Connecticut Gubernatorial Election, 2010 - Running Mate Announcements

Running Mate Announcements

In Connecticut, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are elected jointly on the same ballot line in the general election. In party primaries, however, they are nominated separately. Gubernatorial candidates often select an individual to be their preferred running mate prior to any such primaries, but their running mate in the general election is ultimately at the will of their party’s primary electorate.

Prior to the state conventions and primaries, three gubernatorial candidates announced who they would wish to run with if so nominated to run for governor:

• Democrat Ned Lamont selected Simsbury First Selectwoman Mary Glassman to be his running mate on May 3.
• Democrat Dan Malloy selected state comptroller Nancy Wyman to be his running mate on May 11.
• Republican Michael Fedele selected Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, previously a fellow GOP candidate for governor, to be his running mate on May 17.

Additionally, one Republican, Lisa Wilson-Foley, ran for lieutenant governor without having been selected as a running mate by a gubernatorial candidate.

Prior to the Republican convention, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley decided not to name a running mate, stating that he believes that the state's tradition of a gubernatorial candidate naming a preferred running mate before party conventions and primaries is "out of date." While never named a preferred running for mate himself, Foley gave praise to both Michael Fedele's choice, Mark Boughton, and Lisa Wilson-Foley (of no relation).

At their respective party conventions, Boughton and Wyman won their party's endorsements on May 22, though both went on to face primary challenges. In the party primaries held on August 10, both party-endorsed candidates won, with Boughton defeating Wilson-Foley for the GOP nomination and Wyman winning the Democratic nod over Glassman.