Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti’s campaign for governor needs campaign contributions — lots of them.
Lauretti told supporters Thursday that he needs at least 2,500 people to give him $100 each so he can qualify for public financing by May if he is going to bring his tax-cutting, economic growth message to voters statewide in 2014.
About 150 people, mostly politically active Republicans from the lower Naugatuck Valley, gathered for a minimum $50-per-plate dinner at the Inn at Villa Bianca in Seymour to help him launch his campaign.
“Tonight is a good start and a very good step,” Lauretti told them.
In an interview, he said candidates must receive at least $250,000 in campaign donations under $100 in order to qualify for public financing.
That means a minimum of 2,500 donations, but he said he’ll probably receive more donations of lesser sums.
He said it’s important to qualify by May so the public funding can help him compete in the Republican Party gubernatorial primary, which will take place in August.
Lauretti has entered what promises to be a crowded contest for the Republican nomination.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton announced his candidacy Wednesday.
Others expected to enter the race include State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, State Senate Deputy Minority Leader Toni Boucher, former Ambassador to Ireland and the GOP’s 2010 candidate for governor, Thomas C. Foley, businessman Joseph Visconti of West Hartford, and newcomer Gordon Ward of Manchester.
But the Shelton mayor said he thinks his chances to stand out in the pack are pretty good.
Lauretti said most of his likely opponents only have name recognition near their home bases.
He thinks rank-and-file voters around the state, and especially in the region between Bridgeport, Waterbury and New Haven, know who he is and associate him with Shelton’s economic success.
Click here for a previous Valley Indy story on the mayor’s run.
Shelton’s success, plus the city’s comparatively low municipal tax rate since Lauretti was first elected mayor in 1991, is a central part of his campaign. He told supporters Thursday that every day between 23,000 and 25,000 people commute to jobs in Shelton.
Lauretti said his campaign will be about business growth, taxes and jobs — not social issues.
He believes he can connect with average voters, a theme he also emphasized during an interview Sunday with WFSB’s Dennis House on “Face the State.”
“A lot of this is perception, but it all depends on the guy on the street,” Lauretti said. “I have a people base. I’m running as Mark Lauretti.”
Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller introduced Lauretti at Thursday’s campaign kick-off.
Miller praised Lauretti for demonstrating good leadership, compared with Gov. Dannel Malloy, blaming Malloy’s bad leadership for Connecticut’s high taxes and unemployment rate.
“I’m running because I never wanted to be one who stands by the sidelines and complains about what’s wrong but never does anything about it,” Lauretti said.
The campaign’s next fundraiser is scheduled for Jan. 14 at Amici’s on Howe Avenue in Shelton.
