Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele has won the court case that will allow him to spend more than $2 million against Greenwich multimillionaire Tom Foley in an increasingly bitter race for governor.

The nine-page ruling by Judge Julia Aurigemma marks a watershed in the Republican primary as Fedele will now be able to compete with Foley. Longtime business executive Oz Griebel of Simsbury joined with Foley in opposing the "double counting'' provision of the law, saying that Fedele and his running mate, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, were essentially allowed to double count their contributions and thus reach the minimum threshold of $250,000 to qualify for public financing.

But Beth Rotman, an attorney who serves as director of the Citizen's Election Program, said flatly that it was not double-counting and that both Fedele and Boughton had followed the law "to the letter.''

Fedele will be talking to reporters soon at the state Capitol in Hartford.

The top Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday evening that they are working to set a date for a special session for the legislature to respond to two separate court rulings by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.

"Today's 2nd Circuit Court ruling confounded those who presumed to know what the court would do and what changes needed to be made in our clean elections laws,'' said Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams and Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney. "The ruling upholds some of the basic principles that form the basis of the state's landmark law. Unfortunately, it also reverses key parts of the campaign finance reform law designed to eliminate the influence of special interests.''

On a day of three different rulings by two different courts, the state is facing both positives and negatives in campaign finance reform.

Beth Rotman, an attorney who oversees the state Citizen's Election Program that provides public financing to candidates, said attorneys were continuing to study the rulings. Rotman has been studying the issue for years, working closely with the intricacies of the complicated law.

"It's a mixed bag,'' Rotman told Capitol Watch. "Very important pieces of campaign finance reform were upheld, and very important pieces were not.''

Rotman said that, under the ruling, both lobbyists and state contractors can solicit campaign funds for political candidates. But contractors cannot make contributions themselves.

Lobbyists, who had been making contributions for years until the ban was imposed, will not be able to contribute once again.

"Everybody can solicit,'' Rotman said. "The important piece that we lost is the matching fund triggers. The Second Circuit struck down the trigger provisions as unconstitutional. We've won an important piece and lost an important piece.''

In an increasingly nasty race, the three Republican contenders for governor will square off tonight in a live, televised debate.

GOP front runner Tom Foley of Greenwich will battle against Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele of Stamford and business executive Oz Griebel of Simsbury. The contest starts at 7 p.m. in the West Hartford studio of NBC 30.

The two Democrats in the race - front runner Ned Lamont of Greenwich and former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy - participated last month in a similar debate in the same studio.

In the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Foley was leading Fedele by 27 points and Griebel by 37 points. Overall, 44 percent of Republicans polled were undecided. But Foley has told Capitol Watch that his internal polls show him even farther ahead. In the same vein, Fedele said Tuesday that his internal polls show him closer than Quinnipiac's projections.

A new Quinnipiac Poll is scheduled to be released Thursday morning.

Since the last poll, Republicans have been involved in a series of charges and countercharges on multiple issues. On Tuesday, Judge Julia Aurigemma ruled against Foley's request for an injunction that would have blocked Fedele from spending more than $2 million in public funds for his campaign. Foley immediately appealed, and he says the case will be heard by the State Supreme Court.

Regarding tonight's debate, Foley told Capitol Watch: "I hope it stays on the issues.''

The legal battle continued Wednesday in the ongoing clash between former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele.

In a one-sentence ruling, the State Supreme Court denied Foley's request for an injunction that would have stopped Fedele from receiving more than $2 million in public financing for his political campaign.

But the case now will be argued on the merits, and the Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Hartford. The legal briefs are due by 9:30 a.m. Monday.

"Tom Foley has now filed and lost two frivolous lawsuits,'' said Fedele's spokesman, Christopher Cooper. "He continues to cheat the voters out of a debate on the important issues of jobs, cutting spending, and fixing the economy. His tactics have also cheated the taxpayers who pay for the courts and the court system itself -- which has far more important business to attend to."

"Foley's flood of lawsuits is a typical corporate raider tactic - using frivolous suits and high-priced attorneys to try to drive the opponent under with spending on legal fees, diversionary false claims, and calling those who are opposed to his position -- including the employees of the non-partisan Elections Enforcement Commission -- corrupt."

Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele already has a commercial up on the air - the first one since he received more than $2 million in public financing in the race for governor.

Fedele just received his money after a Superior Court judge refused to grant Republican front runner Tom Foley's request to block Fedele from receiving any money.

Fedele is battling in the August 10 primary against Foley and business executive Oz Griebel of Simsbury.

