After his victory speech, Dan Malloy told reporters that if he wins the election November 2, he’ll immediately bring state officials and employees together to talk about possible solutions.
“We’re going to straighten this state out. That’s what this campaign has been about so far,” he said. “It’s what the next 13 weeks will be about. It’s what the next four years will be all about.”
Asked about the financial landscape, in which he will be up against Tom Foley, the private investor from Greenwich who is the GOP candidate, Malloy joked that $2.5 million was enough to defeat Lamont, who spent about $10 million.
Under the current terms of public financing, which could be revised Friday when the state House meets to possibly override Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s recent veto and raise the total available grant, Malloy will be eligible for another $6 million to run the campaign to November.
“I would hope there are a substantial number of people who believe that we should have fair footing,” Malloy said.
He recalled that as a child, his mother organized Stamford area nurses into a union and the lessons of union strength were not lost on him. Malloy said that one of the differences this year, compared to his losing primary in 2006, was added labor support.
“I understand the importance that labor plays in that relationship,” he said. “But I have also been very clear that everyone will be invited to the table. I will anticipate that everyone comes to the table prepared to help us straighten this state out. We’re not going to do it on the backs of any one group. We’re going to do the things that we need to get done and do it in an orderly fashion.”
Malloy said he broke even with Lamont in the cities, despite the Lamont endorsements from top-level local Democrats, because of past relationships with Democrats in those cities. He pointed out that he won the May party convention by two-to-one.
“I always felt that we had substantial support in New Haven,” he said. “I always felt that we had substantial support in Bridgeport. We knew we had tons of support in Waterbury. I was kind of confident about Stamford. Felt good about Norwalk.”
Asked to explain the difference between Lamont’s traditionally funded campaign and his, Malloy quipped: “He’s rich and I’m not. Listen I felt that we were getting our message out. Once we were able to go on TV, which is, as you know, one of the mediums that you communicate with people, that we would start to close this. We were very, very disciplined about our message, about how we got it out to people. We understood what we were up against. We marshaled our resources. We didn’t waste a dime and that is the kind of administration I intend to run as governor.”
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