Lamont testing the waters for governor

061407--Greenwich Country Club--Greenwich, Connecticut--Ned Lamont serves as this year's "fall guy" at the Harpoon Club dinner , an annual all-male get-together held this year at Greenwich Country Club. After being paraded into the room, guests, including Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, enjoyed dinner as they roasted the former Democratic senatorial candidate. Keelin Daly/ Greenwich Time Photo Staff Photo Keelin Daly less 061407--Greenwich Country Club--Greenwich, Connecticut--Ned Lamont serves as this year's "fall guy" at the Harpoon Club dinner , an annual all-male get-together held this year at Greenwich Country Club. After ... more Photo: Keelin Daly / GT Photo: Keelin Daly / GT Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Lamont testing the waters for governor 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Had Democrats chosen differently at the start of the decade, he would have been the party’s nominee for governor. Now, after seven years of biding his time as a pundit and professor, Democrat Ned Lamont is gauging interest in a comeback bid for the state’s top office.

The wealthy Greenwich cable entrepreneur, who was upset by Malloy in the 2010 gubernatorial primary, confirmed his interest in the race in an interview Tuesday with Hearst Connecticut Media.

“I’m thinking about it,” Lamont said. “I’ve got a lot vested in this state for a long time. It’s a great state and we just don’t have a great government.”

The Democratic insurgent, who toppled Joe Lieberman in a Senate primary more than a decade ago but was ultimately thwarted by the incumbent in the general election, is expected to hire a pollster to determine his gubernatorial prospects, Hearst has learned.

“Given the number of candidates, if you walk into the race with a following even at the 15 percent level, you immediately become a significant contender,” said Ronald Schurin, an associate professor of political science at the University of Connecticut. “He’s got now what he didn’t have in 2006 in the Democratic Party, which is broad name recognition.”

Year-end decision

In the 2006 clash, Lieberman resorted to running as an independent petition candidate to save his seat in the Senate and further infuriated the political left with his cameo at John McCain’s nominating convention against Barack Obama in 2008. Lieberman did not seek re-election in 2012.

“There will be people eternally grateful to Ned Lamont for eventually pushing Joe Lieberman out of the Senate after that one term when he won as an independent,” Schurin said.

Lamont, 63, said he plans to make a decision on whether to enter the wide open race by year’s end. Malloy, who was rated the least popular Democratic governor in an October poll by Morning Consult, is not seeking a third term.

“I just care about whether I think I can make a difference and get this state back and track,” Lamont said. “We’ve got so many amazing assets. We’re just not making the best out of our potential.”

A record number of Republicans and Democrats are vying to take over for Malloy, whose job approval ratings have cratered as a result of budget deficits, tax increases and the loss of corporate headquarters such as General Electric and Aetna.

None of the Democrats — a group that includes Middletown Mayor Dan Drew, former Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan Harris and John Rowland prosecutor Chris Mattei — have run for statewide office. Each is participating in the state’s public campaign financing program, which Lamont opted out of in 2010 against Malloy.

The lone exception is Joe Ganim, who was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor during his first stint as Bridgeport mayor. Ganim, who overcame a corruption scandal that sent him to prison for seven years, is expected to transition from testing the waters to a candidacy for governor in January.

Big spender

Lamont spent $26 million of his cable television fortune on his run for the Senate and for governor. He is the great-grandson of Thomas W. Lamont, the chairman of J.P. Morgan & Co. Publicly funded candidates can get up to $8 million for the primary and general election in Connecticut.

It was in 2006 that Lamont, a former Greenwich selectman, vaulted to national prominence with his primary challenge of Lieberman. The incumbent’s support of the war in Iraq and closeness to President George W. Bush, who kissed Lieberman on the cheek after his 2005 State of the Union address, became a rallying point for the liberal wing of the party. The beneficiary of that angst was Lamont, who campaigned with the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

The manager of Lamont’s campaign was Tom Swan, who is the executive director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, a good-government organization. Swan said Tuesday that he’s heard the rumblings about a Lamont comeback.

“I think he’s shown a commitment to public service,” Swan said. “I’d be open to hearing more. I think if he gets in, he’ll be taken seriously by a bunch of people.”

Lamont, who is a faculty member at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain and has frequently organized Lincoln-Douglas-style debates on pressing issues facing the state, seems to be warming up to a run. Less than a month ago, he played down the possibility in an interview with Hearst.

“Not hell no, but no,” Lamont said then.

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