Karen DuBois-Walton will get her check.
Maritza Bond has one more chance to get hers.
That was the outcome of a meeting Wednesday of the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC).
The commission met to consider applications from candidates to qualify for public financing for their campaigns under the Citizens’ Election Program (CEP).
Candidates who meet a threshold of raising contributions from state voters are eligible to receive grants under the program to get the word out about their campaigns. Qualifying for the money is often make-or-break for candidates; it’s hard to win without it. Several campaigns this year have seen their applications put on hold as the SEEC scrutinizes online contributions to see if they count toward meeting the requirements. (Click here to an article about that, by the CT Mirror’s Mark Pazniokas.)
Time is running out for primary candidates.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the SEEC voted to approve DuBois-Walton’s application for a grant. She is now in line to receive $484,125 from the agency for her campaign for state treasurer.
DuBois-Walton, who runs New Haven’s housing authority and chairs the board of the state Board of Education, faces two fellow Democrats in the Aug. 9 Democratic primary: New Haven attorney Erick Russell and and Dita Bhargava, a former Wall Street trader from Greenwich who sought the position in 2018. Russell and Bhargava had previously gained approval for their CEP grants. State Rep. Harry Arora, a Republican seeking the position, has already been approved to receive the state grant. First-term State Treasurer Shawn Wooden is not running for reelection.
“Our team worked so hard to get to this point,” DuBois-Walton said afterwards. “Talking with voters, it’s been so clear how my career in public service and the ways my work has helped hard working families resonates with them and makes me their clear choice for state treasurer. We need to get our message to every voter and the public funding we are receiving allows us to do that!”
The news wasn’t as good Wednesday for Martiza Bond, the New Haven city health director waging a Democratic primary challenge for secretary of the state. For the second time, the SEEC chose not to vote on her application for the grant, while staff continues to scrutinize the eligibility of some of her donations. Bond’s campaign scrambled last weekend to raise new donations and address SEEC concerns about existing ones in hopes of winning approval at Wednesday’s meeting.
It’s not over, though. The SEEC is holding another meeting, on Friday, to consider approving grants before the primary, at which point Bond will learn whether she’ll obtain her $484,125. Bond is challenging convention-endorsed candidate Stephanie Thomas in the primary for secretary of the state, Connecticut’s top elections official. Thomas has been approved for public financing.
SEEC spokesperson Joshua Foley said Friday is the last chance for candidates to obtain approve for grants before the primaries.
Bond’s campaign manager, Russ Morin, expressed confidence that the “I”s will be dotted and “T”s crossed.
“They asked for paperwork. We’re supplying them with the paperwork. They have a job to do. We’re getting them the information they requested. I’m hopeful,” Morin said.
Dominic Rapini, the first secretary of the state candidate to qualify the CEP grant, faces Terri Wood in a Republican primary for the position.
Meanwhile, Erick Russell released a TV ad Wednesday highlighting his story growing up in New Haven. Click on the above video to watch it.
UAW Backs Bond, Russell
Region 9A of the United Auto Workers union, meanwhile, weighed in on both races, endorsing the primary quests of Russell and Bond.
It was Bond’s third labor endorsement; the previous came from the state AFL-CIO and Connecticut Employees Union Independent (CEUI).
“I launched this campaign to be for the people and by the people, and I am pleased that these unions, and the working people they represent, are supporting my candidacy,” Bond stated in a release.
Russell tied the UAW vote to decisions he’d make as treasurer in investing state funds.
“That’s who I’ll fight for in the Treasurer’s Office – the working families who desperately need a champion for Main Street values on Wall Street, and who deserve a stronger and fairer economy in Connecticut„” Russell stated in a release. “As treasurer, I’ll continue to fight for those who deserve better wages, quality health care, and a secure retirement in a fiscally strong state.”
UAW Region 9A represents 15,000 active and retired members in Connecticut, including workers at southeastern Connecticut’s Electric Boat Corporation and General Dynamics, as well as computer operators and schedulers at Computer Science Corporation in Norwich.
“As treasurer, I’ll continue to fight for those who deserve better wages, quality health care, and a secure retirement in a fiscally strong state.”
The primary job of the Treasurer is not to fight for social justice, but to invest the state's pension funds. Higher returns mean lower taxes and assured benefits for retired state employees and teachers. Bhargava and Arora are the only candidates qualified to manage large funds, although Bhargava has been speaking about abortion not investments.