Petition candidate for governor Joe Visconti, second from left, collects signatures to get onto the November ballot near the New Milford green on July 26, 2014. Contributed photo.
Shut out of the GOP primary for governor, West Hartford’s Joe Visconti says he’s collected more than enough signatures to get onto the general election ballot as a petition candidate.
The former West Hartford town councilor announced Monday that he had surpassed the 7,500-signature threshold and is closing in on 9,000 names.
Visconti, a former candidate for Congress in the 1st District and an actor, must turn in his petitions to the secretary of the state’s office by Aug. 6.
Aligned with the tea party and Second Amendment groups, Visconti could siphon off votes from the eventual Republican nominee for governor the way that former state Rep. Jonathan Pelto could erode the vote total of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy by running to Malloy’s left.