Connecticut Republicans united Saturday behind a 36-year-old state senator, Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, as their choice to push the GOP past the scandal that derailed the former convention favorite, Erin Stewart, and on to the challenge of unseating an incumbent governor for the first time in 72 years.
Delegates at the Republican state convention at Mohegan Sun voted overwhelmingly for Fazio in what became a one-on-one contest with Betsy McCaughey, a conservative Newsmax cable host and former New York lieutenant governor making her electoral debut in Connecticut at age 77.
Fazio had 92% of the vote, leaving McCaughey far short of the 15% necessary to qualify for a primary in August. He is the youngest candidate to win the GOP gubernatorial endorsement since John G. Rowland’s first and unsuccessful try in 1990 as a 33-year-old congressman.
In his acceptance speech, Fazio immediately pivoted to the question he intends to endlessly ask while campaigning against two-term Gov. Ned Lamont, his presumed Democratic opponent in November.
Credit: John Shishmanian / ct mirror
“After eight years, Gov. Lamont says that he needs just four more,” Fazio said. He paused, then sharply asked, “Four more to do what, exactly? Gov. Lamont and his legislative supermajority might as well run on the slogan, ‘This is the best we think Connecticut can do.’”
Lamont is a fiscal centrist who has presided over eight years of budget surpluses and recent economic growth but has been dogged by the state’s high cost of living, especially electric rates, which Fazio is making a central issue of his campaign. He faces a primary from Rep. Josh Elliott, a liberal from Hamden.
[RELATED: In 2026 race for CT governor, electricity prices emerge as top issue]
Matt Corey won a contested race for lieutenant governor over Rep. Tim Ackert of Coventry, who was Stewart’s choice of a running mate.
