MEMO: Connecticut Race Update

To: Interested Parties

From: Chris Sloan, Senior Campaign Advisor, DGA

Subject: CT Race Update

As we come out of the Connecticut Primary for Governor and enter the general election, we remain strongly committed to reelecting Governor Ned Lamont. He has a proven track record of standing up for Connecticut families, and he continues to remind Connecticut voters of his strong record of cutting taxes and saving voters money at the pump.

As voters in Connecticut hear more about Bob Stefanowski, they like him less. Connecticut has a proud tradition of moderate, sensible leadership from both political parties – but that’s not Bob Stefanowski.  Stefanowki is a proud member of the extreme, MAGA wing of the Republican Party. He gave Trump an “A” grade for his performance as President and refused to speak out against Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Stefanowki’s campaign is supported by extremists who want to outlaw abortion, and he refuses to say that he’d make sure Connecticut remains a safe place for women seeking abortions.

In a 2018 Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debate, Stefanowski Gave Trump an “A” Grade. According to the Meriden Record-Journal, “While Stefanowski gave President Donald Trump an ‘A’ in an earlier GOP primary debate, on Wednesday he shied away from grading his fellow businessman, only saying he likes his economic policies. He also declined to say whether U.S. Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed for the nation’s highest court, saying “I’m going to pass on that. That’s a federal issue.’” [Meriden Record-Journal, 9/27/18]

CT Mirror: Stefanowski “Took a Pass” When Asked About Trump’s Effort to Overturn the 2020 Election. “Donald J. Trump never has been a comfortable topic for Bob Stefanowski. Not during his time as the Republican nominee for governor in 2018. And not on Tuesday, when other Connecticut Republicans didn’t flinch at questions about the president’s furious efforts to stay in office. Stefanowski, who is weighing a second run for governor in 2022, took a pass. Stefanowski declined to say if he believed the president was right in asking Congress to set aside President-elect Joe Biden’s 7 million-vote victory, nor would he entertain questions about how Trump might continue to be a complicating factor for down-ballot Republicans after Jan. 20.” [CT Mirror, 1/6/21]

Collins Column: Fieler has Spent “many Millions of Dollars to Fund Anti-Gay, Anti-Transgender, Anti-Birth Control and Anti-Abortion Movements.” “Fieler, a New York hedge fund manager who moved from New Jersey to a faux French chateau on four gated acres in Stamford in 2018, is a top-tier Catholic political evangelist with a fat checkbook, spending many millions of dollars to fund anti-gay, anti-transgender, anti-birth control and anti-abortion movements. He’s funded campaigns to stop transgender bathroom use, as well as questionable studies vilifying gay parenting.” [The Day, Collins Column, 4/16/22]

•     Fieler’s Super PAC has Vowed to Spend more Than a $1 Million Attacking Gov. Lamont. “A donor to national efforts opposing abortion, gay marriage and, more recently, critical race theory and transgender rights has turned his attention to Connecticut’s gubernatorial race with a cheekily named new independent-expenditures group, ‘Parents Against Stupid Stuff PAC.’ The new super PAC’s chair and initial contributor is Sean Fieler, a hedge fund manager and conservative Catholic philanthropist who has kept a relatively low profile in Connecticut since moving from Princeton, N.J., to a sprawling Tudor home on four acres in Stamford in 2018. In an interview Monday, Fieler said the group will spend more than $1 million arguing that Gov. Ned Lamont, a first-term Democrat, is at odds with parents over critical race theory, sexually explicit curricula in public schools and the participation of transgender athletes in girls’ sports.” [Ct Mirror, 4/12/22]

•     CT Mirror: “Citing a State Law Banning a Super PAC’s Coordination with a Candidate It is Supporting, He Said He Has Not Spoken to the Republican Candidate” Bob Stefanowski “Fieler could not say why he was confident Stefanowski, the presumptive GOP for governor, would support banning transgender athletes. Citing a state law banning a super PAC’s coordination with a candidate it is supporting, he said he has not spoken to the Republican candidate.” [Ct Mirror, 4/12/22]

Stefanowski “Promised Not to Personally Seek Changes Restricting an Adult Woman’s Access to Abortion Without Saying If He Oppose or Veto Them.” “Democrats seized on the ambiguity in Stefanowski’s statement: He promised not to personally seek changes restricting an adult woman’s access to abortion without saying if he would oppose or veto them.” [CT Mirror, 5/12/22]

