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The GOP, with 1,639 accredited delegates, adopted a pre-arranged slate of running mates for Rell, whom they hope will be able to take advantage of her soaring popularity in November. They never had a roll call vote, unlike Democrats in Hartford, who battled all afternoon over their gubernatorial candidates. Alan Schlesinger of Woodbridge, a former Derby mayor and state representative, won the GOP nomination to run for U.S. Senate on a voice vote after Rell's speech emptied the gym. Paul Streitz, a Darien businessman, dropped his bid for the nomination on an immigration-reform platform, but was given platform time in...

HARTFORD -- A former mayor of the state's smallest city is thinking big and aiming high. Alan Schlesinger, a former two-term mayor of Derby and six-term state representative, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate on Monday. Schlesinger is running for the seat Democrat Joseph I. Lieberman has held for 18 years. He is not the only Republican interested in the party's nomination. Schlesinger's announcement Monday coincided with the filing deadline for federal income taxes in Connecticut. "What better day to announce than on 'Tax Day' because I am really concerned our hard-earned tax dollars are...

The state House of Representatives passed the gay marriage bill late Wednesday night - codifying the State Supreme Court's controversial decision that legalized gay marriage in Connecticut. The House voted, 100 to 44, several hours after the state Senate had voted, 28 to 7, to approve the codification. Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell says she will sign the bill into law. The bill was supported on the House and Senate floors by the two co-chairmen of the legislature's judiciary committee - Rep. Michael P. Lawlor of East Haven in the House and Sen. Andrew McDonald of Stamford in the Senate.

In the face of a worsening financial crisis, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell warned residents on Monday about the implications of the state’s growing budget deficit, pledging that instead of raising taxes to balance the state’s budget, she will slash government spending. In an unprecedented television address, the governor said the coming months will test the resilience of Connecticut residents, forcing everyone — including New Haven residents and local officials — to make difficult choices. “To be sure, there will be times of trial and tears in the weeks and months ahead,” Rell said, warning that “some of the cuts...

We thought the day would never come when a Republican political leader and an animal-rights extremist would weigh in on the same subject, and we'd agree with the extremist. But that day arrived recently with comments by chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall and Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who hold contrasting positions on biofuels. In a speech last week, Ms. Goodall complained the biofuels boom is destroying the world's rain forests. "We're cutting down forests now to grow sugar cane and palm oil for biofuels, and our forests are being hacked into by so many interests that it makes them more and...

Rell backs incentives to boost state's film industry Gov. M. Jodi Rell talks with John Travolta at Putnam Park in Redding on Thursday. Rell traveled to the film set of Disney Films "Old Dogs", starring Travolta and Robin Williams, to sign into law an expansion of film tax credits. REDDING -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell was joined by actor John Travolta on Thursday as she signed into law incentives to help promote the burgeoning film industry in the state. "Connecticut already has one of the best programs in the country to draw movie production to our state, and this...

A bill that would have allowed the children of illegal immigrants living in Connecticut to pay the same in-state tuition fees as residents may have died with Gov. M. Jodi Rell's veto Tuesday. "This bill does not address the underlying problem that these students face — that they are not legal residents of the United States," the governor said. "The requirement that students file an application to legalize their status would, in essence, be notification to the government that they are here illegally and it would greatly increase the likelihood of their deportation." But state Rep. Felipe Reinoso, D-Bridgeport, who...

HARTFORD -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell refused Friday to personally endorse Republican Alan Schlesinger for U.S. Senate. Rell also wouldn't commit to campaigning with Schlesinger in his three-way contest against U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont. "Don't read anything into it," Schlesinger said. Last month, Rell and other leading Republicans in Connecticut urged Schlesinger to reconsider his candidacy after news reports that he gambled under an assumed name at a Connecticut casino and paid $28,000 in the early 1990s to settle gambling debts with two Atlantic City casinos. President Bush also is declining to endorse Schlesinger...

