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Ann Romney, front left, wife of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, addresses an audience during a victory rally in Schaumburg, Ill., after Romney won the Illinois Republican presidential primary, Tuesday, March 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Mitt Romney is sending his most reliable emissary to Connecticut the eve of its Republican presidential primary — the woman who could become the next first lady.

Ann Romney, 62, will be the keynote speaker at the April 23 Prescott Bush Dinner, the state’s GOP’s premier fundraiser of the year, party Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. confirmed to Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.

The event will take place at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa, which earlier this month hosted the Republican frontrunner himself for a donor gathering.

“She will be able to provide a glimpse of life on the presidential trail and provide some personal insights regarding Governor Romney,” Labriola said.

The former Massachusetts first lady and mother of five, who has fought multiple sclerosis and breast cancer, is the first female scheduled to headline the $250 per plate event in its long history.

“She’s a dynamic speaker,” Labriola said. “We very much appreciate the commitment from the Romney campaign to help make our annual event one of the most successful in history.”

Romney’s scheduled appearance represents a “good get” for Connecticut Republicans, a number of whom had previously expressed concerns that the state could be an afterthought this year after abandoning Super Tuesday in early March for a regional presidential primary April 24.

Mitt Romney leads former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum by 23 points in Connecticut, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

“Governor Romney has sharpened his message over the past several weeks with talk of pro-growth tax cuts, reducing the deficit and energy independence,” Labriola said. “He has the money and organization, which leads me to believe his nomination is a mathematical certainty.”

In Connecticut, 25 delegates will be up for grabs in the GOP primary, which is no longer exclusively a winner-take-all scenario.

The winner of the Republican contest can capture up to 25 delegates under a winner-take-all scenario if he or she receives at least 50 percent of the statewide vote and carries all five congressional districts, which each count for three delegates.

Otherwise, the delegates will be awarded on a proportional basis. Connecticut also boasts three super delegates, who are not bound to a particular candidate and can wait until the national convention to decide.

“Certainly, there will be a strong effort for Governor Romney to top the 50-percent mark in our primary in order to achieve winner-take-all status with our 25 delegates,” Labriola said.

Greenwich’s Tom Foley, the party’s 2010 gubernatorial candidate and U.S. ambassador to Ireland under President George W. Bush, will receive the Prescott Bush Award.

The honor is named after the late U.S. senator from Greenwich and Bush family patriarch.

Foley, a finance committee member for Romney’s campaign in Connecticut, is considering another run for governor in 2014.

The state GOP is bestowing its Women’s Leadership Award on state Rep. Lile Gibbons, R-150th District, who represents Greenwich’s shoreline and is retiring after six terms.

The Fenton P. Futtner Award will go to Bob Parisi, town council chairman in Wallingford.

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Linda McMahon celebrates her victory at the 2010 state GOP convention in Hartford. AP Photo/Jessica Hill

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

A week after former Congressman Christopher Shays pledged to release the names of GOP convention delegates on his payroll, fellow Republican Linda McMahon is committing to do the same.

In an e-mail this morning  from her campaign manager Corry Bliss to supporters, the subject line of which was “transparency,”  McMahon announced that she will submit the roster to the state party before the conclave in May.

“As we have previously stated, our  campaign wants the most open, transparent nominating process  possible,” Bliss wrote. “Forty-eight hours before the convention, our campaign will post a full list of delegates who serve as staff or vendors and their relationship to the campaign. We will also make this  list available at the convention in Hartford.”

There is no requirement whatsoever that delegates have to disclose any pecuniary relationships with the candidates, as has been reported by Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.

State GOP leaders mothballed a proposed rules amendment to do just that earlier this month.

UPDATE: The McMahon campaign insisted that it is not taking a cue from Shays on the issue, saying it has consistently backed  the concept of requiring delegates to reveal their allegiances going into the convention.  

“We have supported this from the beginning,” McMahon’s campaign manager Corry Bliss told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.

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A new poll commissioned by Linda McMahon shows the professional wrestling matriarch with a nearly a 20-point lead on former Congressman Christopher Shays among likely Republican primary voters.

McMahon’s campaign manager Corry Bliss touted the results of the survey, which was conducted by GOP polling firm McLaughlin & Associates, in an e-mail Tuesday to supporters.

The timing of the poll is rather telling.

Just last week, Quinnipiac University had McMahon leading Shays 51 to 42, narrowing a previous gap of 15 points in McMahon’s favor in September 2011.

But unlike McMahon’s internals, the Q-poll surveyed a broader cross-section of the electorate that included Democrats and unaffiliated voters for a hypothetical general election match-up.

Advantage Shays, who the Q-poll showed in a statistical dead heat with Democrat Chris Murphy.

McMahon, on the other hand, trails Murphy by 15 points.

UPDATE: Here’s what Amanda Bergen, the campaign spokeswoman for Shays, had to say about the McMahon poll.

“The independent Quinnipiac poll shows that Christopher Shays is in a dead heat against the likely Democrat opponent, while Linda McMahon is losing by 15 points.  This is not surprising considering Linda McMahon lost the last election by 12 points against a wounded candidate in a Republican year.

We know we are behind in the Republican Primary, but nothing like the numbers her campaign claims.  And that is why we are confident we will win the primary on August 14th.”