CT Mirror: Stefanowski “Stays Silent” on Abortion Law that Provides a “Safe Harbor” to Women From States with Restrictive Abortion Laws Who Get Abortions in CT as Well as the Clinicians Who Provide Them. “Gov. Ned Lamont is challenging his Republican opponent, Bob Stefanowski, to break his silence and take a position on the abortion rights bill that recently passed with the support of Stefanowski’s running mate, Rep. Laura Devlin of Fairfield. […] Stefanowski has remained silent on House Bill 5414 in the three weeks since it cleared the House of Representatives on an 87-60 vote, with Devlin and six other Republicans voting with 80 Democrats in support. The measure provides a ‘safe harbor’ to women from states with restrictive abortion laws who get abortions in Connecticut, as well as the clinicians who provide them.” [CT Mirror, 5/10/22]

VIDEO: Stefanowski Called Trump “Smart” And Said He Was “Putting America First.” STEFANOWSKI: President Trump is smart. He’s putting America first. He’s challenging people – what a novel idea. Wouldn’t it be great to have that in our governor office?” [Facebook, Connecticut Democratic Party, 9/7/18]

VIDEO: Stefanowski Gave Trump An “A” Grade As President. MODERATOR: Grade Trump on his first 18 months, give him a grade. […] STEFANOWSKI: A.” [CT Dems, 9/7/18]

Bob Stefanowski Passed On Questions When Asked If Brett Kavanaugh Should Be Appointed To Supreme Court, One Of The Justices Who Voted To Overturn Roe V. Wade. “[Moderator:] ‘Should Brett Kavanaugh be approved for the Supreme Court?’ [Stefanowski:] ‘I’m going to pass on that, that’s a federal issue.’” [9/27/18, UCONN CT Gubernatorial Debate]

VIDEO: Family Institute Of CT’s Peter Wolfgang Expressed Support And Enthusiasm For Bob Stefanowski’s Push For Parental Notification Laws. WOLFGANG: “And then you get to the third point, which you mentioned is that Bob Stefanowski, for the first time, there is a major candidate for office at a very high level that actually went on the offense on something having to do with abortion from a pro life perspective, the parental notification bill. If we could get parental notification that would be huge.” [Family Institute of CT Press Conference, 6/24/22]

VIDEO: Ned Lamont Campaign Twitter: “Once Again Bob Tries To ‘Take A Pass’ On If He Would Uphold Abortion Protections In Connecticut.” “Once again bob tries to ‘take a pass’ on if he would uphold abortion protections in Connecticut.  He is giving voters the same lip service Brett Kavanaugh gave when he said Roe was “settled law’”. [Governor Ned Lamont Official Campaign Twitter, 7/18/22]

VIDEO: Bob Stefanowski Refused To Say If He Would Sign Abortion Shield Law That Governor Lamont Signed And Laura Devlin Voted For, Pressed For Parental Notification. [Reporter:] ‘What is your position on what’s being called the safe harbor law, a shield law? You have yet to say whether or not you would have signed the legislation that governor Lamont signed that would protect abortion providers, patients and others from being investigated, prosecuted. convicted of violating other state’s laws for legal reproductive services in Connecticut.’ [Stefanowski:] ‘What I’ll say is what I’ve been saying all along. That’s part of the law now, I wouldn’t change it. I’m not going to change Connecticut law. The thing I think we should look at is parental notification.’ [Reporter:] ‘Would you have signed the bill? That’s going to be a question that you’re going to be faced with now until November. Why don’t we just get it out of the way. Would you have signed the bill?’  [Stefanowski]: ‘If you want to start with hypotheticals, let’s have Governor Lamont come down, I don’t know if he’s in today or on vacation. Have him come down and sit next to me, ask him whether, theoretically, whether he would support late term abortion. I’m not going to answer hypotheticals Paul. It’s in the books, I’m not going to reverse it.’ [Reporter:]  ‘Do you think this is not going to come up in a candidate debate or a candidate forum?’ [Stefanowski:] ‘You can ask whatever questions you want Paul, but I’ve told you I’m not changing the law.’ [Reporter:] ‘Do you agree with your running mate’s vote?’ [Stefanowski:] ‘She didn’t consult me, she’s done hundreds…’ [Reporter:] ‘I didn’t ask if she consulted you, you said she didn’t. I’m asking if you agree with her?’ [Stefanowski:] ‘It’s not my place to agree or disagree. She represents the district of Fairfield. She can make her own vote. She’s made a hundred votes. What I am telling you, you can keep asking me the question, but I’m telling you, it’s law, I’m not going to change it. End of story.’“ [Bob Stefanowski Press Conference, 5/18/22]