By Ken Dixon, Staff
UNCASVILLE — Delegates at the Republican State Convention on Saturday morning quickly moved past the problems of former front-runner Erin Stewart and embraced state Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich in a first-ballot nomination for governor.
The more than 1,100 delegates picked Fazio to lead the Republican ticket to challenge the Democrats, presumably to be led by Gov. Ned Lamont, in the fall election. Matt Corey, a Manchester business owner, won the nomination for lieutenant governor after state Rep. Tim Ackert of Coventry withdrew in a late-morning roll call vote.
The vote in the gubernatorial race — 92% for Fazio — left candidate Betsy McCaughey, the former lieutenant governor of New York, out in the cold. By 10:18 a.m., McCaughey was on the stage thanking supporters, praising Fazio and ending the possibility of a petition-driven primary campaign.
Fazio was declared the Republican nominee for governor at 10:20 a.m. Early in the town-by-town roll call vote, Stewart’s hometown of New Britain cast its six votes for Fazio, setting a tone that swept through the Expo Center at the Mohegan Sun, keeping him above 90%.
“Now is your time for us to come together and what matters most,” Fazio, 36, said in his eight-minute acceptance address.
It mirrored the remarks he gave Friday night, when he and McCaughey shared visions of their campaigns, as many delegates came to the realization that Stewart campaign had self-destructed amid allegations of personal purchases on a city-issued credit card during her dozen years as mayor of New Britain.
Fazio on Saturday again targeted the veto-proof Democratic majorities in the General Assembly and Lamont as the chief obstacles to economic growth and prosperity in the state.
“They’ve centralized power, undermined freedoms, increased costs and broken their promises at every turn,” said Fazio, who won a special election in 2021 for the state Senate and represents Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan.
“After eight years of the Lamont administration, the Connecticut dream that my parents came to this state for has been left in tatters. After eight years of the Lamont administration, Connecticut families cannot afford to pay their electric bills, their property taxes, their prescription drugs and still have anything left at the end of the month for future days,” he said.
Also Saturday, the Connecticut Democratic Convention was underway in Hartford, where delegates were voting on their party’s slate of candidates in the statewide races. Democrats endorsed Lamont for governor, but challenger Josh Elliott, a state representative from Hamden, earned enough support from delegates to force an August primary.
At the GOP convention, McCaughey, a Greenwich resident, gave a concession speech, ending her four-month campaign with promises to support Fazio.
“Let’s fight to end the income tax,” McCaughey, 77, said to the crowd. She praised Fazio as “the most gracious opponent I have ever had” and vowed to work for him in the months leading up to November.
She had arrived late to the nominating campaign and her last financial filing indicated she had $11,500 in campaign funds on hand. Fazio will receive millions of dollars from the state’s Citizens’ Election Program to run his fall campaign.
Day Two of the convention was focused on the races for governor and lieutenant governor.
“Let’s turn this thing around,” said state Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield, in nominating Fazio shortly after 8:30 a.m.
The first round of voting among the delegates concluded at about 9:50 p.m., with Fazio winning 90.07% of the votes and McCaughey at 7.93%, far from the 15% needed to force an August primary.
Shortly after 11 a.m., the convention roll call began for the lieutenant governor race, with Tim Ackert challenging Matthew Corey, who failed to unseat U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy in the 2024 election. Ackert was Stewart’s announced running mate and during the roll call, received all six votes from the New Britain delegation.
His support stayed around 20% during the voting. But in a show of unity, Ackert, an electrical contractor who was first elected to the General Assembly in 2010, got up on stage and withdrew his candidacy.
“I put my neck out,” he said to applause. “We unite to beat Ned Lamont in the fall.”
Corey called Ackert a mentor. “I got into this race because I care about my community,” said Corey, the owner of a bar at the East Hartford municipal golf course. “I care about my state, and I care about my country.”
Delegates on Friday nominated Republican candidates for the state’s five Congressional districts and for the slate of candidates on the state underticket.
As the convention ended around noon Saturday, Republican State Chairman Ben Proto announced from the stage that Rafael Irizarry, of Stratford, a small business owner who earned enough support to launch a primary challenge against Chris Lancia for the 3rd Congressional District, will also not pursue a primary.
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