The Wheelhouse

To absolutely no one's surprise, outgoing Governor Dannel Malloy is not letting anyone define his legacy without adding his two cents.

While speaking to the media Tuesday after the final Bond Commission meeting of his administration, Malloy struck back at those criticizing job growth in Connecticut and the level of state borrowing during his eight years in office.

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Governor-elect Ned Lamont on Tuesday announced two team captains who will be tasked with helping him confront huge state budget deficits and Connecticut's tarnished business climate.

For his chief of staff, Lamont picked Ryan Drajewicz, an executive from Westport-based hedge fund behemoth Bridgewater Associates. His budget chief will be Melissa McCaw, currently the head of the city of Hartford's Office of Management, Budget and Grants.

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A narrative often repeated by Connecticut Republicans and others is that state residents are sick of the high taxes and government ineptitude, and ready to bolt to greener pastures.

But new census data isn't all doom and gloom. Out-migration trends that soiled Connecticut's reputation in recent years are dissipating, according to a Hartford Courant editorial. In certain key categories, it found recent population losses have turned into population gains.

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Happy Thanksgiving! This week, The Wheelhouse is out enjoying a well-deserved break and being thankful for Colin McEnroe. We’ll be back next week giving you the latest news on all things politics in Connecticut.

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We’re still finding out results from last Tuesday’s elections in Connecticut and that’s not surprising, really. Some of the races were just really close. That’s probably a good thing.

Another good thing: Lots of people showing up to vote. Gigantic numbers showing up to vote in a midterm election in Connecticut and just about everywhere.

The bad thing: We still can’t seem to get this election thing right at least in our cities.

This hour, we look at possible fixes.

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Upstart candidates like Connecticut's Jahana Hayes played a big role in Democrats regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday's election. Hayes' victory over Republican opponent Manny Santos also kept the GOP locked out of the state's congressional delegation yet again.

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The final debate in this year's race for governor is in the rearview mirror. What did we learn Tuesday night, and what should Ned Lamont and Bob Stefanowski be most worried about before polls open just six days from now? Should it be:

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Which party can get to 19?

That's the number of Connecticut Senate seats that Republicans or Democrats need to win on Nov. 6 to control the legislature's upper chamber.

Right now, it's an 18-18 split. But a national Republican-funded super PAC is spending large sums of money in an attempt to change that.

In the state House of Representatives, the GOP needs just five more seats to gain the majority for the first time since 1984.

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We can learn a lot from campaign finance reports.

In Connecticut's race for governor, they reveal that the three top contenders, Bob Stefanowski, Ned Lamont, and Oz Griebel, are all dipping deep into their own pockets to fund their campaigns. 

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Two issues continue to dominate this year's race for governor: taxes and the economy.

That notion has been reinforced by the latest Quinnipiac University poll. Of the likely voters surveyed, 31% said the economy was their chief concern, while 26% said it was taxes.

Climate change wasn't even an issue listed in the poll question. It's also been left largely unaddressed by those running for governor this year.

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