We are frequent critics here of the Secretary of the State, Susan Bysiewicz.  Her office exhibits all too often the very worst traits of government - a copious amount of red tape, a scary inability to make proactive decisions, and being difficult place to get straight answers.  However, in this case, we pay credit to the SotS Office for placing on the Internet, in a timely manner, the candidate list for the State House and State Senate.

Some of the early races that jump out as GOP primary contests in the State House:

9th District - This open seat (Dem State Rep. Chris Stone is retiring) has drawn more candidates than bees to honey.  Three Republicans - Clifton Thompson, Mike Crockett, and Dennis Brenner, all from Manchester, will square off for the Republican nomination.  Thompson won the party endorsement at the Convention.  On the Democratic side, Jason Rojas of East Hartford won the party endorsement at the Convention, but Manchester’s former Director Joseph Hachey will challenge in the primary. 

17th District - Two Republicans, Tim LeGeyt and Tom Harrison will go to a primary to sort out their differences in the race to succeed State Rep. Kevin Witkos.  Witkos is running for the 8th State Senate seat, where he too will face a primary challenge from Simsbury resident Moira Wertheimer.

60th District - Indian-American Mohan Sachdev will challenge party-endorsed Michael Royston in the 60th District for the right to take on Democratic State Rep. Peggy Sayers.  Sayers is perhaps the lowest hanging fruit on the Democratic tree.

The Republican nominating convention season kicked off a week ago Saturday (May 10) with nominations for U.S. Congress.  Visconti, Sullivan, ItsHaky, Shays, and Cappiello all sailed through these Conventions without much fanfare.  Despite the negative national environment and considerable ink that has been spilled in reference to the national GOP’s troubles, five Connecticut Republican candidates vying for Congress is a strong statement about the rebounding strength of the Party in Connecticut.

Tuesday, May 13th saw most of the nominating conventions for the State Senate.  There were few surprises - most exciting perhaps is the prospect of a GOP Primary between Moira Wertheimer and State Rep. Kevin Witkos in the 8th State Senate District.  It remains to be seen whether a primary will actually occur, though Ms. Wertheimer is not required to take out petitions for the primary ballot, as she had the support of more than 15% of the delegates at Convention.

And Thursday of this past week brought about nominating conventions in multi-town districts.  There is a three-way primary brewing in the 9th State House seat between Manchester Republicans Dennis Brenner, Mike Crockett, and Clif Thompson.  The Democrats in the race, Joe Hachey of Manchester and Alex Rojas from East Hartford, also seem primed for a primary battle.  State Rep. Chris Stone is retiring. 

In the 105th District, a series of mistakes has caused a situation where neither candidate is quite sure who won the GOP nomination.  Chairman Healy will visit with the two GOP candidates on Monday in search of a fair resolution.  And in the 60th District, Windsor Locks Republican Michael Royston won the party endorsement over Mohan Sachdev.  The two men will square off in the primary.  The winner will take on the much-loathed State Rep. Peggy Sayers.  The final race of note was the GOP bid to exact revenge on deserter State Rep. Diana Urban.  Brian Kluberdanz, of Pawcatuck, was nominated by delegates from Stonington and North Stonington to take on the traitorous Urban, who has always held the seat as a Republican until now.

The last bit of nominations to resolve are in the single town State House Districts.  Each Republican Town Committee’s Bylaws dictate how these offices are to be filled.  In some towns, the RTC will make the nomination for candidates.  Other towns require a caucus to make the nominations.  Either way, the window for nominations closes on May 27th.

The year of 2006 was a fateful one for GOP State Representative Diana Urban, of the 43rd State House District.  At first, she was widely rumored as a potential candidate to run for the open 18th State Senate seat, before ultimately yielding to State Rep. Lenny Winkler.  Undeterred, she waged an ill-fated bid for the United States Senate, soliciting petitions at local fairs and parades before ultimately falling far short of the required number of signatures to gain ballot access.  With those quixotic endeavors behind her, she cruised to an easy re-election in the 43rd House seat on the Republican line.

But she wasn’t done yet.  Just two weeks after winning re-election Urban announced that she was switching her party to Democrat from Republican.  The move angered many Republicans who saw that State Rep. Urban had stayed on the Republican line while the former State Representative from Stonington/North Stonington, U.S. Congressman Rob Simmons, appeared on the ballot above her name - and while Simmons racked up solid victories in both towns.  With Simmons narrowly defeated, she flipped to Democrats knowing that the hometown hero Simmons would likely not be on the 2nd Congressional ballot again. 

There were many words thrown about in those days by Republicans - traitor, turncoat, back stabber - and the fact being that Urban effectively lied to her constituents by appearing as a Republican on the ballot was particularly insulting.  Feelings of revenge soon turned to exasperation as Representative Urban turned her energy, in a very public fashion, to advocating against the use of the ankus on elephants during the 2007 Legislative Session.  Though some folks found the cause honorable, in the light of other prevailing State issues - like the highest per capita tax burden in the United States of America, like having high electricity rates, or being the State that has the fastest loss of 18-34 year olds in the nation, the issue seemed somewhat less worthy of the grandstanding it received.  And her constituents knew it.