He also hired Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who lists two key Connecticut Republicans, Gov. M. Jodi Rell and U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, among his clients. Lieberman, who must appeal to Republicans and unaffiliated voters to beat Lamont and Republican Alan Schlesinger in November, touted the new hires as proof of his campaign's bipartisanship. "They are not just among the best in their respective businesses, but they bring a deep knowledge of Connecticut from across the political spectrum, which will be essential to our effort to build a broad coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and independents," Lieberman said in a release.

Governor's approval rating is 78 percent Hartford - Gov. M. Jodi Rell maintains her commanding lead over potential Democratic opponents John DeStefano and Dan Malloy in a new poll released this morning by Quinnipiac University. Rell's approval rating remains "sky high," Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said, with 78 percent of those surveyed saying they approve of the job she is doing as governor. That is virtually unchanged since July, when 79 percent of voters said they approved of the governor's performance. In a match-up with DeStefano, the mayor of New Haven, Rell would win, 64 percent to 21 percent. She...

December 31, 2005--The only bad news for Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll is that the election is eleven months away. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Connecticut voters have a favorable opinion of Rell; 81% Approve of the way she's doing her job; and, she leads two potential challengers by more than 40 points each. Rell leads Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy by a margin of 65% to 21%. She leads New Haven Mayor John DeStefano 65% to 19%. Connecticut Governor: Rell in Command Survey of 500 Likely Voters December 13, 2005 Election 2006 Jodi Rell (R) 65%...

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut's legislature moved closer to legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples, as a key panel approved a measure that could make it the first state in the country to recognize gay unions through legislative action rather than court order. The legislature's Joint Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) voted 25-13 to pass a bill Wednesday that would give gay and lesbian couples the same state rights as married heterosexuals, except for the right to obtain a marriage license. Proponents said Thursday the civil unions measure has bipartisan support among lawmakers and will likely pass the House and...

Governor Rell is undergoing surgery for breast cancer. Details are still coming out. Caught early after routine mammogram.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- The European Union has asked Connecticut's governor and parole board to delay or halt the planned execution of serial killer Michael Ross, the Dutch government said Thursday. Ross' execution, scheduled for Jan. 26, would be the first in New England since 1960. The Netherlands currently holds the rotating European Union presidency and issued a statement on behalf of all 25 EU member countries. The EU, which opposes capital punishment, said in a letter to U.S. authorities that a freeze on carrying out death sentences was a "first step" toward abolition. It asked Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a...

Gov. M. Jodi Rell stepped into a controversial issue Monday, saying the state should spend $10 million to $20 million on stem cell research. "I believe very much in stem cell research," Rell told reporters at the state Capitol complex. "I believe that some seed money would be appropriate." Rell intends to set aside money from this year's state budget surplus, but the funding probably would be a one-time grant because Rell is projecting difficult times and a deficit in the next fiscal year of as much as $1.3 billion. "We're certainly not a California," Rell said. "We can't go...

HARTFORD, Conn. - More than 940 people have been executed since the United States reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Not one was in New England. That is set to change Jan. 26, the date for the execution of serial killer Michael Ross. Ross, 45, admits killing eight women in Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s, and raping most of his victims. He has been in prison for 20 years - 17 on Connecticut's death row - for four of those murders and faces lethal injection. After numerous appeals, including two decided by the Connecticut Supreme Court, Ross has...

Gov.M. Jodi Rell said on Monday that she would not grant a reprieve to a serial killer who is to become the first person in the Northeast to be executed in more than 40 years. She also said she would veto any effort by the General Assembly to repeal Connecticut's death penalty law.

HARTFORD -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Monday she will not interfere with plans to put a serial killer to death next month in what would be the first execution in New England since 1960. "I have no sympathy for Michael Ross," the Republican governor said. Ross, 45, is on death row for killing four young women in the 1980s and has admitted killing four other women. He is set to die by lethal injection Jan. 26. The governor has no power to commute Ross' death sentence. The state constitution allows her, however, to grant a reprieve to postpone the...