This is what I like to hear:
http://www.nhregister.com/...
Randi Weingarten, the national president of the American Federation of Teachers, told an enthusiastic group of union members Tuesday that the only way to stop the reach of the conservative Koch brothers and the new restrictions on labor is to re-elect Dannel P. Malloy as governor of Connecticut, and not vote for her friend Jonathan Pelto or Republican Tom Foley.
“The only way to stop the Koch brothers, the only way to change the trajectory, the only way to do this is to start right here, right now in Connecticut by re-electing Governor Dan Malloy,” Weingarten told the delegates to the Connecticut AFL-CIO convention, who jumped to their feet in a standing ovation.
The Koch brothers, Charles G. and David H. Koch, billionaire supporters of libertarian and conservative causes, and Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, who led the effort to repeal collective bargaining rights over pensions and health care for public employees, are not on the ballot in Connecticut, but labor sees Connecticut as the next battleground between what they represent and the future of unions and the middle class.
The brothers, according to Politico, just announced a new super PAC, Freedom Partners Action Fund, to which they will give $15 million for the midterm elections, part of $290 million for causes they favor.
Weingarten said there are a lot of third party candidates around and one of them “happens to be a dear friend of mine — Jon Pelto. And he has done really good work in terms of calling out what is wrong in a lot of the so-called reform efforts in Connecticut and all across the country.”
“But let’s be real here. Is this about helping out a friend or is this about what we need to do in Connecticut to get back to the American dream?” Weingarten said as she raised her voice and pounded on the podium.
After her appearance as the main guest during the second day of the convention, Weingarten said she has been talking to Pelto since he recently announced his intentions to run against Malloy under the Education and Democracy Party, which he just established. She said she knows him as blogger, who expresses concerns similar to hers.
She said she explained to him that the stakes here are whether you have Malloy or Foley for governor; “whether you are going to have a Connecticut that acts like Connecticut or that emulates Wisconsin.”
The union president said it isn’t easy “to be a progressive governor in this day and age in the United States of America.”
And while she doesn’t like some of the things Malloy has said, Weingarten said he has increased overall funding for K-12 education.
“If we don’t have money in the schools, we can’t help kids get the education they need,” she said. - New Haven Register, 6/17/14
Here's a little more info:
http://ctmirror.org/...
Teachers have been unhappy with the Malloy administration over its perceived friendliness to the charter-school movement, which Stefan Pryor, the Democratic governor’s choice for commissioner of education, symbolizes as a charter-school founder. More damaging were words uttered by the governor in a major address outlining education reform in 2012, when he suggested that tenure could be won just by showing up.
Teacher unrest has given Jonathan Pelto, an education blogger and former Democratic state legislator, an opening to try to organize a third-party run for governor.
Malloy told the delegates Monday in a well-received speech that he’s made mistakes, but he stopped far short of apologizing for what teachers still say was a gratuitous and deliberate insult.
The task for union leaders has been to manage the anger of the rank-and-file, sharply contrasting the overall labor record of Connecticut’s first Democratic governor in a generation with the hostility to labor and collective bargaining by GOP governors in once-union friendly states like Wisconsin and Michigan.
Another complication has been a local fight over control of the public schools in Bridgeport, an overwhelmingly Democratic city where Malloy needs a healthy turnout in November. A state-appointed school board named Paul Vallas, a national reformer, as superintendent, sparking a legal and, ultimately, a political fight.
A procession of delegates stepped up to microphones Tuesday to speak in favor the resolution.
“Education is a profession, not a hobby,” said Edward Leavy of AFT Local 4200 A.
The delegates cheered.
Anna Montalvo, the president of AFSCME Local 1522, which represents paraprofessionals in Bridgeport, said a superintendent and education commissioner should meet standards, as do her members.
The delegates cheered again.
But the message of the convention eventually circled back to a simple equation: What would be best for labor, the re-election of a Democratic governor or a Republican?
Sharon Palmer, a former AFT-Connecticut president who is Malloy’s labor commissioner, vouched for the governor’s commitment to labor.
“Let me say from up close and personal, he is a good boss,” Palmer said. “Sometimes he has a sharp tongue, but more often than not he uses that sharp tongue to fight off those who would diminish us.”
Palmer, Peters and Randi Weingarten, the national AFT president who was the second-day keynote speaker, all reminded the members of Malloy’s support for a broad labor agenda and his defense of locked out health workers represented by AFT at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.
Weingarten ended the convention with a loud, passionate pitch for Malloy. She acknowledged rough spots in AFT's relationship with Malloy over tenure.
"Yeah, I don't like some of the things he's said, either," Weingarten said. "But what he's done, he’s increased funding for K-12, increased funding by seven percent for K-12, making Connecticut the second-highest education spender in the country since the recession." - The CT Mirror, 6/17/14
By the way, Malloy scored another big labor endorsement:
http://ctmirror.org/...
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was endorsed for re-election Wednesday by the United Auto Workers, a union that clashed with Malloy when he was mayor of Stamford.
“Dan Malloy and Nancy Wyman are fighting to protect the rights of union members by respecting the collective bargaining process and advancing all workers’ rights by passing legislation like paid sick leave. Since becoming Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Dan Malloy and Nancy Wyman have been responsive to the needs of our members and working people across the state,” Julie Kushner, the director of UAW's Region 9A, said in a statement.
Her predecessor, Phil Wheeler, had a prickly relationship with Malloy that was defined during a labor battle in 1997, when UAW began representing city employees in Stamford. - CT Mirror, 6/11/14
While Malloy has a mixed record when it comes to public education, it's good that the ATF is rallying behind him and hopefully their support will get him to change some of his views in his second term. Plus we didn't need Pelto spoiling this and throwing this race away to someone like Tom Foley (R. CT) who has been trying to dupe union members to back him in the general election:
http://www.nhregister.com/...
