Shelton mayor eyes job of state GOP boss

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Emboldened by a $148,000 fundraising haul during his brief run for governor, longtime Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti has emerged as a suitor for the job of state GOP chairman.

Lauretti, 60, who is in his 24th year in office, confirmed Friday that the job is on his radar.

“I have an interest in providing a different direction for our party,” Lauretti told Hearst Connecticut Media.

The leadership post is currently held by Jerry Labriola Jr., who is on the hot seat after Republicans at the top of the ticket were swept during the midterm elections, including in the governor’s race.

While some in the GOP have called for Labriola’s immediate ouster rather than letting him serve out his term, which isn’t up until June, Lauretti favors a transition period.

“I don’t think we should drive a stake in him,” Lauretti said of Labriola.

J.R. Romano, the state GOP’s political director from 2004 to 2008, and state Sen. Joe Markley of Southington are also eying the job.

Lauretti started the election cycle as a candidate for governor, but did not win the support of enough delegates at the state party convention in May to automatically secure a spot on the GOP primary ballot.

Having raised $148,000 in just over four months for his candidacy, Lauretti remained in the conversation as a potential candidate for lieutenant governor.

“I thought I made some pretty good inroads during my short tenure in the campaign,” Lauretti said Friday. “I certainly raised a lot of money. I think it just demonstrates that people have confidence in my performance.”

When Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton was abandoned by running mate Heather Bond Somers — the key to Boughton qualifying for taxpayer funding for his gubernatorial campaign — he turned to Lauretti.

But a joint petition drive by the running mates seeking to get Lauretti’s name onto the primary ballot for lieutenant governor came up short, effectively sinking Boughton’s candidacy for the state’s highest office.

Lauretti said Friday that the pair lost 10 days in the petition process while he transitioned from running for governor to lieutenant governor.

“That’s really not a fair evaluation of everything,” Lauretti said. “I thought we did a pretty good job (based on) the time constraints.”

For the second time in four years, Republicans anointed Greenwich businessman Tom Foley as their nominee for governor. Foley lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Dannel P. Malloy by 29,965 votes (3 percentage points) after the two rivals were separated by just 6,400 votes in 2010.

“I think Tom would have been a good governor, but you’ve got to get there first,” Lauretti said.

As the smallest bloc of the electorate in Connecticut after unaffiliated voters and Democrats, Lauretti said, Republicans need to grow the brand.

“We have to include more people in our process,” Lauretti said. “We haven’t done it.”

Neil Vigdor