Our colleague, Rick Green, has Fedele's commercial posted at http://blogs.courant.com/rick_green/2010/07/the-ad-youre-paying-for.html

In an increasingly nasty race for governor, the three Republicans battled Wednesday night over the public financing of political campaigns - a key issue for many Republican primary voters who question it on principle.

Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele this week became the first Republican statewide candidate in state history to receive money from public financing.

"I'm very proud to be participating in that program,'' Fedele said.

But both Greenwich multimillionaire Tom Foley and longtime business executive Oz Griebel of Simsbury had a sharply different perspective, saying that public funds should never be used for campaign bumper stickers and political commercials.

"For the taxpayers to be paying for Michael Fedele's campaign, I think, is ridiculous,'' said Foley, who is largely self-financing his campaign. "I don't know why he's asking for the taxpayers of Connecticut to pay for his election. We can't afford it.''

Griebel, who like Foley is not accepting any public money, said, "This whole concept of public financing is an inappropriate use of taxpayers' dollars.''

The televised debate Wednesday came on the day that the State Supreme Court rejected Foley's request for an immediate injunction that would have prevented Fedele from receiving more than $2 million in public funds for his campaign. Both Foley and Griebel have charged that the State Elections Enforcement Commission has misinterpreted the state's landmark campaign finance law and improperly awarded public funds to Fedele. A Superior Court judge, however, rejected those arguments, and Foley has appealed the case to the State Supreme Court.

Foley's appeal will proceed on the merits, and oral arguments will be held in Hartford at the state's highest court next Tuesday.

The financing issue and the debate are important issues as Republican voters make their decisions in the final weeks before the August 10 primary. The most recent Quinnipiac University poll showed the front-running Foley leading Fedele by 27 points and Griebel by 37 points. A new poll is scheduled to be released Thursday morning.

Despite revelations about his previous arrests and business career, Republican Tom Foley has burst into an even larger lead in the latest Quinnipiac University poll in the race for governor.

Foley, the former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, is up by 35 points over his nearest rival, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele of Stamford in advance of the Republican primary on August 10. Foley has 48 percent, compared to 13 percent for Fedele and 7 percent for longtime business executive Oz Griebel of Simsbury among likely Republican voters.

Foley's latest lead represents an increase from the past three previous polls since March, which all had him leading by at least 26 points. Foley told Capitol Watch recently that his campaign's internal polls showed that he was ahead by an even larger margin than the 26 to 27 point leads that the recent Quinnipiac polls had been projecting. Now, the latest Quinnipiac poll is more in line with Foley's internal polls.

On the Democratic side, Greenwich cable television entrepreneur Ned Lamont has maintained his lead over former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy in a race that is tightening. Lamont is leading with 46 percent, compared to 37 percent for Malloy. Among likely Democratic voters, only 16 percent said they were undecided, but 50 percent said they could still change their minds.

Malloy and his chief strategist, Roy Occhiogrosso, have predicted that the campaign will stage a come-from-behind victory after Malloy's television commercials are broadcast around the state in the weeks leading to the August 10 primary.

"Today's Quinnipiac Poll confirms what we've been feeling every day for the past few weeks: Dan's got the momentum,'' said Malloy's campaign manager, Dan Kelly. "It's obvious.''

Malloy called again for another debate with Lamont, who has been the front runner for several months. Malloy wants to debate Lamont in a live, televised debate in New London in late July, but Lamont has been running a front-runner strategy and says that they have already appeared in more than 25 joint appearances around the state.

With Malloy and Fedele both receiving more than $2 million in public financing, television commercials have become a constant presence on Connecticut stations - and that will continue through August 10. Both Lamont and Foley have already broadcast numerous commercials in recent months, and Malloy and Fedele are now working to catch up. The candidates were a constant presence in the commercials on the Fox Connecticut television news after the poll was released this morning.

Lamont and Malloy have also been in a dispute over how many jobs Malloy helped create during his 14-year tenure as Stamford's mayor. Lamont says that Malloy is misrepresenting his jobs record - the same charge that New Haven Mayor John DeStefano made during the 2006 campaign for governor.

In advertisements and on the campaign trail, Malloy has said repeatedly that he helped create 5,000 jobs as mayor. But state labor statistics showed that employment exploded during the early years of his administration before Stamford lost more than 13,000 jobs since the peak employment year in 2000. Overall, the unemployment rate increased more than 58 percent between 1995 and when Malloy left office in 2009. The city lost more than 5,000 jobs in a one-year period from June 2008 to June 2009, causing Stamford's office vacancy rate to jump sharply. Currently, the vacancy rate is 30 percent, according to Joseph McGee, vice president of the Business Council of Fairfield County.

Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green weighs in on the U.S. Senate race between wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon, money manager Peter Schiff, and Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

The primary between McMahon and Schiff is set for August 10, and the general election will be in November.

http://blogs.courant.com/rick_green/2010/07/if-mothers-opposing-mcmahon-re.html

Despite revelations about his service during the Vietnam War, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is leading Republican Linda McMahon by 17 percentage points in the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

The question about Blumenthal's Vietnam service has been the biggest development in an expensive campaign battle between the well-known attorney general and the wrestling entrepreneur. In mid-July, however, the U.S. Senate campaign seems to be taking a more low-profile, mid-summer flavor as the five candidates clash in the governor's race.

That has included an ongoing court battle involving all three Republican candidates for governor regarding public financing of political campaigns, which will continue Tuesday with oral arguments at the State Supreme Court in Hartford.

Read the Quinnipiac University poll here.

Blumenthal, who has served as attorney general for nearly 20 years, had a 20-point lead over McMahon in a previous poll.

McMahon and Blumenthal had dominated the airwaves for weeks with numerous commercials, but gubernatorial candidates Michael Fedele and Dannel Malloy have recently received public funding for their campaigns - thus allowing them to broadcast television commercials. They have joined Greenwich millionaires Ned Lamont and Tom Foley on the air. Foley is known for a commercial in which a small and then larger red can is kicked down the road - showing that state officials have pushed off their problems to be solved on another day.

McMahon is expected to spend as much as $50 million of her own money on the campaign, and she has mailed numerous political brochures to Republican households in recent months to spread her message. She won the Republican Party's convention endorsement in May, which prompted former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons to drop his active campaign. Simmons, however, has kept his name on the ballot for the August 10 Republican primary as some Republicans have urged him to get back in the race. But Simmons has made no moves to re-start active campaigning.

McMahon is facing petitioning candidate Peter Schiff in the primary, but the two combatants have not squared off in a debate. Schiff, a nationally known money manager who lives in Weston, has been calling for a debate in the final weeks of the campaign.

(Photo of Blumenthal with war veterans at a West Hartford VFW hall by Michael McAndrews / Hartford Courant)

In the ongoing battle of the union endorsements, former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy has picked up another important endorsement.

CEUI/SEIU Local 511, which has more than 7,000 active and retired members, has thrown its support to Malloy in the August 10 Democratic primary for governor.

"The unfortunate truth is that Connecticut workers, including the members of CEUI, haven't been given the respect they deserve," Malloy said in a statement. "Rather than looking to them as a partner in getting our economy back on track, recent governors have chosen to ignore their input and their interests.  I didn't use that kind of top-down leadership when I was mayor, and I won't do it as governor.  I thank CEUI for its endorsement, and I promise to be a partner to them as governor."

In his second race for governor, Malloy is now receiving far more union support than in 2006. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano that year received the lion's share of the union backing,  which can be crucial in a Democratic primary.

Malloy lost to DeStefano by 1.5 percentage points, capturing 131,270 votes to DeStefano's 135,404.

For the third time in recent days, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele has won a court case against a fellow Republican.

Late Friday afternoon, a federal judge ruled against Republican front runner Tom Foley's motion that would have blocked Fedele from spending more than $2 million in public campaign money. As such, Fedele is free to spend the money.

For further details, see the post by the Hartford Courant's veteran court reporter Edmund H. Mahony.

A federal judge sitting in Bridgeport has denied gubernatorial candidate Thomas Foley's request for a court order blocking state elections officials from distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplemental money under the state's campaign finance laws to Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, his opponent in the August 10, Republican gubernatorial primary.

Had U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill acceded to Foley's request, the decision would have set in motion a chain of legal events that some legal experts believe would have rendered inoperative - in the middle of a highly competitive campaign season - the landmark state law creating a public financing system for political campaigns.

In seeking the court order, Foley sued the State Elections Enforcement Commission and other state officials, who are listed as defendants in the case.  Foley sought a restraining order that would have blocked release of campaign money to Fedele and his running mate, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.

