Republican businessman announces new bid for Connecticut governor

Republican Bob Stefanowski is jumping into the race for Connecticut governor, setting up a potential rematch against Gov. Ned Lamont (D) after a narrow loss in 2018. 

“I’m running because I fundamentally believe that by working together, we can change Connecticut,” Stefanowski said in a statement. “I’m running for Governor to make government work for the people of Connecticut, not political insiders.

“It’s time for new leaders who will focus on delivering results to the people of Connecticut rather than personal political agendas.”

Stefanowski, a financial services executive, was the 2018 Republican nominee for Connecticut governor. He ultimately lost that race to Lamont, winning a little more than 46 percent of the vote to Lamont’s roughly 49 percent. 

That same year, independent candidate Oz Griebel won about 4 percent of the vote.

Stefanowski is the only top-tier Republican to have formally launched a challenge to Lamont so far. His only significant potential rival is former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, who has formed an exploratory committee for a run. 

Stefanowski campaigned heavily in 2018 on a proposal to do away with the state’s income tax. That helped win him the endorsement of former President Trump, who called Stefanowski a “big cutter of Taxes” at the time.

It’s unclear, however, if Trump will throw his support behind Stefanowski once again. The Republican businessman has sought to distance himself from Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen — a position that has put other Republicans on the former president’s target list.

“Joe Biden won the election, and it’s past time to move on from 2020 and focus on CT residents trying to figure out how they are going to keep the lights on, gas up their car, get a simple COVID test without waiting in line for hours,” Stefanowski told the CT Mirror in a text message earlier this month.