Vote 2026: As Early Voting approaches, cost of living driving race for CT governor
As early voting begins on Monday, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont leads Republican challenger Ryan Fazio by double digits in two new polls.
More Stories
It’s coming down to the wire in the race for governor. Early voting starts on Monday.
Polls show the cost of living is by far the biggest issue for voters, but will that mean more support for Gov. Ned Lamont or Republican challenger Ryan Fazio?
COST OF LIVING: WHO’S TO BLAME?
As the cost of gas and groceries skyrocket, both candidates are blaming each other.
Fazio said Lamont has had eight years to bring down Connecticut’s cost of living, especially stubbornly high electric rates.
“The governor has no plan for tax relief. He has no plan for affordability. He’s running on more of the same,” Fazio said last month. “As governor, I’ll reverse the high cost, high tax policies of Gov. Lamont.”
Lamont blames President Donald Trump’s war in Iran and his foreign tariffs for rising prices.
“Not only is Ryan Fazio, my opponent, silent on everything happening in Washington D.C., he is not supportive of what we’ve tried to do here for everything from free breakfast to improving our schools,” Lamont said.
TAX CUTS?
Taxes also rank high on voters’ priorities.
Lamont argues he has generated budget surpluses that allowed him to sign modest cuts in sales and income taxes, plus expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. Lamont also invested $600 million into a new Universal Child Care endowment.
“If we look back in 25 years, I think this will be the thing we’re proudest of,” Lamont said in June.
But the Democratic governor also approved a new meals tax, a “highway use fee” for big-rig trucks and a 0.5% payroll deduction to fund the state’s Paid Family Medical Leave program.
“You can’t blame it on anyone else that the governor raised taxes on food, that the governor raised taxes on online purchases, that the governor raised payroll taxes,” Fazio said.
Fazio has promised to slash middle-class taxes by $2,500 a year.
To pay for it, the GOP candidate would overhaul HUSKY Medicaid by eliminating unspecified fraud, ending health coverage for undocumented immigrants and shifting to a controversial “managed care” system where the private sector administers the program.
“It’s sort of idle talk,” Lamont said of Fazio’s proposal. “Let’s cap spending here; let’s, you know, arbitrarily cut here. Details to follow. That works in a campaign but doesn't work when you’re governor.”
VOTING STARTS MONDAY
Fazio faces an uphill fight as the clock winds down.
A new Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media survey gave Lamont a 13-point lead – 51%-38% -- with 11% of voters undecided. A Quinnipiac University Poll gave Lamont a 20-point edge – with only 3% of voters undecided.
“Ned Lamont looks headed to a very comfortable victory,” said poll director Doug Schwartz. “This is the biggest lead a candidate for governor in Connecticut has had in two decades since Jodi Rell led John DeStefano by 24 points.”
More concerning for Fazio is this: Despite a multimillion-dollar ad blitz, three in 10 respondents said they do not know enough about Fazio to form an opinion of him.
“The only poll that matters is on Election Day,” Fazio said. “We have three weeks to fight this campaign to the very end and make our case to voters for change.”
