The renovations hit another snag in November when the State Elections Enforcement Commission opened an investigation into the $47,500 in campaign contributions Mandell and his family made to the state Republican Party and its unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial nominee, Bob Stefanowski. If the SEEC found the contributions illegal, Hartford Sports Group would have been unable to sign a contract with the city and CRDA for use of the stadium. The obstacle dissolved in February when Mayor Luke Bronin introduced and the city council signed a resolution that turned the three-way contract into a pair of two-way contracts, one between the city and HSG, and the other between the city and CRDA. Severing the relationship between CRDA and HSG allowed the Dillon project to move forward again while the SEEC probe continued.