Candidates for governor make final pitches as both clash over Lamont phone swatting incident
Gov. Ned Lamont and Republican Ryan Fazio criss-crossed the state on Monday, two days after a conservative activist accused Lamont of assault for pushing her camera at a campaign event.
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Gov. Ned Lamont and Republican challenger Ryan Fazio are making their final pitches, just hours before voters choose Connecticut’s next governor.
But Lamont was on defense following an incident on Saturday, where he pushed a conservative activist’s phone away as she asked him a question.
COST OF LIVING CONCERNS
Fazio visited a school in Waterbury and a family lumber business in Naugatuck on Monday. The owners said they’re looking for tax relief.
“We don’t have to be the cheapest state, but maybe a little bit more,” said Eric Bushka, owner of Bushka and Sons Lumber.
Fazio said Lamont has had eight years to make the state more affordable for small businesses.
“They’re struggling with some of the highest taxes in the country, some of the highest electric bills in the country,” Fazio told reporters.
Meanwhile, Lamont met supporters in New Britain before heading to rallies in Ansonia and Bridgeport.
“I think the state’s come a long way in the last eight years, but we have some work to do to make sure this place is affordable for everybody,” the governor said.
LAMONT PHONE SHOVING INCIDENT
But Lamont is taking heat for an incident at Scalzi Park in Stamford.
Greenwich Patriots founder Jackie Homan, who was working as a contributor to the conservative news site The Connecticut Centinal, was trying to ask the governor a question about a traffic citation his campaign spokesperson received.
“What is this about?” Lamont said in the video before pushing Homan’s camera away. “This doesn’t look like it's a fair deal to me.”
After the incident, Homan accused Lamont of assault – a claim Fazio’s campaign repeated in a press release shortly thereafter.
“I honestly thought the sitting governor of Connecticut was going to strike me or break my phone,” she wrote in an op-ed posted on Monday. “I had to grip the phone tightly to keep it from flying out of my hand. I was absolutely stunned. I’m pretty sure that if I had done the exact same thing to Lamont, I would have been tackled to the ground and immediately arrested.”
On Monday, Lamont dismissed the incident as opponents’ “hijinks here in the last days of the campaign.”
“There are some so-called ‘journalists’ who have been following the governor around … One got into the governor’s personal space,” said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz. “He touched her camera inadvertently – her phone inadvertently – and left.”
Fazio denied having anything to do with the incident.
“That's just a lie,” he said. “There’s been no substantiation of that allegation whatsoever and there's no truth to it.”
[twitter]https://twitter.com/CTCentinal/status/2116559153707745759[/twitter]
WHAT’S DRIVING VOTERS?
Viral videos aside, voters tell us that two issues are really driving them to the polls – skyrocketing prices and President Donald Trump.
“The administration in Washington, more than anything else,” said Norwalk voter Jeff Meier. “I want to see fair and free elections, which is probably not going to happen because of what’s going on in Washington.”
For Cyndi Lyons, another Norwalk voter, the economy was the big draw.
“Cost of living,” she said. “Very disappointed with Eversource and the price that you – you almost can’t afford to live here anymore.”
WHEN AND WHERE TO VOTE
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Find your location HERE.
More than 500,000 Connecticut voters have already cast their ballots, according to Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas. Because of streamlined counting procedures, she expects much faster results on Election Night.
“In the past, those early voting envelopes had to be opened, separated from the ballot, and then counted,” Thomas said. “But now, it’s just in the tabulator, so it’s as easy as hitting a button.”
