Maritza Bond at fall campaign fundraiser at Portofino's.
Three candidates have reported reaching a fundraising goal in the quest to break ahead of the pack of aspiring secretaries of the state.
The secretary job — a statewide elected position becoming vacant with the retirement of incumbent Denise Merrill at year’s end — has attracted a crowded field of politicians eyeing the Democratic nomination.
Candidates raced to raise at least $30,000 for the quarter ending Dec. 31 to demonstrate enough support to convince more Democrats statewide to help them survive on the candidate island as the field narrows in coming months.
Official reports haven’t been filed yet. But one “exploratory” candidate, Maritza Bond, went public with the announcement that she raised $30,000 in the quarter.
“This filing showed people across Connecticut that this campaign is about much more than one candidate, it is about a grassroots movement of people tired of the status quo and ready to fight for real change in Hartford,” Bond wrote to supporters via email. Bond, who currently works as New Haven government’s health director, has been raising money through an “exploratory” committee. She hasn’t yet officially announced a candidacy.
She told the Independent she isn’t planning to announce that official candidacy while she’s focused on running against the Omicron variant of Covid-19. She has suspended in-person campaign events following a December gathering at a North Haven cigar bar.
“For now I’m focused on my job and trying my best to help the mayor manage this surge,” Bond stated.
Two Democrats have officially announced campaigns and formed candidate committees (rather than “exploratory” committees) for the secretary of the state post. The secretary of the state is Connecticut’s top elections official. Besides overseeing elections, the secretary of the state is in charge of business filings and maintaining the commercial registry. The secretary of the state also proposes and lobbies for new election laws.
“I’m pleased to report that I exceeded the goal, raising just over $31,000,” one of the announced candidates, State Rep Stephanie Thomas of Norwalk, informed the Independent. The other announced candidate, Meriden State Rep. Hilda Santiago, said her campaign had not yet calculated the number.
Middletown State Sen. Matt Lesser, an “exploratory” candidate, didn’t have a final number, either, but said it will be “better” than the $30,000.
As for two local “exploratory” candidates: Hamden State Rep. Joshua Elliott, said at last count the campaign’s number was $20,938. New Haven Alder Darryl Brackeen said his campaign took in $16,007.75.
The Democratic hopefuls have generally agreed about continuing incumbent Democrat Denise Merrill’s advocacy of expanding voting, including early voting and no-excuses absentee ballots. There is some disagreement about whether to move Connecticut to ranked-choice voting.
On the Republican side, Dominic Rapini and Brock Weber have formed candidate committees to seek the office. They had not yet released fundraising totals as of mid-Tuesday.