Cutting down the nets?

The Republican Governors Association is putting its own spin on March Madness by filling out a bracket with governors from 32 blue states, including Connecticut.

The Republican Governors Association put its own spin on March Madness by filling out a bracket with governors from 32 blue states, including Connecticut.

Does Dan Malloy have a little Kemba Walker in him? Or will this be Christian Laettner all over again?

Connecticut’s first-term governor is on a collision course with his New York counterpart Andrew Cuomo, with the winner advancing to the Final Four.

Not that Final Four.

The Republican Governors Association, led by Malloy nemesis Chris Christie of New Jersey, constructed its own NCAA tournament-inspired bracket and filled it out with the Democratic governors of 32 states. It’s billing the competition as “Blue State Madness.”

Malloy, who will be tested at ballot box this fall and is being targeted by outside groups such as the RGA, dispatched Washington State’s Jay Inslee in the Round of 32. He is now matched up against Minnesota’s Mark Dayton.

A potential showdown with Cuomo, who is also up for re-election this year, awaits in the Elite Eight. And lurking down the road in the Final Four is California’s Jerry Brown.

This is one bracket that the Connecticut Democrats are eager to tear up.

“Clearly the RGA will try gimmicks to attempt to distract from Mark Boughton, Tom Foley and John McKinney’s opposition to Connecticut’s minimum wage increase– especially on the very same day that John McKinney voted against economic progress for Connecticut’s women and families with his vote against the proposed increase to $10.10,” James Hallinan, a state party spokesman, told Hearst Connecticut Media. “Not good when your candidates are against an issue that Connecticut voters favor nearly 3-1.”

Neil Vigdor