Paul Bass File Photo
Juan Figueroa spent four and a half months running for governor — and raised no more than $40,000.
It takes millions of dollars to win the race. So Friday Figueroa dropped out — but not before making a last observation about money and politics.
Figueroa (pictured earlier this year on the campaign trail) was one of the last Democrats standing in a crowded field competing for the nomination. The two frontrunners, Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy, got good news Friday: a new poll showing both of them leading Republican opponents.
Meanwhile, Figueroa, a health care reformer running a grassroots populist campaign, said he wasn’t at this point endorsing a candidate, now that he’s leaving the field. He also said he doesn’t yet know what his next step will be. There have been no discussions about him running for lieutenant governor. He might consider returning to his post running the Universal Health Care Foundation, from which he took a leave in order to mount his gubernatorial quest.
“The last four and a half months have been really intense. I want to clear my head” before making decisions about next moves, political or otherwise, he said.
Figueroa said his experience convinced him that the state’s public financing law should be modified to make it easier for candidates to qualify for matching money. Right now only one candidate has qualified in the race, Dan Malloy. And that took years of work. The law was aimed at producing more competition in elections beyond the regular ring of political insiders.
“In order to qualify you’ve got to start three years ahead of time” and have a “professional political organization,” Figueroa said.
Meanwhile, the leading Democratic candidate for governor and the leading Republican candidates for governor and U.S. senator are all millionaires who are self-financing their campaigns.