For the fourth straight time, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele won a court ruling Tuesday that allows him to spend public money in his campaign for governor.
The State Supreme Court upheld a ruling by a Superior Court judge that allows Fedele to spend more than $2 million against Greenwich multimillionaire Tom Foley in an increasingly bitter race. Foley has filed multiple lawsuits in a high-stakes legal battle in the Republican primary.
The ruling by the state's highest court marks a watershed in the Republican primary as Fedele will now be able to compete on television and in paid advertisements against Foley, who has already poured more than $2 million into his campaign.
With only three weeks left until the August 10 primary, Fedele is already on a pace to be spending about $2 million in one month - one of the highest totals in state history.
"This is another way in which Tom Foley is trying to buy this election,'' Fedele spokesman Christopher Cooper said on the steps of the Supreme Court after the ruling. "He bought the ambassadorship, and now he's trying to buy the governor's office. ... He's tied up the courts. He's cheated the taxpayers. ... We were never surprised by any of the four decisions.''
Foley's campaign manager, Justin Clark, said that the Fedele campaign should not seek additional public money for its campaign. Fedele, though, is on the agenda for Wednesday at the State Elections Enforcement Commission in Hartford in his request to receive an additional $312,500 - which would be the final portion of $2.5 million in public funds. The number is increased beyond the base grant of $1.25 million because Foley spent additional funds that sets off triggers and provides additional money to his opponent.
"They should refrain from asking for more,'' Clark said of the Fedele campaign. "It looks like they're going to ask for it and get it.''
Attorney Wes Horton, an attorney for Foley, noted that the Supreme Court ruling was made orally - and the exact details will not be known until later when a written decision is delivered.
"It's possible they're saying they don't want to intervene,'' said Horton, who was standing next to Clark after the ruling.
Later, Cooper released the following statement:
"For the fourth time in a week, Tom Foley has seen his frivolous lawsuits fail in court. This time, the state's highest court entered a judgment sending a clear message rejecting Tom Foley's attempts to buy or win the election in a courtroom. Mike Fedele will continue to move forward with his campaign to bring structural reform to state government, cut spending, and veto new taxes."
"Foley's attempts to obstruct the political process and distract voters from the many scandals that have plagued his candidacy have now failed a fourth time. In the last ten days, he has produced a mountain of legal documents to pursue these frivolous lawsuits, yet he still hasn't produced the sealed court papers from his past arrests."
Before the arguments began, Foley said in a statement: "This is a very important issue not only for the integrity of campaigns but for Connecticut's taxpayers. I have been surprised and disappointed at Lieutenant Governor Fedele's refusal to return the portion of his government grant that was found unconstitutional by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. I hope he will do the right thing and immediately return this money to the taxpayers."
Foley, who won the Republican Party's convention endorsement for governor, has been leading in the polls by double digits for months. Fedele has been in second place, followed by longtime business executive Oz Griebel of Simsbury in third place.
Griebel joined in Foley's civil lawsuit, saying that the State Elections Enforcemennt Commission should not have allowed "double counting'' that permitted Fedele and his running mate, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, to each raise the maximum of $100 per contributor and then combine that money for a total of $200. Both Foley and Griebel said that $200 was beyond the maximum and should not have been allowed.
The SEEC, however, said that Fedele had properly followed the law.
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UPDATE:The Rob Merkle Break Is OverOne Hour Later The Greenwich Time Finaly Puts Up A Four Paragraph AP News StoryPublished: 01:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 20, 2010HARTFORD (AP) -- The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele can use money from the state's public campaign funding program for his Republican campaign for governor.The court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision in favor of Fedele. Details of the decision were not immediately released.Greenwich businessman Tom Foley, the GOP's endorsed candidate for governor, had tried to stop Fedele and his running mate from receiving more than $2 million in public campaign funds, saying they didn't legally qualify for it.Foley, Fedele and Hartford-area business advocate Oz Griebel are facing off in the Aug. 10 GOP primary.When Is Hearst Newspaper President Steven SwartzGoing To Fire Greenwich Time Editor David McCumber?Here Is More On Greenwich Times Incompetence......Over a week ago, I emailed GT’s Neil Vigdor on the Tesei tax mess because, until then, I respected him as a reporter. I never heard back from the “man”, but I see that he has located our target and asked him the hard, probing questions that Greenwich wants answered: how loud are the radios at Island beach?
Wow, Neil, is that what you learned at the Reverend Moon’s University of Bridgeport’s School of Journalism? I am impressed! And I bow to your editors, who print your pusillanimous rubbish. I regret once thinking you were an actual reporter – silly me..
For the record, First Selectman Tesei is not overly concerned with the radio noise at Island Beach. I will call him tomorrow and try to interview him on lesser matters, like where the property tax bills are and what Greenwich intends to do about penalizing taxpayers who don’t cough up the dough by August 1st.. Because if you don’t read it here, you certainly won’t read it in the Greenwich Time.
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