Mark Pazniokas

Republican Linda McMahon's first advertising attack on Democrat Richard Blumenthal in the U.S. Senate race is a mailer that casts his admitted misstatements about his Vietnam-era service as calculated lies.

The mass mailing began arriving Tuesday, as Blumenthal and McMahon skipped a debate and left Republicans Rob Simmons and Peter Schiff to gently confront each other and two minor-party candidates, John Mertens and Warren Mosler.

Simmons, who suspended his campaign in May, arguably made news just for showing up and uttering a simple, declarative sentence: "I am running for the U.S. Senate." Read more

A Superior Court judge Tuesday rejected Michael Jarjura's effort to block Kevin Lembo from using public financing in their Democratic contest for state comptroller.

The terse order by Judge James T. Graham frees Lembo to begin spending the $375,000 awarded to him last week for his Aug. 10 primary with Jarjura, the mayor of Waterbury. Read more

A court challenge by Michael Jarjura will keep Kevin Lembo's public financing tied up until at least late this afternoon in the race for the Democratic nomination for comptroller.

A Hartford Superior Court judge heard testimony until Monday evening on Jarjura's complaint that Lembo was improperly awarded $375,000 in public financing. Testimony resumed today. Read more

Fifteen days before the primaries, temperatures are rising in the races for the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial nominations, with the front-runners in both contests accusing their opponents of negative tactics.

The friction started Friday, when Republican Michael C. Fedele and Democrat Dan Malloy launched oddly parallel commercials intended to undermine the business resumes of the two front-runners, Republican Tom Foley and Democrat Ned Lamont. Read more

Trailing in the polls, Dan Malloy aired a television commercial Friday afternoon that tweaks Ned Lamont for his refusal to debate in the closing weeks of their campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

As attack ads go, it is a relatively gentle spot. Malloy appears on the camera for the entire commercial, contrasting his record as mayor with Lamont's as the founder and former chief executive of a small cable-television company. He never mentions Lamont by name. Read more

Linda McMahon did her best Thursday to ignore Rob Simmons' re-emergence as an active candidate, but others tried to assess if there now is a real fight for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination.

"I thought the primary was over, so I'm watching and waiting to see what happens," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Simmons had a full day of media interviews, ending with a taping of WFSB's "Face the State," to be aired Sunday. And his newly cut ad was released, though it will not be on the air until Saturday. Read more

By one key measure, Rob Simmons has returned as an active, if unconventional, candidate for U.S. Senate, announcing he will resume advertising on television in coming days.

But, of course, there is a twist to the new ad: Simmons reminds voters he is on the ballot for the Aug. 10 Republican primary, yet he never asks them for their vote.

"It's an unusual year," Simmons, who ceased his active campaign after losing the GOP's convention endorsement to Linda McMahon, said in an interview. "We should expect unusual things." Read more

WFSB and Connecticut Public Broadcasting are going ahead with plans for a Democratic gubernatorial debate on Aug. 3 - with or without Ned Lamont.

The decision keeps alive an awkward issue for Lamont, who has refused to debate Malloy since a meeting a month ago. Read more

The state Supreme Court today refused to block Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael C. Fedele from seeking an additional $312,500 in public financing for his campaign.

The supplemental funds, triggered by the spending of GOP front runner Tom Foley, could be approved tomorrow. Read more