It’s crickets from the Republicans running for governor. In the 24 hours since the Democratic candidates for governor and those exploring a run for statewide office invited their GOP counterparts to join them in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell outlining how Trumpcare would hurt Connecticut and encouraging him to put politics aside and work in a bipartisan manner to improve the health care system, not a single Republican candidate has signed on. 

Before the letter was proposed:

• Joe Visconti and Prasad Srinivasan came out against the bill.

Since the letter was proposed:

• Nearly a dozen Senate Republicans came out against the bill.
• The Center for American Progress released a report showing that 1,200 Connecticut veterans would lose Medicaid coverage.
• Extreme Maine Governor Paul LePage came out against the bill.
• Polling was released putting the Senate bill’s approval at 12%.
• Mark Boughton, Toni Boucher, Tim Herbst, Mark Lauretti, Peter Lumaj, Steve Obsitnik, and David Walker continued to refuse to make their position on the bill known.

“This is a continued failure of leadership from a weak and spineless GOP field. If this Trumpcare bill passes, it will present a real problem for the next governor. What will they do? Will they allow the 217,000 Connecticut residents who gained health care access because of the Medicaid expansion to lose their coverage? The people of Connecticut are rightly worried about access to health care, and they deserve answers from the Republicans running for the highest office in the state. Instead, all they’re getting is silence and partisans choosing party over people.” – Connecticut Democratic Party Executive Director Michael Mandell