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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gestures as he speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., Saturday, March 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

No, the C in CPAC doesn’t stand for Connecticut.

But don’t tell that to Republicans in the state.

They have booked a tea party favorite who is persona non grata among organized labor to be their keynote speaker at the upcoming Prescott Bush Awards Dinner, eschewing a middle-of-the-road Republican in favor of a bold and perhaps controversial selection.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will headline the May 20 event at the Hilton Stamford Hotel, according to a party insider who has seen the official program.

Named after the Prescott Bush, the late U.S. senator from Greenwich and Bush family patriarch, the dinner is the state GOP’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Tickets start at $250.

Fresh off an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside of Washington, Walker has seen his stock rise in Republican circles.

State GOP Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. confirmed Walker’s appearance in a media advisory several hours after Hearst broke the story.

“Governor Walker is a bold reformer who has righted the fiscal ship of state in Wisconsin without raising taxes,” Labriola said. “As governor,his efforts have saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $1 billion, leading to property taxes in Wisconsin declining for the first time in 12 years.”

Labriola sought to contrast Walker with Connecticut Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

“There is a lesson in Governor Walker’s leadership for Governor Malloy and the Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly,” Labriola said. “Can you wipe out a massive state deficit without layoffs and without increasing taxes? Yes, you can – Governor Walker did it, and I believe his accomplishments in Wisconsin reflect the kind of changes we need in Connecticut.”

Democrats immediately panned the choice of Walker.

“Scott Walker is a rabid, anti-labor Governor whose stated goal is to destroy unions,” Jonathan Harris, the state party’s executive director, said in a statement. “By inviting him to headline their fundraising dinner, Connecticut Republicans have sent a clear message to every union member, and to everyone who cares about the right we have as Americans to organize: “we care more about money than we do about you, and you have no place in our party.”

Elected in 2010, Walker crafted a law stripping public sector employee unions of most of their collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin. The controversial law requires state employees to pay more towards their health care and pensions, which Walker has said is justified to help rein in expenses. General wage increases are capped at the rate of inflation, unless otherwise stipulated by a public referendum.

In 2012, Walker survived a recall election in Wisconsin, giving Republicans false hope that Mitt Romney would win the presidential election later in the year.

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The subject of speculation that she might not run again, the longest-tenured statewide office holder in Connecticut tells Hearst Connecticut Newspapers she hopes to be on the ballot in 2014.

On a day when the Dow Jones industrial average reached an all-time high, Democratic state Treasurer Denise Nappier said she has no plans to step away from her post at the end of what is her fourth term.

“I’m not going anywhere, at least not yet,” Nappier said. “I guess I’ll leave that up to the electorate .”

Nappier, 61, oversees $50 billion in state funds, including $26 billion in retirement assets of state pensioners, teachers and select municipal employees.

Up until last year, when she said she lobbied to get on the retirement boards of the state employee and teacher pension funds, Nappier said she has had limited input on the taxpayer liability of those public sector investment pools.

Nappier said the state teachers pension fund is 62 percent funded, compared to 40 percent on the state employee side.

When the economy was better in the early part of the last decade, Nappier said the state did not always keep up with taxpayer contributions to the public sector pension funds.

And then the market tanked in 2009, which Nappier said sent the state’s pension portfolio down by 17.34 percent.

In comparison to Connecticut’s peers, Nappier said the damage could have been worse.

“That was very good,” Nappier said.

The first black woman state treasurer in the U.S., Nappier previously held the same post in her native Hartford. She took office in 1999.

“Maybe there are some people who feel I’ve been there too long,” Nappier said. “The truth is, I still have much to do here in the treasurer’s office.”

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Lee Whitnum attends the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee's annual campaign kickoff and picnic at the Garden Education Center in Cos Cob, CT on Saturday, September 10, 2011.

Lee Whitnum has LoJack on Dick Blumenthal.

Apparently, it needs a new homing beacon.

For five weeks, Whitnum, a disillusioned former Democrat who has publicly and quite controversially condemned America’s relationship with Israel, says she has been trying to serve Connecticut’s senior U.S. senator with a deposition related to a 2011 bar mitzvah ceremony attended by Blumenthal at the Greenwich Town Hall.

“Blumenthal can obviously employ the best security in the world. How is the system supposed to work if he can’t be served like regular folk?” Whitnum said in a news release. “I’m not trying to make a federal case out of this but seriously, this is a federal case. It is his civic duty to accept the questions, answer them honestly, and produce what is being requested. He is not named in the complaint, he is a non-party witness.”

UPDATE: Blumenthal’s office released a statement to Hearst Connecticut Newspapers disputing Whitnum’s claim that the senator has been inaccessible.

“Senator Blumenthal’s office has been working productively with the server for the past several weeks to arrange an appropriate time and place for the service of this subpoena,” the statement said.  “The Senator’s office has indicated that the Senator would be willing to accept the subpoena at any time convenient at his home or elsewhere and wishes to cooperate in every way. Unfortunately, previously arranged attempts to meet had to be rescheduled, but we have no doubt this will take place shortly. Any claim that the Senator has been less than fully cooperative is baseless and false.”

Whitnum is suing the Town of Greenwich over the event, saying it breached the constitutional separation between church and state.

The bar mitzvah coincided with a May 13 celebration of Israeli Independence Day by the UJA Federation of Greenwich.

Greenwich officials say the event was not sponsored by the town and is no different from other cultural events and flag-raisings, where different ethnic groups are allowed to celebrate their heritage.

