The Connecticut GOP is Fighting Back: Take Back Connecticut

This is amazing and also sobering. For a long time, New England has been a bastion of abject, secular liberalism. They have embraced and elected one Democratic Governor after another. In many of the state legislatures, Democrats have all but taken over.

But in Connecticut, a Republican renaissance is on its way.

The state senate is literally sitting at 50-50 right now. One more state senator, and Republicans will have control of that chamber. Four more Republicans in the lower house, and the GOP will take back that part, too.

Then there's the governor's race. The incumbent Democratic Governor, Dannel Malloy, is one of the most unpopular state chief executives in the country. He is rude, crude, with a bad attitude, and under his watch the state is going bankrupt, including the state capital of Hartford. Malloy has been an abject disgrace, attacking Second Amendment rights while taxing everything that moves.

Democratic candidates running to replace Malloy are running from his corrupt brand. One Dem candidate just dropped out of the race.

In contrast, Republican candidates are running on protecting Second Amendment rights, shoring up the pension debt to save the state, and taking on the public sector unions bleeding the state into bankruptcy.

I have so much hope for Connecticut, and I can only say that I wish California had the same kind of verve and momentum.

Please join me in the urgent fight to TAKE BACK CONNECTICUT by signing up today! Click HERE to Join!

Dear Arthur Christopher, There's no time to mince words. I'm asking for your help! As Chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, I have set an ambitious agenda of grassroots re-engagement, enhanced digital micro-targeting, and going on offense against the Democrats like never before. Governor Malloy and his liberal allies are leading us down a dangerous path. We have had enough of outrageous tax hikes, unsustainable debt and recklessness saddled upon taxpayers and our future generations. For the sake of the state and country, Democrats MUST be defeated at the ballot box. That's why I need you -- not just today, but on an ongoing basis. The only way we can take the fight to the Democrats is with a sustained "Victory 365" campaign. That requires a grassroots army of dedicated Republicans, committed to a small and ongoing contribution to our Party. That's why I'm asking you to commit to our cause with your sustaining membership of just $5 per month to the Connecticut Republican Party. Your sustaining monthly contribution of $5 or more could make the difference in key races across Connecticut. For your dedication, I'll send you our TAKE BACK CONNECTICUT bumper sticker as our thanks. Please complete your sustaining membership today to show you're committed to our goals. With new tools and better visibility, we're going to elect more Republicans and put Connecticut back on a path to sanity. Don't delay. Together, let's go TAKE BACK CONNECTICUT! Sincerely, J.R. Romano State Party Chairman Connecticut Republican Party P.S. Our Take Back Connecticut program has attracted hundreds of grassroots supporters, and we are just getting started! Can I count on you to join today?  Thank you! - J.R.

Final Reflection

What has made Connecticut a GOP battleground state once again?

The state is smaller, which makes it easier to network and send information. It's cheaper to communicate through the internet and email services. Sure.

But the fact that the state is in such dire straits under 8 years of regressive leftist rule has awakened voters across the state. Republicans have maintained a fairly strong brand in the state in the past. The Bush family is originally from Connecticut, although they are not the stirring star example of what Republicans should be.

Still, even in a blue wasteland like New England, Republicans are not giving up the fight.

They are fighting back, and more blue-state Republicans need to follow their example.

Hell Freezes Over: Mayors Beg Blue State for Freedom from Public Sector Unionism

You will never guess what is happening in another blue state.

In this state, a rude, destructive governor has governed for two terms, driving the state's already precarious fiscal sustainability further into the ground. Cities cannot make payroll. The Democrats have done so much damage, that Republicans now hold a 50-50 split in the state senate and are five seats shy of winning majority in the state assembly.

CT Gov. Dannel Malloy, Driving His State into Bankruptcy

Two municipalities have elected young black Millenial Republicans to local office, an unheard-of upset. There are new generation conservatives serving in the state legislature, too.

I am talking about ... Connecticut!

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Connecticut’s S.O.S.
Mayors ask Hartford to save them from collective bargaining.

Connecticut mayors grappling with rising retirement costs and sinking economies this week issued a distress signal to lawmakers in Hartford: Save us from our public unions.

The public sector unions are greedy self-enriching, self-aggrandizing whore political machines. They do not care about the workers, the cities which they are supposed to serve, and they do not even care about the future fiscal strength of the states where they live.

The state would be in a “stronger position if we don’t negotiate for benefits,” Joe DeLong, the executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, told a committee convened by the legislature to restore fiscal stability and economic growth. The conference of municipalities implored the state to end collective-bargaining for pensions and health-care benefits as well as limit binding arbitration when unions and local politicians deadlock during contract negotiations. This usually results in a sweet deal for the unions.

Of course the unions come out winning. They have effectively mobilized their relatively small numbers to assault and harass elected officials time and again. Even when prudent, fiscally disciplined conservatives take charge over a city council or school board, they don't have the heft or the help to stand up to these abusive unions.

The pigs at the taxpayer-funded trough need to pushed away and slaughtered.

“We’re suggesting it’s very difficult in the state of Connecticut under the current labor agreements and under binding arbitration,” said Waterbury mayor Neil O’Leary, a Democrat. His town’s health care and pension costs make up 30% of its budget.

Notice that Democrats are demanding relief. Public sector unions are losing support from both sides of the aisle. They have turned in the very bane of the political spectrum. This will not bode well for Democrats nationally, however, who are desperate to raise money, especially since their

Gov. Dannel Malloy, after multiple tax increases, last year tried to close the state’s $3.5 billion deficit by shifting teacher pension costs to municipalities. Mayors warned that this would lead to property tax hikes. The legislature punted some pension payments to the future, but mayors are worried that they will eventually be required to pick up more of the bill.

That's the way Democrats have been running Connecticut for the last eight years. They put all the costs on someone else, never taking into account that shifting the burden does not ease the burden. Governor Malloy is one of the most shameful demagogues in the country, an outright jerk who has routinely shamed and diminished political opponents and allies alike.

That’s because state lawmakers have little flexibility to cut spending since Mr. Malloy extended collective-bargaining agreements through 2027 despite receiving few concessions from government unions. Meanwhile, tax revenues have been declining amid a sluggish economy and retirement costs are soaring. About 35% of state revenues go to debt service and retirement obligations. Connecticut’s annual teacher pension contribution is projected to quadruple by 2032.

OUCH! Who's going to pay for these massive entitlements? Mexico? I guarantee that the rest of the country might build a wall around Connecticut to ensure that the pension liabilities don't spill into federal coffers.

While mayors say they’re willing to pay more for pensions, many want the ability to shift their employees to defined-contribution plans that give them control over the costs. But will Democrats in Hartford defy their labor friends and rescue Connecticut’s underwater cities? Connecticut voters are only beginning to understand the damage from two terms of Mr. Malloy.

Voters need to send a new kind of politician to Hartford, men and women who will defy unions and not bend over for their every wish. They need to start sending Republicans to clean up the mess and make Connecticut Great Again.