The Wheelhouse

With the nation transfixed on the revelations pouring out of Washington, D.C., how much remaining brain capacity do voters have for Connecticut's governor's race?

It's undoubtedly hard to compete for attention against news cycles dominated by edge-of-your-seat histrionics that could shape the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court for a generation. So this week we set out to bring state politics back into focus.

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The firestorm in Washington, D.C., over the sexual misconduct charges leveled against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is tearing its way through New Haven too.

Both Kavanaugh and his latest accuser, Deborah Ramirez, attended Yale together in the 1980s. As Ramirez tells it, the lecherous behavior came during a dorm party at the university and was fueled by heavy drinking. 

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This election cycle has been perilous for many Democratic incumbents in Congress. Just look at the primary losses of ten-term U.S. Reps. Michael Capuano and Joseph Crowley next door in Massachusetts and New York.

Yet members of Connecticut's all-Democratic congressional delegation are well on their way to being re-elected. The one exception is U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty who dropped her bid for a third term due to a singular scandal.

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In recent days, Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski has ratcheted up the pleas for campaign donations. If more money doesn't come in quickly, he may be forced to curtail his television advertising blitz, Stefanowski's wife warned in an email to supporters.

This week, ahead of the first debate between the two major party candidates Wednesday night, we evaluate how Stefanowski and Democrat Ned Lamont are doing at this critical stage of the race, both financially and otherwise. Will the constant barrage of attack ads, from both sides, continue?

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Connecticut Public Radio, The Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, WFSB Channel 3, the CT Mirror hosted the first gubernatorial debate of the general election at the University of Saint Joseph on September 5, 2018. 

Missed the event? Listen to the audio above

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Should she win the Fifth Congressional District race on Nov. 6, Jahana Hayes would no longer be the only black female from New England elected to Congress. Ayanna Pressley, who toppled 10-term U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Massachusetts' 7th District race, would hold that claim too. Unlike for Hayes, there's no Republican opposing Pressley in the general election.

This week, we gauge what Pressley's victory, and other trends suggesting this will be a big year for female candidates, means for Connecticut.

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Will a second spot on the November 6 ballot be the difference maker for either Ned Lamont or Bob Stefanowski in their bid to be Connecticut's next governor?

Stefanowski, already the GOP nominee, secured the Independent Party's cross-endorsement on Sunday. Just 64 members of Connecticut's third-largest political party turned out for its caucus. A majority of them picked Stefanowski over petitioning candidate Oz Griebel and others to appear on the Independent Party ballot line.

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After four days of deliberations, a federal jury Tuesday deemed former Donald Trump campaign chairman and New Britain native Paul Manafort guilty of eight of 18 counts of tax fraud and other crimes.

This week we discuss the fallout from that verdict.

Meanwhile, here in Connecticut, the quest for Democratic and Republican party unity in the race for governor continues after the August 14 primaries.

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Two self-funding millionaires Tuesday secured their spots at the top of the ballot in the November 6 election.

Ned Lamont, now the undisputed Democratic Party nominee for governor, trounced Joe Ganim in a race that was called by The Associated Press just 30 minutes after primary polls closed at 8 p.m.

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In this last week before the August 14 party primaries, the debates, and endorsements--not to mention those tree-killing mailers clogging our post office boxes--are coming fast and furious.

Here's a sample of the questions we're contemplating at this critical stage:

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