Connecticut Dem Gov Candidates Ned Lamont and Susan Bysiewicz Silent On Hartford Bailout

Since the state of Connecticut decided to bail out Hartford, pledging to pay off the city’s $550 million in general obligation debt, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mayor Luke Bronin’s failed management of the city has been a subject of intense bipartisan criticism. Bronin, a protege of Dan Malloy, was singled out last week not only by Republicans, but also by his Democrat primary rival, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who called the the state’s decision a sign that they were “rewarding” Bronin’s practices after they “put [his city] on the edge of financial collapse.”

But the Democrats’ other leading gubernatorial candidates, Ned Lamont and Susan Bysiewicz, have been notably silent on Hartford’s bailout. While leaders of both parties in the state legislature and mayors across the state have spoken out on the matter, Lamont and Bysiewicz refuse to comment, leaving taxpayers wondering if they feel the state should be paying off over half a billion dollars in debt as a result of Bronin’s mismanagement.

If Bysiewicz and Lamont want to pursue Connecticut’s highest office, voters deserve to know if they plan on continuing Democrats’ practices of enabling failed fiscal policies on the state and municipal level. They owe voters a clear answer: Do they support the decision to bail out Luke Bronin’s Hartford?