Underhill's decision says, in conclusion:

"Thomas C. Foley and Foley for Governor, Inc. have failed to establish that the state

defendants will cause them irreparable harm and that a temporary restraining order will further the public interest. The plaintiffs have also failed to make those same demonstrations with respect to the committee defendants, and also have not shown that they are likely to succeed on the merits. The plaintiffs are therefore not entitled to a temporary restraining order enjoining the state defendants from granting excess expenditure matching funds to the Fedele and Boughton campaign committees, or enjoining the committee defendants from spending those matching funds."

Leslie Foley underwent a procedure a week ago to help extend what doctors had determined was a high-risk pregnancy, the campaign statement said. She went to Greenwich Hospital Friday morning experiencing contractions, and lost the baby in the evening, the statement said.

She was in the intensive-care unit at Greenwich Hospital Saturday but was expected to return home in a few days, the statement said.

Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green weighs in on the debate about the debates in the Democratic gubernatorial primary between Greenwich cable television entrepreneur Ned Lamont and former Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy.

The primary will be held in slightly more than three weeks on August 10.

http://blogs.courant.com/rick_green/2010/07/nodebate-ned-now-cant-even-mak.html

Hartford Courant columnist Bob Englehart opines about job creation in the Democratic gubernatorial primary between Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy and Greenwich cable television executive Ned Lamont.

http://blogs.courant.com/bob_englehart/2010/07/july-16-2010.html

In a huge boost to the campaign of Democrat Dannel Malloy, all six affiliates of the Service Employees International Union have endorsed his candidacy for governor.

The SEIU Connecticut State Council, which has 55,000 members, voted Friday to support the ticket of Malloy and lieutenant governor candidate Nancy Wyman in the August primary against Greenwich cable TV executive Ned Lamont and Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman. The official announcement will be made later today.

Union endorsements are important in Democratic primaries, and the two sides have been battling for support from various unions. Unions spread the word among their members through literature both in the workplace and mailed to union households in the crucial get-out-the-vote drives in the final weeks. The unions also operate phone banks to make sure their members get to the polls.

Previously, four of the six major unions had announced their support, but the leadership of SEIU wanted to make it six for six.

The previous endorsements were by District 1199, which is known as one of the state's most politically active unions, and Connecticut District/SEIU Local 32BJ, which represents custodians and security guards. Last week, both CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 and CEUI/SEIU Local 511 stepped forward in favor of Malloy.

The coalition says that the endorsements were made partly because of Malloy's record during 14 years as mayor of Stamford - from 1995 through 2009.

For the fourth straight time, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele won a court ruling Tuesday that allows him to spend public money in his campaign for governor.

The State Supreme Court upheld a ruling by a Superior Court judge that allows Fedele to spend more than $2 million against Greenwich multimillionaire Tom Foley in an increasingly bitter race. Foley has filed multiple lawsuits in a high-stakes legal battle in the Republican primary.

The ruling by the state's highest court marks a watershed in the Republican primary as Fedele will now be able to compete on television and in paid advertisements against Foley, who has already poured more than $2 million into his campaign.

With only three weeks left until the August 10 primary, Fedele is already on a pace to be spending about $2 million in one month - one of the highest totals in state history.

"This is another way in which Tom Foley is trying to buy this election,'' Fedele spokesman Christopher Cooper said on the steps of the Supreme Court after the ruling. "He bought the ambassadorship, and now he's trying to buy the governor's office. ... He's tied up the courts. He's cheated the taxpayers. ... We were never surprised by any of the four decisions.''

Foley's campaign manager, Justin Clark, said that the Fedele campaign should not seek additional public money for its campaign. Fedele, though, is on the agenda for Wednesday at the State Elections Enforcement Commission in Hartford in his request to receive an additional $312,500 - which would be the final portion of $2.5 million in public funds. The number is increased beyond the base grant of $1.25 million because Foley spent additional funds that sets off triggers and provides additional money to his opponent.

"They should refrain from asking for more,'' Clark said of the Fedele campaign. "It looks like they're going to ask for it and get it.''

Attorney Wes Horton, an attorney for Foley, noted that the Supreme Court ruling was made orally - and the exact details will not be known until later when a written decision is delivered.

"It's possible they're saying they don't want to intervene,'' said Horton, who was standing next to Clark after the ruling.

Hartford Courant business reporter Eric Gershon took a look at Ned Lamont's cable television business, which started under the name of Lamont Television Systems and later changed to Lamont Digital Systems.

He is running in the August 10 Democratic primary for governor against former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy.

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lamont-digital-systems-0719-20100717,0,7642396.story

Hartford Courant cartoonist Bob Englehart weighs in on the U.S. Senate race between Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

http://blogs.courant.com/bob_englehart/2010/07/july-20-2010.html