Ahem.
(Tap, Tap)
(Clears throat)
Is this thing … on?
OK, OK. I’ve been looking around, and it seems to me that the Connecticut microphone here at DailyKos has been … off, or broken for a while. I know that some of us, even a LOT of us, are around, lurking, reading, commenting … as I have been for some years … but I’m not seeing any stories. I mean, like any.
And we have some. Not Minnesota stories. Not Mayor Z stories. Yes, we’re all reading those, with our hearts mostly breaking, breaking, broken, and then occasionally uplifted. And we gather, and protest, and we make a lot of noise, but we know we’re making it mostly for each other, to stay vigilant, and alive, and do our part.
Because we’re lucky. We’re pretty damned Blue. And while we have ICE among us, and we fight, we are not so much on the front lines.
But we have some stories that belong here. Political stories. Stories that do matter, in the vaster scheme of focusing on the world as we hope it will be. And in Connecticut, we have a gubernatorial candidate, one I hope you can turn your attention toward for a few minutes on this winter day.
His name is Josh Elliott, and he is challenging Gov. Ned Lamont from the left. I met him at a house party a couple of weeks ago and he is the real deal, and I’m here to tell you a bit about him.
Josh is a bit of a policy wonk, but in a self-aware-of-it-way that a DailyKos audience would mostly find endearing. He knows he is a long shot. But he also knows it is not impossible that he will be the next governor of Connecticut, and he campaigns and works as though that possibility is within his reach.
“Our gubernatorial campaign will be asking a simple, honest question to the Democratic Party and the people of Connecticut: What do we stand for, and where are we going?” is at the top of https://www.joshforct.com/ … and he has his answers. Lots of them.
You can see for yourself. Look around.
And if you agree, kick in a little to help him qualify for matching funds at
https://secure.anedot.com/josh-for-ct/donate
You know the drill. Every donation helps. Part of the reason I’m posting this is because I donated. And he texted me his thanks, personally. And I texted him back. And that started a conversation.
But this is just an introduction. I’ll have more to say in coming weeks and months about Connecticut and about Josh. But in closing, I’m turning the mic over to him. His words:
“Hi, I'm Josh Elliott, and I'm running for Governor of Connecticut. I'm a State Representative from Hamden, challenging Gov. Ned Lamont in the 2026 Democratic primary.
“I graduated college in 2006. Two years later, I watched our tax dollars bail out the banks that crashed the economy while everyone else got left behind. In 2010, Citizens United opened the floodgates to unlimited money in politics. I went to law school at Quinnipiac because I wanted the skills to fight back.
“After a year organizing for Bernie in 2016, I announced I was running for State Rep against the sitting Speaker of the House. He dropped out. The political establishment backed his replacement. We beat them anyway.
“In the legislature, I founded the Progressive Caucus and the Tax Equity Caucus. Together with labor, criminal justice advocates, and grassroots organizers, we made Connecticut the first state in the country to make prison phone calls completely free -- from the most expensive at $5 for 15 minutes to $0. The telecom industry spent $60,000 trying to stop us. They lost.
“Now we're taking on a governor who makes $55 million a year, has spent $70 million of his own money on elections, and protects a tax system where the wealthy pay less than half what working families pay as a share of their income. Capital gains have exploded while working families have less purchasing power than 15 years ago. Ned Lamont campaigns like a progressive. I'm running because Connecticut deserves a governor who governs like one.”
Like I said – the real deal. Again, check out https://www.joshforct.com/ … and if you’re here and from CT, say “Hi” in the comments. We have stuff to talk about.