Republicans in Stonington & North Stonington have been discussing the race in the 43rd District for months now, plotting their strategy.  With the Republican nominating Conventions for multi-town State House districts coming up on Thursday, May 15th, the time was right for an engaging young Republican from Pawcatuck, Brian Kluberdanz, to make his announcement of candidacy.  New London’s The Day had the story today.  In his comments to the newspaper, he spoke about why he is running: ” I thought it would be a great way to give back to the community. I think a lot can be done for Stonington and North Stonington.”  Brian is a graduate of Stonington High School and Boston University.  He did not comment for the newspaper about his affinity for elephants and/or bullhooks.

Though the district has been held by a Republican since 1991 - Rob Simmons until his election to Congress in 2000, and then by the GOP version of Diana Urban - it will promise to be a competitive district this fall.  Urban is well known for her extensive door-to-door campaigning, bragging to The Day that, ”I’ll start walking the district next week so I hope he has his walking shoes on.”  But with a great deal of hard work and a generous dose of accountability for her actions, the race in the 43rd District will certainly be one to watch in November.

The front page of the Hartford Courant today features a huge color photo of U.S. Congressman Christopher Shays standing next to the presumptive Republican nominee for President, John McCain.  The headline is “A Tough Audience”.  First-hand accounts from the event suggest otherwise.  “He was treated like a rock star,” said one Republican in attendance.  The Hartford Courant once again defies even the lowest of expectations - but alas.

There is another story that you probably won’t read about in the Hartford Courant or whatever the local liberal rag is in your neck of the woods.  Republicans are having a terrific candidate recruitment season for the State House and State Senate.  Encouraged by a level financial playing field and disgusted with the hopeless ineptitude of the Democrats in the Legislature, with the additional bonus of running with Senator John McCain at the top of a short ballot in CT, the GOP is primed for an exciting fall campaign season.

Some of the highlights:

Chris Coutu - The 47th State House District is made up of the eastern Connecticut towns of Canterbury, Scotland, Sprague, and the Taftville section of Norwich.  The district has been represented by Democrat Jack Malone.  He will be challenged by Norwich Alderman Chris Coutu.  Coutu has quite a life story he’ll be telling to the residents of the 47th over the coming months.  He has a high energy style and a personable demeanor that rightly has Jack Malone sweating bullets.  You might remember that there was a bit of a brohuahua when Coutu announced, as Rep. Malone yelped about the fact that Coutu didn’t live in the district.  The rub of course was that Coutu grew up in the district, lived there for 30 years, and apparently is in the process of moving back into the district.  In a district that has had a tough time economically over the past few years and is ready for energetic new leadership, Chris Coutu is ready to deliver.

Rob Arute - The 53rd Assembly district is comprised of Tolland, Willington, and Ashford.  They narrowly elected Bryan Hurlburt in 2006 despite a strong challenge from Tolland Republican April Teveris, whose campaign benefitted from the James Bond-style slogan “April in November”.  The 53rd is a lean-Democrat district on paper, with a heavy influence of UCONN employees, off-campus students, and a strong presence of blue collar-types.  But Mr. Rob Arute, of Tolland, is primed to make a strong run at Hurlburt in 2008.  The Arute family is well known in the area for their ownership and management of the Stafford Motor Speedway (Take a minute to read the track history - very interesting).  This rapport with local racing fans and visibility may be the ‘fast lane’ to victory for Arute, and stall Hurlburt’s rise up the political ladder.

Theresa McGrath - The a former leader of the well-known West Hartford Taxpayer’s Association, Theresa McGrath is a veteran of West Hartford politics and was the highest Republican vote getter in Town in her bid for Town Clerk last year.  She is running for Bob Farr’s old 19th District seat, representing a portion of West Hartford, Avon, and a bit of Farmington.  The seat is currently held by Rep. Beth Bye.  West Hartford is a tough place for a Republican to do business, and McGrath’s municipal experience should serve her well in the upcoming campaign.

David Blackwell - Former State Representative David Blackwell will be mounting a challenge to Sen. Mary Ann Handley in the 4th Senatorial District - Manchester, Glastonbury, Bolton, and Marlborough.  Sen. Handley has represented the 4th Senate for a decade, and was a veritable institution in Manchester municipal politics before jumping to the Senate.  But local Republicans have tasted success in recent years - Bolton narrowly elected Bruno Simonetti to be First Selectman in 2007, Glastonbury Republicans continued to do well, and the Manchester Republicans took the majority on the Board of Director for the first time in 18 years.  Blackwell represented the 12th House District in Manchester for four years (1998-2002) and did not run for re-election in ‘02.  He has remained highly visible in Town, and will run laps around Handley this fall.

Mike McLachlan - Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton’s Chief of Staff, Mike McLachlan, is running to fill Sen. David Cappiello’s 24th Senate District seat.  He has already qualified for the Citizens’ Election Program - meaning that he has raised $15,000 from at least 300 donors, which qualifies him for $85k in state funding.  He has already shown himself to have a well-organized campaign with a wealth of support.  A member of the Republican State Central Committee and all-around nice guy, McLachlan seems likely to keep the 24th seat in Republican control.

NOTE: Mentioning these candidates is in no way an endorsement of any candidate for any office.  In the event of a primary, CTGOP is bound to remain neutral and will do so.