A View from My Porch: A Most Consequential Election, Part 3

I discussed the critical importance of the Nov. 3 midterms in my last View, but this time, I’m closer to home with the election of Connecticut’s governor and the members of the executive team. 

Last November, Gov. Lamont confirmed for reporters that he had filed the paperwork to run for a third term and followed up with a formal announcement in a campaign video on social media stating, “It’s official: I’m running for reelection to be your governor.” He highlighted his record since taking office in 2019, and credited his administration with reversing the state’s fiscal troubles, creating jobs and investing in cities and public education, while adding that more work is needed in health care. 

Indeed, Lamont’s fiscal discipline and resolute financial principles have kept the state on solid financial ground. He has delivered seven consecutive years under budget and used the surplus to significantly reduce Connecticut’s unfunded pension liability at a mean annual rate of about $1.6 billion. Lamont faced an aggressive Democratic challenge from Rep. Josh Elliott, but defeated him by more than a 2-to-1 margin in the Democratic primary on Aug. 11.

Next, I review the events that led to the Connecticut GOP’s nomination of Ryan Fazio as its candidate for governor and take a deep dive into his campaign rhetoric and the facts that he left behind.

Ryan Fazio’s Path to the GOP Nomination for Governor

• Fazio became a state senator for Connecticut’s 36th District via an August 2021 special election to fill a vacancy triggered by the resignation of Democratic incumbent Alexandra Kasser. 
• Fazio announced his candidacy for governor on Aug. 13, 2025 in a video posted on his social media accounts, where he pronounced, “I know our state deserves better than sky‑high electricity bills and taxes, and jobs leaving our state.”
• On Nov. 17, 2025, six-term New Britain mayor Erin Stewart announced her candidacy, followed by a campaign video in which she declared, “I’m running for governor because the clowns in Hartford have run our state into the ground.” Stewart was generally viewed as the frontrunner in the early stages of a tight race with Fazio. 
• On Jan. 15, Newsmax host Betsy McCaughey, who served a single term as New York’s lieutenant governor, announced her run for Connecticut governor. 

Stewart’s Campaign Collapse

On Jan. 14, the city of New Britain commissioned the Crumbie Law Group of Hartford to conduct an independent investigation of Stewart’s spending as mayor. The firm’s final report, released in June, found that Stewart had engaged in a multiyear pattern of improper reimbursements, unauthorized payouts and misuse of city funds, including more than $200,000 in improper credit card charges. The report recommended referring its findings to state and federal law enforcement authorities for further review. 

On June 3, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and the Department of Consumer Protection declared that they had also opened an investigation into Stewart’s management of charitable assets. Stewart suspended her campaign just a day before the Connecticut Republican Convention and immediately endorsed Fazio. 

Fazio won the party’s endorsement on the first ballot at the convention with about 92% of delegate votes. Betsy McCaughey received about 8% of the vote, falling well short of the 15% threshold needed to force an August primary. She then endorsed Fazio.

Fazio’s campaign advertisements claim that Lamont “has made life more expensive in Connecticut” and “has raised taxes on food, raised taxes on paychecks and raised fee after fee on your electric bill.” 

Prepared Food Surcharge

In terms of taxes on food, a 1% surcharge on ready-to-eat meals, prepared foods and some beverages, in addition to the state’s base sales tax, was signed into law by Lamont in September 2019. The bottom line for consumers is that the surcharge on a $25 pizza is 25 cents, about 7 cents on a $7.19 McDonald’s Hamburger Happy Meal, four cents on a Dunkin’ iced coffee and less than 7 cents on a $6.25 venti Frappuccino, based on online menu prices. 

At its inception, revenue generated by the surcharge went into Connecticut’s general fund for food insecurity programs. However, there is a proposal advancing in the General Assembly to split revenues between the state’s tourism fund and a new “municipal diversification account” that will distribute money directly to the municipalities where the food was sold. 

Paid Family and Medical Leave Act 

The “tax” on paychecks referenced in the Fazio TV ads must be the 0.5% payroll contribution that funds the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFMLA) benefit for certain family- and health-related reasons, such as the birth of a child or a close relative’s serious health condition. Payroll deductions began on Jan. 1, 2021, and paid leave benefits became available one year later. The program is self-sustaining and relies wholly on contributions from covered workers. PFMLA will provide up to 95% of a qualifying employee’s first $677.60 in weekly wages for the 12-week period, plus 60% of earnings above that amount, with a maximum benefit in 2026 of $1,016.40 per week.

Data Centers

Fazio’s campaign has also aired ads accusing Lamont of pushing for more data centers and offering big tax handouts to spur their development: “You pay taxes, but data centers don’t, thanks to Ned Lamont. It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Lamont waived all property and sales taxes for data centers. … He cut their taxes, but raised yours, making families pay higher electric bills, higher sales taxes, higher property taxes, while data centers pay less.” 

Fazio is a tiny bit correct. However, what the Fazio ad fails to mention is that the Department of Economic and Community Development has approved only one tax exemption to date for an existing data center, and the host community declined to provide a property tax abatement.

Lamont did support a Data Center Tax Incentive Program in 2021 with 20‑ or 30‑year arrangements for state sales and use tax exemptions and local property tax relief for facilities. However, the program was intended for biotech, insurance and other sector upgrades, not for hyperscale AI facilities that experts say can require as much electricity as 80,000 households. So, Connecticut has allowed smaller data centers and IT infrastructure projects like Cigna’s Windsor facility to proceed under targeted tax rebates. 

Lamont has publicly opposed large hyperscale data centers, calling Connecticut “the wrong place for them.” He continually stresses that local communities have zoning rights and can reject projects, but remains open to enterprise-scale IT infrastructure within corporate campuses. Earlier this year, Lamont floated a “bring your own power” rule, possibly requiring new data centers to generate their own electricity onsite to avoid straining the grid. No legislation has been drafted yet, but discussions are ongoing with lawmakers and stakeholders.

Electricity

Fazio has made the costs for electricity the central focus of his campaign, and it’s true, Connecticut had the 11th-highest residential electric rate among the 50 states in June 2026. (In comparison, the state had the fifth-highest rate nationally in June 2025, so we’ve improved in that statistic.) Despite Fazio’s laundry list of campaign accusations, the governor does not have direct authority to set or change Connecticut’s electric rates. Those decisions are made by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), but he can influence them indirectly through regulatory appointments and advocacy. He has pushed for reductions in “public benefits” charges, which have already lowered bills for some customers.

After CT Insider released text messages between Lamont and Eversource CEO Joe Nolan earlier this month, Fazio accused Lamont of maintaining a cozy relationship with the CEO, noting that he himself “has never met or spoken by phone with Nolan.” Eversource spokesperson Max Reiss responded that every U.S. governor must maintain a constructive relationship with the utilities operating in their state, per the Connecticut Mirror’s reporting. CT Insider had obtained the text messages from Lamont and his chief of staff following a Freedom of Information request in June 2025, according to the news outlet.

In closing, I must say that politicians should heed the advice usually attributed to Mark Twain: “When in doubt, tell the truth.” Ryan Fazio’s rhetoric is a little too “MAGA” for my taste. Furthermore, Lamont’s next term may be partially focused on finding a way to continue restoring the programs that support Connecticut’s neediest, which were decimated by President Trump’s so-called “big beautiful bill.” 

Lamont has already said the state is going to do everything it can “to protect the most vulnerable.” He added, “that’s sort of a core responsibility we’ve got.”

About the author: Tom Gotowka spent his career in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sits on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960.