Thwarted in her multiple bids for public office, including U.S. House and Senate, Whitnum has enlisted the services of a Stamford constable to try to serve Blumenthal with papers.

It’s an ironic twist for Blumenthal, who as the former longtime state attorney general is usually the one exercising subpoena powers.

Full disclosure: Whitnum has served the reporter from Greenwich Time who covered the Israeli Independence Day and is also seeking out the photographer who was on the assignment.

“As a lawyer, he is an officer of the court and he should accept the Deposition, fill out the answers and mail it back,” Whitnum said of Blumenthal. “I mean seriously the man has dogged my process server for five long weeks. Enough already.”

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U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., tours Riverscape Marina in Cos Cob with Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei (R) and Selectman Drew Marzullo (D) on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. The town is seeking federal funding for a pair of overdue dredging projects, including one at the mouth of the Mianus River.

There’s never a Staples when you want one.

It seems U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who is approaching two months into his first term in the upper chamber, is getting the freshman treatment from the congressional printing office.

“Do you have a card?” Murphy was asked this morning by Greenwich Harbor Master Ian MacMillan on a tour of the waterfront in Cos Cob.

The town is lobbying Murphy for federal money for dredging of the Mianus River and Greenwich Harbor.

“I don’t have a card yet, actually,” Murphy chuckled in reply to his hosts.

Nevermind that Murphy was elected all the way back in November to the Senate after serving three terms in the U.S. House.

Murphy is still sporting his 5th congressional district license plate on his Chevy Malibu.

The freshman senator did not pull a Ron Burgundy, however.

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Gubernatorial candidates Democrat Dan Malloy and Republican Michael Fedele participate in the 2010 Gubernatorial Debate at the Stamford Plaza Hotel & Conference Center in Stamford, Conn. on Tuesday June 29, 2010. Photo: Kathleen O'Rourke

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Westhill High School’s first graduating class in Stamford.

But it’s no ordinary reunion.

In that Class of 1973 was first-term Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and former Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, a Republican who is making overtures about challenging his former classmate in 2014.

“If I feel that this is the right time for myself, my family and the state of Connecticut, I probably would stick my toe in the water,” Fedele on Friday told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers, which owns The (Stamford) Advocate.

The GOP field is starting to take shape for next year, with former U.S. ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley, who lost by 6,500 votes to Malloy in 2010, and state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney of Fairfield unofficially entering the fray.

The race has also whet the appetite of House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr. of Norwalk and could draw interest from Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.

“It’s an interesting field. I had the honor and privilege to serve with three of the four individuals,” Fedele said, referring to his time in the General Assembly representing the 147th District and working with McKinney, Cafero and Boughton, a former state rep.

Fedele, 57, whose personal story as an Italian immigrant-turned-self-made millionaire businessman made him the early favorite in the 2010 GOP race, lost a bitter primary to Foley.

“One of the things you learn in this business is you have to have thick skin,” said Fedele, who characterized Foley as a friend. “I wish him well in whatever he does.”

From 2007 to 2011, Fedele served as lieutenant governor under M. Jodi Rell, who did not seek re-election in 2010.

He has since returned to the helm of his Stamford-based information technology company, The Pinnacle Group.

“Government service is not a career for me, and many of the folks who are in office and are looking to run have made it a longtime career,” Fedele said.

Fedele questioned the direction of the state under his former classmate, while tempering his criticism of Malloy.

“I think the state has really been hit,” Fedele said. “I think Dan went after the low-hanging fruit – which is taxes – and continued to spend. The reality is under his watch is taxes have gone up and spending has continued to increase.”

UPDATE:

Malloy spokesman Andrew Doba characterized Fedele’s comments as a case of revisionist history.

“Mr. Fedele was Lieutenant Governor when the state borrowed nearly $2 billion dollars to cover its operating expenses,” Doba said. “He played a key role in an administration that saddled Connecticut with a $3.6 billion deficit. He must be suffering from the worst case of amnesia in political history.”

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Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy huddled with Vice President Biden earlier this evening in the West Wing of the White House.

The two discussed gun control reform in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

Malloy’s office released this photo, taken by the White House.

Stay with Hearst for more on this developing story.

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Here’s a peek at Linda McMahon’s Election Night setup at the Hilton Stamford Hotel, which is where she celebrated her victory in the Republican Senate primary back in August.

Ironically, they’re watching CNN.

This seems more like a Fox News crowd.

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While the Secretary of the State doesn’t keep hourly turnout figures the way many cities and towns do, a spokesman for the office is projecting that 75 to 80 percent of Connecticut’s 2,000,000 voters will cast ballots by the time the polls close at 8 p.m.

Av Harris says that total is in the ballpark with 2008, when the turnout was 78.14 percent.

“We’ve been getting indications that it’s a very heavy turnout,” Harris told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers just before 5 p.m.

In 2004, the turnout was 77.68 percent.

Harris reported minor problems, but characterized the overall voting process is quite smooth all things considered after Hurricane Sandy.

Wait times of 30 to 45 minutes are not uncommon, he said.

In West Hartford, Harris said that some voters were forced to wait over an hour because of a decision by the town to consolidate its number of polling places from 22 to nine, reducing the number of workers.

The Secretary of the State’s office had to step in to help expedite the process in West Hartford, Harris said.

“They went and hired some more poll workers, swore them in,” he said of the town.

Harris also reported some cases of voters being hassled for identification, which is not required.

“We’ve heard poll workers requiring photo ID, which is not the case,” Harris said.