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With the GOP convention opening tonight, what should CT voters expect? The GOP in Connecticut has gone full MAGA, totally MAHA, and far too extreme for our state. Where do the candidates stand? 

Ryan Fazio: An Extreme Record Connecticut Families Can’t Afford

State Senator Ryan Fazio has spent his time in Hartford siding with the far right fringe of his caucus and prioritizing special interests over the needs of Connecticut families. 

• Fazio has only allied with the most extreme pro-gun groups in the state, including the CCDL, who continue to fight to overturn Connecticut’s assault weapons ban. Fazio called Connecticut’s post-Sandy Hook massacre gun safety laws “beyond the pale.” Just this session, he fought to block a ban on easily machine gun-convertible pistols.
  

• Fazio also recently sided with anti-vaccine groups with his MAHA vote against basic vaccine safety standards, claiming basic public health laws were a violation of “medical freedom.”
  

• Fazio is openly against reproductive freedom. He called Roe v. Wade “offensive to the rule of law.”
  

• Ryan Fazio said he “would love” Trump’s endorsement because “I have a great deal of respect for his public service and his willingness to step up.”
  

• Fazio voted against protecting children and nursing home residents from Private Equity investors gutting services to juice profits.
  

Betsy McCaughey: Former Trump Economic Advisor and CPAC-Endorsed

“Red-meat conservative Republican” – that’s what Betsy McCaughey has called herself. 

• Betsy wants a Kansas Experiment-style repeal of the income tax – a move that would cripple our finances and cause massive property tax hikes for every town in the state – and said she wants to be the Ron DeSantis of Connecticut.
  

• Betsy has called recent commonsense legislation on both guns and vaccines violations of the constitutions, and said she was already shopping around for conservative groups to sue Connecticut and overturn gun laws that keep our families safe.
  

• Betsy McCaughey openly supports Trump's war in Iran, which is driving record gas prices for American consumers.
  

• Betsy McCaughey is unapologetically pro-Trump and won CPAC’s endorsement by saying she “wanted to pay tribute to our Great President, Donald Trump, the most fearless, strongest President of our time.”

The takeaway? It doesn’t matter who emerges from this convention as the nominee. 

Because the real leader of the Connecticut GOP is Donald Trump. In spite of his  rock bottom 29% approval in the state, both candidates have made it crystal clear that this primary is an audition to prove to Trump that they are the most extreme option on the ballot.

Statement from CT Dems Spokesperson Ian Clarke:

“Let’s be clear: despite any differences in packaging, both of these candidates are identical in their total allegiance to the hard-right of their party. This is a field of candidates willing to crawl over each other for Donald Trump’s approval, each one more desperate than the last to prove they will carry his toxic, chaotic agenda into Connecticut.”