Fedele approved for more campaign money

Hartford, Conn. (WTNH) - The Connecticut Election Enforcement Commission has ensured that Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Fedele will continue his TV ad campaign because today he got the approval for even more money.

The approval means that Fedele gets another $312,000 in public finance money to bring his total to $2.5 million for the primary election against Tom Foley. It was Foley's personal spending on his campaign that triggered nearly $1.25 million in extra public funds. It’s something that will never happen again.

The only reason Fedele is getting the extra money this time is because the courts and the state legislature can't act fast enough to make the state's campaign finance law comply with the federal court rulings.

"Ultimately, it's crucial that we see some legislative action here and we see it fairly quickly,” said Beth Rotman, with the Election Enforcement Commission. “We may survive the primary operating the program as we have been. It's not going to continue into the general election."

It means that if Fedele wins the primary and faces millionaire Democrat Ned Lamont in the final election, Fedele won't get any extra public funds to be competitive.

If Democrat Dan Malloy wins their primary and faces millionaire Tom Foley in the final election, Malloy won't get any extra public funds to be competitive.

The elections commission Wednesday approved grants to over two dozen candidates for everything from Lt. Governor to State Representative handing out a total of over $2 million in public campaign finance funding for primaries and the final election.