November 5, 2018/Press Releases

Recapping Stefanowski’s Disastrous Campaign for Governor

Recapping Stefanowski’s Disastrous Campaign for Governor

 

Hartford, CT – When Bob Stefanowski started his campaign for Governor, he was already unprepared for the job — and the former loan shark and pawn shop CEO has no doubt exhibited is extreme views since the primary. From being endorsed by Donald Trump, to giving the President an ‘A’ grade for job performance, to refusing to comment on vowing to repeal the common-sense legislation passed after Sandy Hook, to embracing anti-vaxxer rhetoric, to taking a “pass” on Brett Kavanaugh, to opposing the minimum wage entirely, to promoting a radical, Kansas-style tax scheme that would decimate 60 percent of the state budget, and so much more, Stefanowski has shown that he is too extreme for Connecticut.

So how did we get here? Well…

  • The morning after the primary, Ned Lamont held a press conference vowing to uphold Connecticut values in the face of challenges from the Trump administration. While Stefanowski refused to come out and talk to the press, he did get a big surprise that he describes as “pretty cool.”  
  • That morning, President Trump — who has ripped babies from their mother’s arms, rolled back environmental regulations, said there were “good people on both sides” of the Charlottesville tragedy, whose campaign is currently under investigation for colluding with Russia, and has publicly attacked and mocked women — endorsed him.

 

September

October

  • But then came the alarming details about Stefanowski’s loan shark, pawn shop, and payday lending business, which charged consumers interest rates so high, “it is not even allowed to do business in Connecticut.”
  • The Connecticut Post also found that while Bob has opposed tolls on Connecticut roads, his own private equity group had invested more than $100 million in a toll road developer.
  • Even more alarming, while he was at 3i, he served on the board of a pharmaceutical company whose clinical trials killed 22 people in India. Those subjects were referred to as “guinea pigs” by a British newspaper.
  • On top of that, while Bob talks about his business experience, the Connecticut Post also reported that Stefanowski’s private equity firm was at the center of controversy over a British sex trafficking ring involving a children’s residential care facility owned by the firm.
  • The Connecticut Post concluded the month of October with another story on Stefanowski’s payday lending past revealing that despite Stefanowski’s claim of turning the company around, “one of his top lieutenants” fought attempts to lower interest rate caps in Hawaii, and his company spent tens of thousands lobbying the state government.
  • The entire claim that he went there to “clean up” the company was bogus.
  • Then, new math emerged, showing that his tax scheme would give the top 400 people in Connecticut $1.3 billion in tax breaks annually. The top 4,000 people — who earn more than $2 million annually — would get an additional $600,000 each under his plan.
  • But back to Stefanowski’s social positions. NBC then reported on shocking footage of Bob Stefanowski embracing the anti-vaccine movement, saying “I don’t think we should be forcing people to inject a ton of chemicals into their kids.”
  • Then the Daily Beast Reported on his anti-vaxxer comments.
  • Then Chelsea Clinton tweeted about his anti-vaxxer comments.
  • And it was a full-blown disaster for his campaign.
  • While that was happening, Bob Stefanowski came out swinging against the minimum wage, saying that we should “Let the private sector decide what the right level to pay people is – not the government.”
  • Footage uncovered from a Quiet Corner Tea Party event reveal that Bob Stefanowski believes the commonsense legislation passed after Sandy Hook was “not a good bill” and that gun free school zones “can be a bad thing.”

It’s been a quite a ride, but here’s the bottom line: Bob Stefanowski would be the most extreme, right-wing Governor in Connecticut history.

So would his running mate.

We know that he would roll back Sandy Hook legislation, we know that he would roll back women’s access to reproductive health, we know he would roll back the Affordable Care Act, we know he will uphold Trump values, and we know his scheme will decimate education, gut infrastructure, and cut aid to towns and cities–all so he can give 400 wealthy families a multi-million dollar tax break.

How do we know? He’s told us for months.