(Originally posted as a comment on MyLeftNutmeg)

Quick random comments: (More to follow when I have a chance).

I met both Michael Renzullo and Matt Brennan at the Northwest Leadership Breakfast at Audrey Blondin’s a few weeks ago. Matt ran for State Senate last time around, and with almost no funding got a third of the vote. He believes that with a level playing field, he can defeat the incumbent. Mike Renzullo has been running a strong campaign, doing a nice job of tying it into service politics, such as participating in Earth Day and the MS Walk in Litchfield. They are both great candidates and are actively trying to raise funds to qualify for the CT Clean Election program

While we are talking Clean Elections and the State Senate races, it is worth noting that John Hartwell has met is goal of qualifying for clean election funding. Martin Goldberg has been working hard on qualifying, as has, I am told, Art House who has an exploratory committee set up for his run in the 8th Senate District. Latest rumors are that Frank Farricker who ran for State Senate last time in the 36th District isn’t planning give it another shot with Bill Nickerson retiring. If the Democrats field a good candidate this could be another interesting race to watch.

In the 22nd State Senate District, I hear lots of great stuff about Marilyn Moore. Not only has she done great work on the war issue, but I’m told she has done great work on women’s health issues. My understanding is that Anthony Musto is a lawyer and treasurer for the town of Trumbull. I don’t know much more about him than that.

Over on the State Rep side, the challenge against Peggy Sayers should be interesting. Friends tell me that Peggy has been a very effective chair of the Public Health committee. She is a tough fighter who has a good relationship with Amann, but isn’t as progressive as people would like. I don’t know much about Adam Gutcheon, other than he is 27, and a member of the Windsor Board of Education. Insiders suggest that this is another case of some unknown progressive candidate challenging a well-known and well connected incumbent in a Democratic primary, and that the race is not likely to go very far. I’ve seen other races like this.

The races in Bridgeport should be interesting and exciting, given all the recent changes. I’ve heard good things about both Andres Ayala and Lydia Martinez, but don’t have much to add.

I don’t know much about Auden Grogins, other than that she is a trial lawyer. I’m told State Rep. Keeley ‘isn’t a bad guy’. He recently had an issue in the courts where he was charged with talking on a cellphone while driving. Supposedly, he called the cop a liar and in the end, pleaded no contest. Perhaps he needed Grogins to represent him in court.

In the 94th Assembly District in New Haven, it is interesting to see a race forming between Charles Blango and Gary Winfield. As far as I know, Bill Dyson is still planning on running for re-election, so we could face a three-way race. Rep. Dyson is well know for his efforts for criminal justice reform, as well as proposing amendments to various bills to abolish the death penalty. He is also known for supporting Lieberman and Clinton. Gary Holder-Winfield is well known in amongst the progressive blogs and looks like a great challenger. Alderman Blango, who is a truancy officer in New Haven, is well connected with the DeStefano administration. This wins him praise or damnation depending on people’s view of Mayor DeStefano. This race could be one of the most exciting races.

Down in Darien, it is interesting to see that Rep. Ryan is retiring. In 2004, Callie Sullivan ran a great race against Ryan, and it will be interesting to see if she’ll consider running this time.

So, why are there so many interesting races developing this time around? Perhaps some of it is the new clean election laws. I hope everyone takes a bit of time, finds out more about the various races, makes small contributions to help candidates qualify for public financing and gets more involved.