No Apologies From Tim Herbst

Tim Herbst was still taking no prisoners Tuesday night, even though he’s no longer running for governor.

The Trumbull Republican expressed no regrets — and didn’t hold back on continued attacks on ​“radical” Democrats — as he delivered an unyielding concession speech at New Haven Omni Hotel ballroom.

Herbst — who sought the Trump mantle in the primaries with attacks on ​“illegals” who allegedly are committing vicious crimes in sanctuary cities like New Haven — was holding onto fourth place in the five-way race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday night with 77 percent of the vote counted. He appeared at a podium around 10:25 p.m., acknowledging that it appeared that Bob Stefanowski will be the party’s candidate against Democrat Ned Lamont in November’s general election.

He had nothing positive to say about Stefanowski or his other opponents. But he had a lot of positive words for himself, for his staff, and for the stands they took against Connecticut’s Democrats who’ve raised taxes from the governor’s mansion and knelt during the Pledge of Allegiance.

He had biting words about the ​“eight years of ruinous leadership by Gov. Malloy,” about his ​“job-crushing” agenda and his attacks on ​“law-abiding gun owners.”

“I’m proud of how we changed the conversation,” Herbst told the 100 supporters who gathered at the Omni. ​“We must all come together to stop Ned Lamont form subjecting our state to another four or eight years of the Malloy agenda.”

Several New Haven Republicans, including Town Committee Chair Jeffrey Weiss and state representative candidate John Carlson, attended Herbst’s party.

Two hours before Herbst spoke, as his campaign staff put the finishing touches on the decor at the hotel’s top-floor ballroom, a balloon burst with a loud pop.

“Just like this campaign,” someone said. ​“Explosive.”

Many of those who trickled in from outlying cities and suburbs over the next hour said they were supporting Herbst for his conservative views, both fiscally and socially. Many identified as Donald Trump backers.

They said Connecticut needs a governor who can chop entitlements and roll back gun control in a state that once had factories pumping out Colt pistols and Remington rifles.

A few also spoke of the need to stop the reinstitution of highway tolls, restrict access to abortion and end ​“sanctuary city” policies.

Those at the after-party said Herbst was the best candidate to carry out that agenda. Drawing on his past government experience, his outspoken stances and his youthful charm, they said, he could sway independent voters to their side.

Worst case, if Herbst couldn’t pull out a win, they said they’d vote for any Republican in November, even grudgingly for Stefanowski.

But this might be the last chance for the G.O.P. to count on their numbers, as voter after voter threatened to leave the state.

Dave, a chemical engineer from Waterbury who declined to give his last name, said he’d sell his home at a loss to move somewhere with rising property values, like a friend had just done in South Carolina. He said that his retirement savings had taken a hit after the financial crisis. Obama bailed out the banks and the auto factories, but ​“none of it returned to my wallet,” even as Malloy kept hiking the income tax, he claimed. With their strict gun laws, he said, Hartford and New Haven might eventually see the same bloodshed as Chicago, ​“if this keeps up, with no money, and people get desperate.”

Another semi-retired Waterbury resident, Vito Santarsiero, 73, said he can’t keep up with the rising property tax each year — now at $4,600 — on his fixed income. He said blue-collar ​“working people,” like him, would be turning out to vote. If they didn’t change power in Hartford, he said he’d also consider leaving, likely bringing 15 extended family members with him.

“Turn the lights off,” said Ben Ancona, of Newington, when asked what would happen if a Democrat kept the governor’s office. ​“I’ll already be gone.”