Dan Malloy and Ned Lamont, and others.”

Comments

posted by: City Hall Watch on April 5, 2010 10:04am

Let’s clear up a huge misconception here. The idea that politicians had much to do with the a decrease in crime in any CT city is seriously suspect. Serious crime across the country has fallen and nobody really knows the reason why. Connecticut cities benefited from that trend.

The one exception I know of is Corey Booker down in Newark, NJ who has been working in that cesspool of violence for several years. He has aggressively, personally and through public policy and partnerships attacked the problem directly, daily and has constantly preached and advocated for safer streets,less murder and more citizen involvement. It’s working.

posted by: Threefifths on April 5, 2010 11:03am

Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy.Give me a break.Both are political pirates. Ned Lamont is the same as king bloomberg of New York.You should have ask Ned lamont why is he against paid sick leave. And you should have ask Dan Malloy How many Blacks and Latinos did he put in jail when he was a prosecutor in the D A office in new york.

posted by: The Professor on April 5, 2010 11:23am

I’m sure that every jurisdiction has politicians that are just as vocal in their opposition to violence as Cory Booker is. Heck, John DeStefano was a founding member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, which is headed by New York’s Michael Bloomberg and Boston’s Thomas “Mumbles” Menino.

The point is that Booker isn’t the only person to undertake the kind of initiatives he’s undertaken. Furthermore, Newark benefits (or suffers from) the same major trends as every other city.

I think that politicians dealing with crime have had a mixed bag of results. It just seems wrong to single out one guy and say that he’s succeeding because he’s doing things that a lot of other people (who we say aren’t succeeding) are doing too.

For the record, I am a fan of Cory Booker, largely because of his strong views on public integrity.

On a completely unrelated note, it’s very refreshing to see that the Latino Caucus is committing to be just as demanding of Figueroa as they are of other candidates in the race. At the end of the day, even if one caucus or another goes easy on a candidate, the voters won’t, so it’s in each and every caucus’s best interest to avoid the “kid glove” treatment outright.

posted by: Threefifths on April 5, 2010 11:52am

Corey Booker is a machine charlatan politician.He help king bloomberg get elected and than got paid.Just like the machine charlatan politician here who help King John.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/nyregion/18booker.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/nyregion/28booker.html

posted by: NewHavenerToo on April 5, 2010 12:31pm

I sure hope that the CT Democratic Hispanic Caucus doesn’t think that it represents the entire latino community. There are those of us who don’t have a like-minded attitude towards politics and refuse to be swallowed up by a group.

Thanks, but no thanks.

posted by: Tomas Reyes Jr. on April 5, 2010 3:50pm

To NewhavenerToo
You really do not have anything to worry about
in terms of being “swallowed up” by a group.
CHDC has never purported to represent anyone but it`s members who have joined freely and
share our goals and objectives.We intend to
continue encouraging dialogue and provoking
action that will ultimately benefit the Latino
community specifically and the entire community
generally.You`re invited to join us and maybe
you will see that our attitudes are closer than
you think.

posted by: Martinez on April 5, 2010 4:58pm

Not to worry, the fix is in for Malloy. These guys were in bed with him last time and that will be the case this time around. Just watch the ringleaders and see who they are committed to and you’ll understand their job is to “deliver” the CHDC. Now if they only had some money to put behind a candidate someone might actually take them seriously.

posted by: Threefifths on April 5, 2010 5:40pm

posted by: Tomas Reyes Jr. on April 5, 2010 3:50pm
To NewhavenerToo
You really do not have anything to worry about
in terms of being “swallowed up” by a group.
CHDC has never purported to represent anyone but it`s members who have joined freely and
share our goals and objectives.We intend to
continue encouraging dialogue and provoking
action that will ultimately benefit the Latino
community specifically and the entire community
generally.You`re invited to join us and maybe
you will see that our attitudes are closer than
you think.

I would worry.This is how deals are cut under the crooked two party system.

posted by: The Professor on April 6, 2010 9:54am

I actually doubt that the fix is “in” for Malloy. I think last time, the caucus’s support for Malloy was more a result of distaste for DeStefano in light of his support for Goldfield’s ouster of Perez as BOA president.

The Hispanic caucus was (I think wrongly) furious about the move and wanted to register its disappointment in some relevant way. Ultimately, I think all they succeeded in doing was engendering more bitterness and acrimony and thereby helping Rell to her blowout victory, but that’s neither here nor there.

The point is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of the candidates get the nom. I think Malloy may be the frontrunner simply because he’s been down this road before and there may be a sense that “it’s his turn,” but ultimately, I think that the caucus will go with whoever they think has the best shot at winning in November.

And as far as Booker being a “machine charlatan politician,” I think that’s a drastic overstatement. Like I say, I’m a fan of Cory Booker, just like I’m a fan of Barack Obama. There are certain things about them, however, that I don’t like. I think their “hope/change” rhetoric is a bit flimsy and doesn’t do enough to spell out what needs to be done to improve our cities and country. And I think their willingness to compromise is a bit excessive.

But the fact of the matter is that Booker is a massive improvement over Sharpe James, who actually WAS a “machine charlatan” and was corrupt to boot (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/sharpe_james_to_be_behind_bars.html). James gave sweetheart land deals to contributors at the expense of the city, rigged land deals to enrich his mistress, once again at the expense of the city, and then proceeded to evade taxes. He’s now in prison. It bugs me when a Democrat endorses a Republican, but it bugs me even more when ANY politician abuses his office to enrich himself.

posted by: NewHavenerToo on April 6, 2010 1:46pm

Actually Tommy, I have seen the attitudes of some of the members for many, many years and unfortunately, I could not see anything positive except for people in it for themselves while blanketing themselves under this flag of “we”.

As I continue to live and work in New Haven, I just get more and more frustrated as a Latina as well as a citizen of this city.

We can go on and on, but the next time I see you at an event,hopefully we can converse this further.

posted by: Threefifths on April 6, 2010 4:41pm

posted by: The Professor on April 6, 2010 9:54am

My point is that both the Democratic and Republican party are the same.Look at John Rowland when he got out of jail Waterbury Mayor Michael J. Jarjura a Democrat gave him a job. How many people need jobs in this state.Corey Booker supported one of the bigguest corporatist king Bloomberg who had the city council puppets over turn term limits so he could run for another term. After King Bloomberg won he than gave money to Corey Booker and Black minsters.I would call that a pay off would you agree.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Bookers-Support-of-Bloomberg-Pay-Off-66649162.html

http://bloombergwatch.com/index.php/10/bloomberg-courts-the-black-clergy-with-1-million/

You want to bet this is happing here.

You like obama.Have you read the health care bill I did. Look at how he sold us out.

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/obama-democrats-vs-tea-party-republicans-fake-fight-over-fake-reform

Wake up and smell the mackreal.Both are the same One party is the box spring the other party is the matress!!! We need to get away as fast as we can from this two party system,And demand Proportional representation now!!!

posted by: Tomas Reyes Jr. on April 7, 2010 11:33am

NewHavenerToo,
I would love to continue this dialogue with you
at your convenience. I obviously disagree with
your “assessment” of the CHDC and would like to
try and convince you that you should join and
help us.We certainly are not perfect and welcome any constructive criticism.

New Haven Independent

New Haven Independent Login Form