KARSTEN STRAUSS, Register Citizen Staff 04/27/2005

WINSTED -- Secretary of the State and 2006 Connecticut gubernatorial candidate Susan Bysiewicz joined secretary of the state candidate Audrey Blondin at the Winchester Democratic Town Committee Tuesday night.

The two received support from and spoke before the committee at the Winsted town hall to solidify their base in preparation for next year’s political campaign. The committee unanimously voted to lend their support to both candidates.

"You’ve got it made when people know you by your first name," committee chairman Steve Sedlack said. "We’ve got two people running in this state and it’s Susan and Audrey."

Bysiewicz, announced her candidacy for governor in October 2004. Blondin, who is a Democratic state central committeeman from the 30th district and state director of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, announced her candidacy to replace Bysiewicz in December.

Bysiewicz said that next year it will mark the 20th year since a Democrat has been elected as a governor in Connecticut.

"This is the moment that our party can take that office back," she said.

Bysiewicz spoke of her desire to ban no-bid state contracts, describing briefly her backing of legislation that would ban such contracts for projects of over $500,000. She also lauded her own office’s fiscal responsibility, urging the need for fiscal responsibility in a state that is looking at a $1 billion deficit and job losses.

"We’ve lost 64,000 jobs in this state," Bysiewicz said.

As a means of creating jobs while healing the sick, she endorsed stem cell research, saying that Connecticut is an ideal place for research in the field, due to the reputation of its universities and hospitals.

"Here in Connecticut, 18,000 people are employed in that field," she said. "We could triple the number of jobs in that area."

In the wake of John Rowland’s resignation as governor in 2004, integrity and credibility need to be restored to the position, Bysiewicz said.

Blondin praised Bysiewicz’s tenure as secretary of the state.

"The job that Susan has done is second to none," Blondin said. "I intend to step into those shoes and move that position forward."

With 20 years of experience in the state Democratic Party, Blondin is promoting herself as a candidate with experience in municipal government who knows how to put a budget together.

Bringing more voters to the polls is an issue Blondin has been pushing since she announced her candidacy, arguing that engaging younger voters to participate in the democratic process must be a top priority.

Blondin explained her position on campaign finance reform, telling the audience that she supported a bill vetoed by Rowland decreeing that any candidate may receive public financing when they have raised a certain amount of funds independently. Such policy would open the political floor to greater competition, she said.

Blondin, who runs an eye-care mission in Nicaragua with her husband Matthew, said she has experienced first-hand the corruption of a non-democratic government and understands that the rights and choices that citizens of the U.S. enjoy are not available to many, and should not be taken for granted.

"I, as Susan does, have a real love for democracy and freedom," Blondin said.

Following each candidate’s informal talk, Sedlack announced his own personal support for Bysiewicz and Blondin before asking the committee if they would entertain a vote to formally back them.

The committee voted publicly and enthusiastically to support each candidate.

"I really turned it over to the committee and you saw what they wanted to do," Sedlack said. "The sentiments were pretty clear. There really was no debate."

Karsten Strauss can be reached at litchfield@registercitizen.com.

©The Register Citizen 2005