Back in November, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was unable to contain his excitement at Connecticut Democrats’ successes in local elections. During an interview with NPR, Gov. Malloy said the results pointed to a strong 2018 for his party. It seems the governor reassessed the situation. During a more recent talk with another news organization, he made comments that certainly didn’t have a confident ring to them.
This year will witness races for all of Connecticut’s U.S. House seats; a U.S. Senate seat; all legislative seats; and all constitutional offices. The most watched contest will be for the governorship. While Connecticut has had a reputation as a solidly Democratic state, in recent decades, most gubernatorial races have been competitive. The field of candidates is crowded. Gov. Malloy is not seeking a third four-year term.
When interviewed in late December by the (Manchester) Journal Inquirer, Gov. Malloy had harsh things to say about Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Leonard A. Fasano, of North Haven, and House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby. The governor criticized Sen. Fasano and Rep. Klarides for what he perceives as their unwillingness to criticize President Trump. He accused the Republican leaders of exhibiting “blind subservience” to Mr. Trump.
These comments are peculiar to say the least. Legislative Republicans were elected to work on Connecticut issues, as Sen. Fasano noted in a Dec. 22 letter to the Journal Inquirer on another matter. Their thoughts on federal issues are of secondary importance. Accordingly, the reasonable conclusion is that Gov. Malloy, the titular head of the Connecticut Democratic Party, resorted to a cheap means of scoring 2018 points for his party. It is no great mystery why the governor would do this.
As we noted in a Nov. 14 editorial, “The 2018 state elections likely will be decided on state issues.” That is not a good thing for Democrats. In the Malloy era, Connecticut Democrats have been most associated in the public mind with the two largest tax increases in state history, which were implemented in 2011 and 2015. Meanwhile, the influential Democratic constituency of Big Public Labor largely has been spared pain. It is hard to argue these policy choices have helped Connecticut’s finances and economy. The situation has taken a toll on state Democrats’ brand. Gov. Malloy is the least popular Democratic chief executive in the United States. Legislative Democrats lost ground during the 2014 and 2016 elections.
Based on his comments to the Journal Inquirer, the fair conclusion to draw about Gov. Malloy is that he is trying to use the unpopular Mr. Trump to change the subject from his and his party’s records. Unfortunate though it is, this is consistent with the governor’s longstanding but shameful unwillingness to accept responsibility for anything.
