In Run for Governor, Stefanowski Has Yet to Detail Finances

By SUSAN HAIGH, Related Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Within the 4 years since Republican businessperson Bob Stefanowski first ran for governor, he says he has supported himself with work as a advisor. As he once more asks voters to place him accountable for Connecticut, he has but to reveal his purchasers or different particulars of his funds.

Stefanowksi first introduced his candidacy in January and obtained the state GOP’s endorsement on the conference final month. He mentioned Wednesday that his private monetary data can be forthcoming, together with tax returns for him and his spouse, however didn’t present a time-frame.

There has lengthy been an expectation that candidates publicly launch details about their private funds, together with taxes, mentioned Gary Rose, chair of the division of presidency at Sacred Coronary heart College in Fairfield. As extra rich candidates with little to no prior elective service run for workplace in Connecticut, usually funding their very own campaigns, he mentioned it’s extra necessary for that data to be launched to the voters.

“It’s necessary to know what their connections have been,” he mentioned. “It tells a narrative.”

As in 2018, when Stefanowski waited till late October to publicly launch a abstract of his taxes, Democrats have criticized him for not being extra forthcoming.

“When he ran in 2018, Bob refused to share tax data till the final days of the marketing campaign. In 2022, it appears to be like like he’s doing the identical factor, What’s Bob hiding?” Connecticut Democratic Celebration Chair Nancy DiNardo mentioned.

In his enterprise profession, Stefanowski, 59, labored for Basic Electrical and funding financial institution UBS earlier than turning into CEO of a worldwide payday lending firm. He’s additionally a licensed public accountant and monetary analyst and creator of two books on mergers and acquisitions.

Stefanowski has supplied little details about his work as a advisor. Requested Wednesday what kind of companies he labored with, he mentioned that may very well be mentioned at some future date: “We will undergo all this. I’m going to launch what I can. What ethically and legally I can launch.”

He added: “In a consulting agency, there’s at all times confidential data.”

The GOP candidate mentioned Wednesday that he plans to launch tax returns for 2019, 2020 and 2021 and can embrace “our household revenue,” together with all of his investments.

Stefanowski and Gov. Ned Lamont, the Democrat who defeated him in 2018, are every spending massive sums of their very own cash on their marketing campaign this 12 months, forgoing public marketing campaign financing. Whereas Stefanowski has loaned his marketing campaign about $10 million to this point, cash that would ultimately be repaid by the marketing campaign, Lamont is predicted to foot a lot of the invoice himself for his race. The previous founding father of a cable TV firm, Lamont doesn’t settle for a wage as governor and largely self-funded his earlier campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate.

The Lamont marketing campaign in April allowed reporters to assessment a abstract of the governor’s adjusted gross revenue, efficient tax fee, complete charitable contributions and state and federal taxes for years 2018-2020. Reporters had been additionally allowed to assessment redacted particulars of his returns. The governor — who information his taxes individually from his spouse, Annie, a enterprise capital advisor — didn’t launch his 2021 returns. His marketing campaign mentioned he requested a submitting extension from the IRS.

Stefanowski mentioned he’ll finally launch extra monetary data than Lamont.

“We’re going to launch returns for 2019, 2020, 2021. It’s going to incorporate our household revenue,” he mentioned. “My disclosure goes to be probably the most, in all probability within the historical past of Connecticut, from a governor, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Stefanowski has criticized Lamont for not offering voters with extra details about his spouse’s funds, particularly given the ties that Oak HC/FT, the Greenwich enterprise capital agency cofounded by Annie Lamont, has had with numerous firms working with the state of Connecticut, together with a former vendor contracted by the state to supply COVID-19 testing providers. Lamont has mentioned the corporate, Sema4, has not made a revenue. If it did, he mentioned, the cash could be donated.

“I don’t assume it’s unreasonable for the taxpayers of Connecticut to ask for the governor’s household to launch these numbers,” Stefanowski mentioned.

Rose mentioned he additionally believes Annie Lamont ought to launch tax data.

All statewide elected officers, members of the Basic Meeting and different state officers are required in Connecticut to file a press release of economic pursuits for the previous calendar 12 months with the Workplace of State Ethics.

Ned and Annie Lamont filed a particular 16-page plan with state ethics officers that makes an attempt to get rid of the potential of a considerable battle of curiosity or potential battle involving Annie Lamont. The workplace concluded in 2019 that the steps taken by the couple to stick to state ethics guidelines had been “sufficient to higher guarantee compliance.” They embrace the couple proactively recusing themselves from taking any motion that includes Oak HC/FT portfolio firms.

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