Andrew Cuomo

Democrat or Republican, Cutting Back on State Workers Becoming Popular Move for States

Michael R. Corjulo | July 20, 2011, 6:00AM

Climbing out of "The Great Recession", many state governments found themselves faced with gaping budget shortfalls. A popular solution has been downsizing government work forces and reducing the power of public sector unions.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker became a mascot for the cause earlier this year when he began a push to take away collective bargaining rights from public workers in his state, a step so drastic that the state senate Democrats found it necessary to flee to Illinois to prevent a vote on the matter (which eventually became law anyway). Republican governors John Kasich (OH), Chris Christie (NJ), and Rick Scott (FL) all stirred up controversy for looking for similar places to scale back.

But while the most publicized and most agressive anti-union fights have been in states with newly elected Republican governors, unions are being pinched in more traditionally friendly democratic territory as well.

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CT-Gov

GOPer Foley Concedes Close CT-GOV Race -- And Says Dem Malloy Was True Winner

Eric Kleefeld | November 8, 2010, 2:26PM

Connecticut gubernatorial candidates Tom Foley (R) and Dan Malloy (D)

Republican nominee Tom Foley has just conceded the Connecticut gubernatorial race to Democrat Dan Malloy. And he went the extra mile at his press conference, too, telling all of his supporters that despite some irregularities and errors in the vote-counting process, Malloy positively did win the race by a narrow margin. And as such, he will not legally contest the election.

Foley said that his campaign team examined various irregularities that did occur, particularly in the city of Bridgeport -- where an under-printing of ballots resulted in non-regulation photocopied ballots, polls being kept open longer, and various problems in the count that even included a bag of ballots being found -- to determine whether changes to the totals in that city or elsewhere could potentially reverse Malloy's lead of several thousand votes. In the end, he said, they determined that the vote totals could not change by more than several hundred votes.

"Once all this information was available to me this morning, deciding what to do was easy," Foley said. "I have told my team that I am not willing to pursue a legal challenge to exclude photocopied ballots. Despite their irregularity, I believe that they do represent the will of well-intentioned voters, and should be included in the results."

Foley further explained that the election was a genuine victory for Malloy, "And this result should not be questioned. I hope my supporters will accept my word on this. As soon as I am done with this press conference, I will call Dan Malloy to congratulate him on winning the election, and wish him good luck."

CT-Gov

GOPer Foley To Announce Whether He Will Challenge CT-GOV Results

Eric Kleefeld | November 8, 2010, 10:05AM

Connecticut gubernatorial candidates Tom Foley (R) and Dan Malloy (D)

The Connecticut gubernatorial race isn't done yet. Though Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz (D) announced official results on Friday, which put Dem nominee Dan Malloy ahead of Republican Tom Foley by 566,498 to 560,861, Foley has said that he's "not going to take her word for it," and has an announcement set for 1 p.m. ET today on whether he will challenge the results.

The Associated Press had in initially called the race last week, only to take back its call soon after -- and then reinstated its call for Malloy on Friday night.

The Hartford Courant reported Sunday:

Foley said in a telephone interview that he doesn't know yet what decision he'll be announcing at a press conference in the lobby of Goodwin Square, 225 Asylum St. But he said that lawyers have been examining statewide election results from Tuesday's balloting, and that "our analysis" should be completed Monday.

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CT-Gov

Dem Up In CT-GOV, But It's Not Over Yet

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2010, 11:39AM

Connecticut gubernatorial candidates Tom Foley (R) and Dan Malloy (D)

The vote count in the tight Connecticut gubernatorial race seems to be winding down, with Democrat Dan Malloy the apparent winner over Republican Tom Foley -- though who knows, the litigation could be just beginning.

The key here is that the city of Bridgeport, which had a controversial poll extension as a result of ballot shortages on Election Day, took a long time to sort out its votes and get them counted. (The total does not include less than 100 votes that were cast after 8 p.m.) Those results came this morning, with Malloy winning a 17,973-4,099 margin in the heavily Democratic city. And with the city's votes now included, Malloy went from trailing his Republican opponent to leading by a statewide margin of 5,465.

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2010 elections

Here We Go...: 2010's Recounts, Write-Ins And Disputed Elections

Eric Kleefeld | November 3, 2010, 2:42PM

Joe Miller and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Here's a quick update on the statewide races that may or may not be seeing recounts, election contests, graphology examinations, Brooks Brothers riots, etc.:

• In the Alaska Senate race, it's not a recount so much as a protracted and unusual vote count -- it could take weeks to sort through the 41% of ballots that were write-in votes, to determine how many them constitute valid, legal votes for incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowsi against Republican nominee Joe Miller.

• In the Connecticut gubernatorial race, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz (D) has declared that Democrat Dan Malloy will win the race, without a recount. Republican Tom Foley is not conceding, maintaining that his campaign's internal numbers have them on track for a 2,000-vote win.

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CT-Gov

Rasmussen Poll: Dem Malloy Leads CT-GOV Race By 15

Marc Kilstein | August 16, 2010, 4:58PM

Connecticut Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Dan Malloy

A new Rasmussen poll of the Connecticut gubernatorial race shows Democratic nominee Dan Malloy leading Republican Tom Foley 48%-33% in the race to fill retiring GOP Gov. Jodi Rell's seat.

The new Rasmussen poll is the first survey conducted following Connecticut's August 10 gubernatorial primaries. The last Rasmussen poll, from early June, showed Malloy up 44%-35%. The new Rasmussen survey's findings are similiar to an August 2 Quinnipiac poll, which put Malloy up 46%-31%.

The TPM Poll Average puts Malloy on top 47.3%-31.2%. The latest Rasmussen poll's margin of error is ±4.5 percentage points.

For more on the race, check out TPMDC's full coverage here.

CT-Gov

Malloy Beats Lamont In CT-GOV Dem Primary

Eric Kleefeld | August 10, 2010, 9:43PM

Connecticut Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Dan Malloy

Former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy has won the Democratic nomination for governor of Connecticut, defeating 2006 Senate nominee and one-time Netroots hero Ned Lamont.

With 38% of precincts reporting, Malloy leads by 59%-41%, and Lamont has conceded the race. Lamont had led in all the polls during this primary race, but the final surveys did show a late surge in support for Malloy.

Lamont, of course, is the businessman and former Greenwich selectman who narrowly defeated Sen. Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic primary, running on an anti-war platform. Lieberman then went on to win the general election as an independent, and continues to caucus with Democrats at the same time as he supports the right's positions on foreign policy and endorsed John McCain for president in 2008.

Fun fact: Malloy previously ran for governor in that same 2006 primary, narrowly losing to New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, who then lost the general election to incumbent Republican Gov. Jodi Rell. This year, Rell is retiring, and the GOP nominee is yet to be determined tonight.

CT-Gov

Quinnipiac Poll: Connecticut's Dem Gov Primary A Toss-Up

Thomas Rhiel | August 9, 2010, 10:21AM

CT Democratic Gov. candidates Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy.

It looks like Connecticut's Democratic gubernatorial primary will go right down to the wire. A new Quinnipiac survey of the race shows Ned Lamont edging Dan Malloy 45%-42% -- a statistical tie, given the poll's ±4.6-point margin of error. The primary is tomorrow.

While Lamont's support has hovered around 45% in the past month, Malloy's has jumped five points since July 13, when a Quinnipiac poll pegged his support at 37%. The TPM Poll Average shows Lamont leading 43.2%-33.0%.

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