Check out McMahon’s internals:

To:         Linda McMahon for Senate 2012
From:     John McLaughlin
Re:         Connecticut Republican Primary for U.S. Senate Results
Date:      March 27th, 2012

• Among GOP Primary voters in the state of Connecticut, Linda McMahon continues to be viewed more favorably than unfavorably. She enjoys significantly higher favorable opinion ratings than her opponent, Congressman Chris Shays.
  • Linda McMahon has a net positive opinion rating (65% favorable, 23% unfavorable) of 3 to 1. Congressman Chris Shays’ opinion rating (48% favorable, 25% unfavorable) reveals that a majority of Connecticut’s GOP Primary voters do not even have a favorable opinion of the Congressman.
  • This is mostly unchanged from August 2011, when 65% were favorable to Linda and 25% were unfavorable. Likewise, Congressman Shays had 47% favorability to 24% unfavorability.

• Since August 2011 there has been little movement on the GOP Primary Ballot for U.S. Senate in Connecticut. Linda McMahon continues to carry a solid a majority as well as maintaining a commanding lead of at least 20% of the primary electorate over her opponent.
  • Though 8 months have passed, there has been little to no movement on the Republican Primary Ballot for U.S. Senate.

• Linda McMahon holds a decisive and strong lead over former Congressman Chris Shays. This lead could only get stronger as Shays’ record, which cost him his re-election to the House, becomes part of the Campaign Debate.

• Key Demographics:
  • 92% of respondents said they were “Very Likely” to vote in the Republican primary for Senate.
  • On a scale of 0-10 voters were asked to describe their level of interest in the primary election, with any answer of 6 or above being graded as interested and any answer of 8 or above being graded as very interested, 97% said they were interested, and 94% said they were very interested.
  • Almost half(48%) of respondents were Catholic, while 4 in 10(39%) were Protestant.
  • 7 in 10(71%) of respondents are married.
  • Slightly less than 2 in 5 (38%) voters were over 65.
  • Gender was split 50/50 amongst respondents.
  • Respondents were sampled throughout the different counties in the state by their voter turnout and registration. Fairfield 32%, Hartford 23%, New Haven 18%, Litchfield 8%, New London 7%, Middlesex 6%, Windham 3%.

Methodology:

This survey of political attitudes was conducted among 600 likely Republican primary election voters in Connecticut on March 25th and March 26th, 2012.  These likely Republican primary voters were called from a list of past primary voters who said that they were likely to vote in this years’ U.S. Senate primary. All interviews were conducted by professional interviewers via telephone.  Interview selection was at random within predetermined election units.  These units were structured to statistically correlate with actual voter distributions in a statewide primary election.  The accuracy of the sample of 600 likely Republican primary election voters in Connecticut is within +/- 4.0% at a 95% confidence interval.

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Even as he courts the Democratic delegates needed to remain competative at the party’s May nominating convention, U.S. Senate candidate William Tong is telling supporters he will mount a primary in August and take the decision out of the hands of those same “party insiders.”

In a fundraising email Marc Bradley, Tong’s campaign manager, totally ignores the convention. Bradley instead appeals for an infusion of cash before the quarter ends March 31 to “do everything we can to make sure voters get a choice in August.”

Tong is a state representative challenging a pair of more prominent Democrats – U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy and ex-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz – for the nomination to run in November to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

He has been crisscrossing Connecticut meeting with local town committees and asking for delegate support in May, but it’s proving an uphill battle, even in his own legislative district.

The winning nominee needs the backing of 50 percent plus one of all of those delegates present at the party convention, and 15 percent support to mount a primary.

Candidates who fail to obtain the 15 percent have a few weeks to collect signatures to petition their way onto the primary ballot, as Republican Peter Schiff did in 2010.

Here’s Bradley’s full message, capital and boldface letters included:

———-

Connecticut Democrats deserve the right to decide their Democratic nominee. The challenges facing our country are too great to simply leave the decision up to political operatives in Hartford and Washington.

LET’S HAVE THE DEBATE!

We’re ready to fight for the nomination and we’re going to DO EVERYTHING WE CAN to make sure voters get A CHOICE in August.

But to do that, we need the funds to keep running strong. Our fundraising quarter ends on March 31st and we need your help!

Donate $50, $100, or $250 today to ensure that VOTERS pick our nominee, not the PARTY INSIDERS.

With five more months until the August primary and the race about to start heating up in the media, we’re working as hard as ever to continue building our support.

As William visits town after town across Connecticut to tell people his story and present his plan to reclaim the American dream, we’re emboldened by the feedback we receive. His story resonates with so many who are struggling in this economy, and his plan offers concrete solutions to problems affecting Connecticut residents on a daily basis.

We’re working hard to run a campaign based on ideas.  NOT ENTITLEMENT.  We’re fighting to earn Connecticut’s support.

Donate $50, $100, or $250 today to support a campaign that respects voters’ ability to distinguish between career campaigners and a hard working state representative running on a plan to get America back on track.

Thanks for your support. It’s what keeps our campaign going day in and day out.

Sincerely,

Marc Bradley
Campaign Manger

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Just a hunch.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the driver of this Lexus SUV must be Democrat.

I came across this vanity plate Friday night in a municipal parking lot in Port Chester, N.Y., not far from Bar Taco.

No, I didn’t run into the governor.

In case you were wondering, RELL, as in former Gov. M. Jodi Rell, is still available as a vanity plate, per the DMV.