What They Are Saying: Republican Bob Stefanowski Delivers Strong Debate Performance In Connecticut

Republican Bob Stefanowski delivered another strong performance during last night’s Connecticut gubernatorial debate against Democrat Ned Lamont. Stefanowski received high praise for addressing the state’s most pressing issues while making it clear that he is the only candidate in the race who will fight for lower taxes and turn the page on Dan Malloy’s failed record. Here are some highlights of recent coverage:

The New Haven Independent wrote that Stefanowski “crushed” Lamont, praising how he “set the rhetorical boundaries for the debate” by discussing taxes,” appearing “relaxed, confident, clear” while Lamont looked “angry, uptight, not ready for the spotlight:”

“People watching the debate saw one candidate who was relaxed, confident, clear. (That was Stefanowski.) They saw one candidate who looked angry, uptight, not ready for the spotlight.

They saw one candidate make occasional jokes. That was Stefanowski. The audience in the Shubert roared each time. Lamont didn’t make any jokes.

They saw one candidate talk about human beings. That was Bob Stefanowski. At the beginning and end of the debate he spoke about his 88-year-old father in the front row, who worked his way up to buy a $25,000 house he still lives in in North Haven and raised his son with opportunities. Ned Lamont didn’t talk about any people.”

WTNH’s Mark Davis, who served as one of the debate’s moderators, concluded that Stefanowski was the clear winner by focusing on the issue of taxes that he feels matters most to voters:

MARK DAVIS: “Well I’m gonna say something now that’s not gonna be popular with about half the people here, I think Bob Stefanowski won this debate and the reason I say that is that he was able to bring every question no matter what it was back to what he thinks the most important issue is and that is that he’s Dan Malloy and he’ll raise your taxes, I’ll cut your taxes.”

The CT Mirror praised Stefanowski’s debate performance, stating that he proved to have “mastered the skill of message discipline” as he hammered his campaign’s key themes:

“Republican Bob Stefanowski is new to politics, but he proved again on the Shubert stage he has mastered the skill of message discipline… hammering two themes: He will slash taxes, and Democrat Ned Lamont is a fresh version of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

‘It’s only the second debate, but the choice in this election is becoming crystal clear,’ said Stefanowski, a 56-year-old former corporate executive. ‘Ned Lamont will deliver Connecticut a third term of Dan Malloy. He’s going to raise taxes. He’s going to put up tolls. He’s going to make bigger government and spend more.’”

The Hartford Courant reported that Stefanowski successfully sustained his arguments on Lamont’s support for higher taxes, targeting the Democrat candidate’s support for Dan Malloy’s tolling proposal and his plans to impose higher vehicle taxes:

“On the plus side for Stefanowski, the former UBS Investment Bank executive was able to sustain the narrative that he crafted in the first debate — that he’ll cut taxes and Lamont won’t.

The North Haven native immediately hit Lamont on his one-time support for a high-speed tolls plan to raise transportation revenue for the state, which Lamont abandoned in favor of tolling out-of-state heavy trucks. He also whacked him on a proposed statewide motor vehicle tax, which would replace town-by-town motor vehicle taxes and lower taxes for 75 percent of residents.

‘I don’t know about you guys but I can’t follow the bouncing ball,’ Stefanowski said. ‘I don’t know about you guys but I see higher taxes coming a mile away.’”