As featured in the Connecticut Post:

Opinion: 2022 will bring accountability to CT

Ben Proto
Nov. 30, 2021

Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democrats in the General Assembly have driven our state into the ground, and now, after taking Connecticut to the bottom of every important rating of states, Ned Lamont wants to seek reelection.

What an interesting time to announce his desire to be reelected, given recent election results. Republicans flipped at least 19 mayoral and first selectmen seats. It should be no surprise to see voters express their displeasure on rising crime, high unemployment and the constant attack on local control by Democrats in Hartford.

Given the momentum for Republicans, with voters choosing to reject Democrats’ failing policies in down-ballot races across the state, now does not exactly seem like the ideal time for the governor to be taking a victory lap.

In fact, the wind is at Republicans’ backs as we gear up for the 2022 midterms. We’ve already added another target congressional seat for next year's election and are working closely with the Republican National Committee to continue equipping activists as part of our growing data-driven ground game.

Connecticut simply can’t afford another four years of Ned Lamont.

Under Democrats’ failed policies, our state is high in unemployment rates — a standing shared by other Democrat-led states. We have yet to recover all of the jobs we lost in the 2008 and are still short more than 206,000 jobs, leaving the unemployment rate in Connecticut at a whopping 6.4 percent.

The people of Connecticut know that Biden and Lamont’s agenda does not prioritize American workers, but instead implements senseless mandates and reckless spending while prices for goods and services continue rising. Gasoline is approaching $4 a gallon, and the prices of basic food items such as milk, eggs, bread and cereal are escalating. One Connecticut resident underscored how rising prices are hitting home, saying that his military retirement check is “not enough right now.” Lamont and Democrats in Hartford have failed the working men and women of our state.

Joe Biden’s approval rating stands at an abysmal 38 percent, which is only surpassed by the 28 percent approval rating of Vice President Kamala Harris. Yet when Biden came to Connecticut in October, Lamont still chose to proudly join him. Lamont’s rubber stamp on Biden’s spiraling agenda shows that both are woefully out of touch while Connecticut families pay the price.

As if their failed policies on rising crime, higher taxes and high unemployment rates were not bad enough, parents are also concerned about the extreme ideology Biden and Lamont are pushing on our public schools. Voters know that Democrats’ anti-parent agenda has leaked into Connecticut, which is a large part of the reason why we saw a red wave in down-ballot races. Republicans are standing against Democrats’ absurd proposals (like eliminating gifted and talented programs and cutting off funding for charter schools) while Democrats grandstand on their far-left agenda that seeks to eliminate parents from the conversation.

Democrats have had a longstanding proposal to remove local control and institute a regional school board system here in Connecticut, which would be a disaster for both accountability and transparency. While Democrats are afraid of parents, Republicans are embracing parents and seeking their input.

Ultimately, Democrats’ attack on parents’ rights is symbolic of their gross overreach in every level of our lives. Connecticut families and workers do not want more of the heavy-handed, big-government policies that Biden, Lamont and Democrats have to offer. Their failed policies crumbled at the ballot box locally and will again next year when congressional, state Senate and House seats and, most importantly, the governor’s office are on the line. The families, parents and hard-working women and men of Connecticut know that if we want to see our state rise from the ashes, we need to change the people making the decisions.

2022 will offer the people of Connecticut a choice: We can continue to embody the definition of insanity, or we can fire the people who have created the insanity.

The Connecticut Comeback started on Nov. 2, 2021. Let’s keep the momentum going, Connecticut.

Ben Proto is Connecticut Republican Party chairman.