Joe Lieberman

Poll: Lieberman Trails Badly In 2012 Match-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | January 18, 2010, 5:32PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

The new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll of Connecticut provides a further data point that independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is next up for reelection in 2012, may be unelectable.

In a two-way race with second-term Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy, Lieberman trails Murphy by a 45%-26% margin. In a three-way race with Gov. Jodi Rell, who is retiring this year, Rell comes in first with 47%, with Murphy in a distant second at 25%, and Lieberman with 23%.

Two weeks ago, a survey from Public Policy Polling (D) found that Lieberman had alienated every partisan group in the state -- Democrats, Republicans and independents -- by both weakening progressive efforts on the health care bill but ultimately voting for the Senate bill itself.

CT-Gov

New Poll In CT Suggests Reason For Rell Decision

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 10, 2009, 9:05AM

Gov. Jodi Rell (R-CT)

Why did Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell decide not to run for reelection? The morning after her surprise announcement, political observers across the state are still trying to figure out what happened.

A new poll out this morning from Quinnipiac University gives some insight. It shows Rell leading the top Democratic opponent in a hypothetical 2010 gubernatorial matchup by just six points, 46-40.

The poll also shows that former U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont is making some headway in his gubernatorial bid just a week after he announced it.

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CT-Gov

Connecticut Gov. Rell Not Running Again

Eric Kleefeld | November 9, 2009, 6:00PM

Gov. Jodi Rell (R-CT)

In a surprising piece of news, Gov. Jodi Rell (R-CT) announced today that she will not run for re-election in 2010.

Rell's Lt. Governor Michael Fedele, said that he will run for governor, and that Rell has committed to supporting him in the election.

Rell was previously Lt. Governor herself, and succeeded to the governorship in 2004 upon the resignation of Republican Gov. John Rowland, in a corruption scandal for which he later served prison time. Rell was easily elected to a full term in 2006, beating her Democratic opponent by 63%-35%.

Connecticut is a heavily Democratic state, but has not elected a Dem governor since 1986. The current field of active of potential Democratic candidates is a big one: Former state House Speaker Jim Amann, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, businessman and 2006 Senate nominee Ned Lamont, state Sen. Gary LeBeau, and Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy.

Jodi Rell

Rell Used Public Funds To Poll About Political Rival

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 8, 2009, 5:40PM

Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R-CT)

Democrats in Connecticut are up in arms today after it was revealed that Gov. Jodi Rell (R) has been using taxpayer money to fund a secret series of polls and focus groups aimed at testing the political viability of her programs a year before she's up for reelection.

The political operation was kept secret and was hidden inside a grant given to a University of Connecticut professor that was supposed to fund a study into ways to "streamline state government," according to the New London Day, which broke the story today after a month-long investigation.

Records from the project obtained by the paper show that Dr. Kenneth Dautrich, the professor awarded the $220,000 grant and a "confidant of Rell's chief of staff," used the state money to "pepper" Rell's office with advice "on everything from income taxes to leadership qualities to the public's opinion of a potential political rival."

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