On Saturday, businessman Ned Lamont beat Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim 87-13 percent to win the Connecticut Democratic Party's endorsement for governor. Ganim needed the support of at least 15 percent of the delegates to earn a spot on the August primary ballot, but he announced weeks ago that he would collect signatures in case he didn't do well enough at the convention. A third Democrat, businessman Guy Smith, called the convention process "rigged" and didn't compete there, and he's also been collecting petitions to advance to the primary.
In order to make it to the ballot, Ganim and Smith need to turn in valid signatures from 2 percent of registered Democrats in the state, which amounts to about 15,500 voters, by June 12. As we've written before, only one candidate has ever successfully qualified for a statewide primary in state history by collecting signatures: In 2010, Peter Schiff pulled this off in the U.S. Senate race, an effort that cost a hefty $150,000. Ganim had $336,000 in the bank on April 10 while Smith had $155,000 to spend, so they may have the resources to pull this off.
But while convention delegates overwhelmingly favored Lamont, things didn't go quite as well for former Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, Lamont's candidate for lieutenant governor. Bysiewicz did defeat labor organizer Eva Bermudez Zimmerman 60-40 to win the party endorsement, but political observers viewed that as a very impressive showing for Bermudez Zimmerman, who only had three days to put together a campaign. Bermudez Zimmerman earned more than enough support to secure a place on the primary ballot.
Bysiewicz had been running for governor until last week, when she and Lamont announced that they were forming a ticket. But candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run in separate primaries in Connecticut, and there was never any guarantee that both of them would be on the general election ticket. Plenty of Democrats were upset that a Lamont-Bysiewicz ticket would be all-white, and that helped give Bermudez Zimmerman, who is Latina, an opening despite her late start. Bermudez Zimmerman focused her campaign on economic inequality, though she said that having a "majority white ticket is not a positive step forward."
It's rare for only one member of a governor-lieutenant governor ticket to win their primary, but it's not unheard of. In 2006, then-Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy narrowly lost the Democratic primary for the top of the ticket, but his running mate Mary Glassman (who is now running for the 5th Congressional District) won 57-43.
On the GOP side, state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan announced on Monday that he was ending his campaign. Srinivasan had competed at the state party convention earlier this month and fell just one vote short of making it to the second ballot.
Srinivasan initially announced he would try and petition his way onto the ballot (because there are fewer registered Republicans in the state, GOP candidates only need about 9,000 valid signatures). Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who also failed to advance past the convention, is still gathering signatures, as are wealthy businessmen David Stemerman and Bob Stefanowski, who each decided not to compete at their party assembly. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton won the state party endorsement, while Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst and businessman Steve Obsitnik each secured enough support to make the GOP ballot.