The Great Connecticut Chairman's Race: 20-Day Tally

With only three weeks left in the Great Connecticut Chairman’s Race there are only a few major players left in the game who appear to be holding the majority of cards. First, let’s start with the raw numbers based upon actual known counts derived from discussions with representatives of the various camps who are in touch with The King.

We've coming
down to the wire

The vote totals look like this: Wild Bill Aniskovich leads the pack with approximately 22 votes, Art Scialabba and Justin Clark are tied with 12 votes apiece, Catherine Marx has about 8 votes, Doug Hageman clings to 6 votes, Al Alper has 5 votes, and Jim Campbell and Rick Torres have 3 votes apiece, and taking up the rear in last position is Rich Olivastro who has managed to secure at least one vote. (Margin is +/- 3 votes).

The candidates and their minions are telling members (and others) that they have a much greater total of votes than they really do. Of course, this is merely a political tactic to get others to switch to their winning team. A more entertaining fact is that I know that some State Central members are telling more than one candidate that they are supporting them so that “they get off my damn phone.” 

It’s true that the vote counts will fluctuate over the next week or so as calls are made and the real wheeling and dealing begins. Remember that the numbers above do not reflect the entry of possible dark-horse candidate(s) who are still sizing up the situation and trying to determine whether or not there is an opportunity to jump in at the last minute and take the prize (if you really want to call it that).

Last time around I floated two dark-horse candidates. The first was Rob Simmons. From the looks of things, Rob Simmons is telling people that he’s flattered to be considered, but would much rather focus on another bid for U.S. Senate. This is unfortunate on so many levels. But we respect his decision to seek glory elsewhere, and go back to the mat with Linda McMahon for Poli-Wrestlemania II. Let’s hope Rob has amassed a good size war chest this time – because he’s going to need it.

The second dark-horse candidate is Jerry Labriola. Labriola is said to be considering a run, but would only make the leap if he knew for certain that he would have high double-digit support before giving up the Treasurer's post. What is absolutely known is that State Central members are excited about the prospect of a Labriola chairmanship because he represents one of the few opportunities to elect a Chairman who could unite all the bitter factions and reunify the CTGOP because he’s the only guy who doesn’t appear on anyone’s enemy list.

It’s my personal belief that if the process lends to installing another corrupt Chairman to carry forth the failed legacy of the Healy years, then Labriola may not find it within his best interest to serve another term as Treasurer.  It doesn’t make sense to under utilize his talent and stick him in an powerless accountant’s role.  No glory there – particularly when you’re handcuffed by the Chairman, and his hand-picked finance committee.

Playmakers Involved

We touched on the some of the kingpins who are behind the scenes pulling strings, twisting arms, and making payoffs to secure votes. It’s worth taking a look at the reported alliances being formed which may likely influence the end result anyway. Obviously, above all else this is a numbers game.

It’s clear to The King that the main driving force in the formation of the present two coalitions in play is the Republican U.S. Senate Nomination. It’s no secret that Linda McMahon intends to make a second run for U.S. Senate against the likely-Democratic candidate Chris Murphy in 2012. For her purposes, it would be extremely beneficial to have friendly partisan in the Chairman’s seat who would orchestrate a perfect replay of the 2010 Republican State Convention which would ensure her victory through another round of political convention rigging, and filthy shenanigans. To this aim, a new coalition has emerged which includes Jim Campbell, Justin Clark, and Catherine Marx. Roughly, this coalition has a healthy 24 votes. Reportedly, the sitting Chairman Chris Healy is also fronting this power coalition, as is Tom Foley, who the likely front runner in the nomination for Connecticut Governor in 2014.

Given what's at stake, we see Rob Simmons working to form his own coalition to help him secure a path to the same goal. It’s obviously not in his interest to see a Pro-McMahon Chairman emerge (he's been through that hell before), so naturally – he has reached out to the remaining pool of candidates, attempting to establish a coalition of his own. Reportedly, this coalition includes Bill Aniskovich, Doug Hageman, and possibly Rick Torres. This coalition has 31 votes which gives them a slight edge over the McMahon-Foley alliance.

The one problem with this coalition is that its very hard to accept a coalition between a squeaky clean Rob Simmons and a corrupt character like Bill Aniskovich.

The Missing Piece

As I’ve said before, the two remaining candidates of consequence – Art Scialabba and Al Alper could, if persuaded – play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the Chairman’s race. Between them they have about 17 votes – not enough to win, or formulate a winning coalition of their own, but enough to put either of the two main coalitions over the top to win the Chairmanship.

Bill Aniskovich: The
Simon Bar Sinister of
CTGOP. Just what we
need - a crook at the helm

For Alper and Scialabba the choices are rather grim. Both coalitions have extreme negatives, and will cause a backlash in one form or the other.  Moreover, these two candidates have a high level of integrity, and are in the race for the noble purpose of rebuilding the Party; neither is seeking personal wealth or has the goal of paving the way for the next millionaire's adventure.  Perhaps they would offer to simply release their supporters to vote their conscious, and let the chips fall where they may instead of helping to install either a puppet of the Foley-McMahon camp, or sinister opportunist in Bill Aniskovich. 

Regardless of either of these choices - the Connecticut Republican Party will remain as divided as it does today.  You can read the tea leaves to see what I mean; I don’t think I need to spell it out here in detail once again.

For my dithers, I guess I still hope a dark-horse candidate has the courage to enter the race and give us a leader that EVERYONE can admire and feel proud of. With so much at stake for Connecticut’s taxpayers, Connecticut cannot afford a fractured Party, or two years of sworn vendettas – one camp against another, and the possibility of the emergence of a third party which no one will be able to control which will kill opportunities for us to take valuable seats statewide and at the Federal level.

Democrats are watching this very carefully. And by the way, as of right now, they LOVE what they see.

I AM

THE KING

This entry can be found at www.thekingsview.blogspot.com