“Non-Candidate” Malloy Previews Stump Speech

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the coy candidate-in waiting, left no doubt Sunday evening that he is running for election this year and offered a preview stump speech on issues on which he is considered vulnerable: the economy and handling of state finances. 

Malloy gave the preview at the New Haven home of U.S. Rosa DeLauro at what was billed as ​“the kick-off campaign” for Congressional and state office holders. After DeLauro introduced him as a person ​“who has been making a difference in the lives of the people,” Malloy dived into the campaign pitch.

Malloy listed his accomplishments before a crowd of 200 enthusiastic recruits and members of the Hilltop Brigade, a group that knocks on doors for Democratic candidates in even-numbered election years. The group’s call this year will be to reelect Malloy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and the Connecticut Democrats seeking reelection to Congress. 

Malloy, who is running in all but name only, has said he would declare his formal intentions when this year’s legislative session ends the first week in May. He is not under the usual early informal deadline to announce his candidacy in part because he plans to seek public campaign financing for his run. He is expected to face a tough reelection fight; the latest Quinnipiac poll shows him in a dead heat with the Republican he barely beat four years ago, Tom Foley.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who is not up for reelection in 2014, told the group at DeLauro’s East Rock home Sunday that he would be out campaigning for Malloy. Others seeking the aid of the Hilltop Brigade include U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney and Rep. Elizabeth Esty, who attended the event. 

Malloy commended the Hilltop workers and their ability to get people elected to Congress and to top state offices. Later Branford’s Stephanie Farber,(pictured), one of the group’s leaders, told the audience the dates they would take to the streets. 

Among those in the audience were a group of students from the University of New Haven. They are pictured with Asst. Professor Chris Haynes, their political science teacher, who is standing to the right of Sen. Blumenthal.

“It got me at least 6,400 votes, and that was the difference for Nancy and me,” Malloy said of the 2010 election and the work of the Hilltop Brigade.

One of his themes was that elections have consequences. ​“And when we have someone like Nancy Wyman working in state government, you should not be surprised that Connecticut is number one in signing people up for the Affordable Care Act,” he said.

Then the governor told the group to ignore those people who say nothing has changed in government life.

“Let me tell you we have come through some of the toughest times, a $3.6 billion deficit,” he said. Now, he said ​“we have a $550 million surplus. That’s progress.”

“There were zero dollars in the rainy day fund” back in 2010, he said. ​“Now on July 1 we will have $550 million in the rainy day fund. That’s progress,” he declared to a round of applause. 

Then he moved onto jobs.

“More than 40,000 private sector jobs having been created in the state of Connecticut; that’s progress,“ he said. He added that the state has ​“a new relationship with United Technologies, the largest employer in the state, with 27,000 employees and 75,000 paid employees in a chain of suppliers in the state. That’s progress.”

“So if somebody says elections don’t have consequences or all politicians are the same, listen up here: we no longer have the death penalty in this state of Connecticut.” He said children brought to this country from another country by their parents, now have the ability to apply for tuition grants at Connecticut’s colleges and universities. ​“We need to make more progress there,” he added.

He pointed out that despite a $3.6 billion deficit he inherited, ​“after 25 years we finally have an earned income tax credit. We did it here in the state of Connecticut.

“We have made fixes in our roads and in our bridges and in our institutions of higher learning.”

On the education front, he did not discuss controversial issues like new student tests and teacher evaluations. He did say that ​“we are now on the road to universal pre‑K being available to all of our citizens regardless of their parents’ wealth and regardless of their zip codes.

“That’s who we are in the state of Connecticut; that is the consequence of elections. When we come together as Democrats, when we reach out to our brothers and sisters who are independent in this state; when people understand that we want to get this state moving again, then we win elections and we make a difference and change lives.

“So what I would say to you all is to campaign,” he said of the short time between now and Nov. 4, Election Day.”

He observed that the state now ​“can pay our debts, we can be the greatest state when it comes to new innovations. That is who we are; that is the stock we come from and that is where we are going to be when it comes to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.”

Applause filled the room. Malloy smiled and stepped back.

Then he stepped forward again. He wanted to make another point. It was about the minimum wage, a topic that evoked Malloy’s very public spat with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal last month outside the White House. Earlier DeLauro wryly observed that Gov. Jindal had not been invited to her gathering.

“One other thing, one other thing,” Malloy said. ​“We did raise our minimum wage this past Jan. 1st by 45 cents” to $8.70 an hour. He has proposed that by 2015 the increase will rise to $9.15 an hour, followed by an increase to $9.60 in 2016 and then to $10.10 effective Jan. 1, 2017. ​”If they can’t do it in Washington, we are going to do it in Hartford. We are going to get the job done.”
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