Tom Foley on Monday reiterated his pledge not to attempt any changes in collective bargaining rights for public employees, lay off state workers or ask that their contracts be reopened as he balances the budget, if he were to become governor.
The Republican gubernatorial candidate spoke to the 300 delegates to the Connecticut AFL-CIO convention, where he conceded his chances of an endorsement by the labor unions were slim with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy expected to get that in a vote by the group Tuesday.
Walking into the convention to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” Foley got a respectful response with only one snicker of laughter from the audience, which had just heard from a labor leader in Wisconsin describing their loss of major public union bargaining rights where Gov. Scott Walker ultimately survived a recall vote that came out of those changes.
“Did I say something funny?” Foley asked the audience when he heard the laughter.
Foley again said his reference to having a Wisconsin moment in Connecticut reflected his desire to see a Republican legislature and a Republican governor here, not to end bargaining rights.
Foley after his address said what Republicans did in other states on union rights won’t happen here.
He said there is no reason to assume when someone says there should be more balance in state government with more Republicans in office that it means they are looking to turn Connecticut into Wisconsin. - New Haven Register, 6/16/14
Foley, who is very wealthy, is someone I wouldn't take a chance on, especially now that he's one more step closer to scoring the GOP nominee:
http://ctmirror.org/...
Struggling to qualify for public financing, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton ended his campaign for governor Wednesday with a call for Republicans to unite behind the convention-endorsed candidate, Tom Foley.
“It’s been my honor to seek Connecticut’s highest statewide office,” Boughton said in a statement. “However, I now believe it is time to suspend my candidacy and call for party unity behind the endorsed Republican candidate, Tom Foley.”
Foley now faces a two-way primary with Senate Minority Leader John P. McKinney of Fairfield, whose prospects likely improved with Boughton's withdrawal. McKinney reaffirmed his commitment to go forward with a primary.
"At one point there were six of us," McKinney said of the GOP field. "Now, it appears there are two. My message isn’t going to change. I think it's a great opportunity for Republicans to hear about the serious problems we have and what are the solutions to those problems."
Boughton's announcement came as the secretary of the state's office was tabulating petitions filed to qualify his running mate, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, for a primary for lieutenant governor.
It seemed evident that Lauretti would fall short of the signatures necessary to qualify for the primary ballot. Without Lauretti to help raise funds -- a ticket can pool its contributions -- Boughton had no ready means of raising the $250,000 in contributions necessary to qualify for public financing.
The deadline to qualify for public financing before the Aug. 12 primary was July 10. - CT Mirror, 6/18/14
Plus labor and workers' issues aren't the only issues at risk in this race. Gun control is another key issue:
http://www.westhartfordnews.com/...
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley Thursday criticized gun legislation passed in 2013 as ineffective in preventing another school shooting in Connecticut, while it contains much that “inconvenienced law-abiding citizens.”
Foley made his comments on WNPR’s “Where We Live” program hosted by John Dankosky, comments that were criticized by the Connecticut Democratic Party.
Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the Democratic Party, said Foley “once again, has shown why he is completely unfit to be governor. Recklessly claiming our smart, strict gun law was too ‘inconvenient’ for residents, he showed why he is wrong for Connecticut. ... He lacks even the most basic understanding of public policy. ... Connecticut voters simply can’t trust him.”
The state adopted a major gun violence reduction law after 20 first-graders and six educators were killed by a lone shooter at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012, an incident that led to a national discussion on gun control with the states ultimately split between tightening and easing restrictions on firearms.
Among other questions from listeners, Foley was asked if he would repeal the law if he becomes governor.
“I think that is fixed law right now. People have asked me if the legislature came to me with ... some changes that made it less inconvenient for law-abiding citizens who own firearms, I would sign that. But a full repeal of the bill seems very unlikely,” Foley said.
He told Dankosky that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy “overreached with this bill.” Foley wasn’t specific as to what constituted the overreach or the inconvenience.
The law bans the purchase of a long list of assault weapons, but residents who owned them before April 2013 could keep the firearms as long as they registered them, as well as large capacity magazines, with the state by the first of the year. There is only speculation as to how many have not been registered. There also are a number of new permits required in the purchase of guns under the new law. - West Hartford News, 6/15/14
While Foley may not repeal the law he can weaken it and that could lead to some serious problems. By the way, it sounds like Malloy will only be using public funds to help fuel his campaign:
http://www.nhregister.com/...
Democratic Gov, Dannel P. Malloy got his $6.5 million grant approved by the State Election Enforcement Commission Wednesday, but his main Republican rival, Tom Foley, will have to wait at least another week.
Malloy is running on a ticket with Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman.
Chris Cooper, spokesman for Foley’s campaign, said the SEEC gave them a heads-up Tuesday that some of the material on the donors was illegible. Cooper said they expect to provide the information the SEEC needs by Friday and expect to be approved by the commission’s meeting next Wednesday.
Josh Foley, spokesman for the SEEC, said it is not uncommon for applicants not to get approved in the first go-round. He said missing donor information is the most common reason why this occurs. He said he couldn’t talk specifically about any individual grant request. - New Haven Register, 6/18/14
This is going to be one of the tightest Governor races in the country and we can't let someone like Foley come in and win. Malloy may not be perfect and voters will have to continue to push him on education issues but we can't risk Connecticut becoming another Wisconsin. Click here to get involved and donate to to Malloy's campaign:
http://www.danmalloy2014.com/