GOP seeks rebound from election losses, a legislative defection

HARTFORD, Conn. --Just two weeks after the election, the shrinking Republican minority in the state's House of Representatives got a little smaller.

State Rep. Diana Urban, a newly re-elected, six-year incumbent from North Stonington, announced she was switching parties and joining the majority Democrats. It marked another setback for the Connecticut Republicans, who had little to cheer about after this month's election except for Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell's overwhelming victory.

Rep. Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, the new House minority leader, denies Urban's defection has anything to do with the party. He said it was more about Urban.

But Cafero acknowledges problems within his party, which now faces a veto-proof majority of Democrats in the legislature and a full slate of Democratic constitutional officers. Meanwhile, Democrats now hold four of Connecticut's five U.S. House of Representatives seats, along with its two U.S. Senate seats.

U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., is now the sole GOP member of the state's Congressional delegation.

"Does the GOP in Connecticut have a problem? You bet it does," Cafero said. "I think part of that problem is, we have failed to define ourselves as Connecticut Republicans and frankly have allowed the national Republican party to define us."

Many Connecticut Republicans see themselves as more moderate than their national counterparts. Rell, for example, supports abortion rights and funding for stem cell research. She also signed the same-sex civil unions bill into law when Republicans elsewhere strongly oppose such measures.

Cafero said Republicans in the legislature also failed to challenge the legislative Democrats on their voting records.

"We have allowed our good friends on the other side of the aisle to go back to their districts and define themselves as Bill O'Neill and Ella Grasso and moderate Democrats, when a point in fact is they come up here and act far different from that," Cafero said, referring to the two former Democratic governors.

"And we have not done an effective job on calling them on that," he said. "So do we have problems that we have to correct? Without a doubt."

The state party could soon be looking for a new leader. Chairman George Gallo said he is considering leaving the position in January. Cafero recently tapped Gallo as his caucus' new chief of staff.

Gallo said he believes so many Connecticut Republicans lost on Nov. 7 because the Democrats successfully nationalized the campaign, making it about President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.

"I chalk it up to a national phenomenon where we got caught up in a tidal wave of this national sentiment," he said. "They were successful in defining us and we really couldn't define ourselves in the appropriate manner."

Gallo said he shudders to think about what the GOP results would have been without Rell at the top of the ticket. Rell defeated Democratic New Haven Mayor John DeStefano by more than 300,000 votes.

Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca, R-Woodbury, said he recently learned that his Senate Republicans were one of a handful of GOP legislative caucuses across the country that retained the same number of seats -- 12 of 36 -- after this year's election.

Senate Republicans had hoped to make some gains this year, spending more time on organization and planning, focusing on local issues, targeting six races they felt were winnable and raising more campaign cash.

"They all carried out their plan. They all worked extremely hard, but we had this national situation that was very difficult to overcome," DeLuca said. "It was like a perfect storm. Everything came together against us."

Despite the losses, Gallo said he is optimistic about the Republican Party in Connecticut, pointing to the fact that there are more GOP officials running local cities and towns than Democrats. He said the enthusiasm among voters for those municipal candidates must be harnessed for the next state races in 2008.

"When we talk issue to issue, pocketbook issues, Republicans win on the municipal level," said Gallo, who sees those local leaders as rising stars of the GOP.

Republicans are hoping that crop of potential candidates for state office will be able to take advantage of the new campaign finance reform laws that are starting to take effect. By the 2008 elections, legislative candidates will be able to apply for state financing for their campaigns so long as they abide by certain restrictions.

In some past races, Democrats have been able to outspend Republicans by as much as a four-to-one margin, Gallo said. The new law is supposed to help even the playing field.

He predicts there will be enough Republican candidates to run in all 151 state House of Representatives races and 36 Senate races once public financing is available.

"I have confidence in the Republican message, Republican issues and I think we stand a great chance in those types of races," he said.

------

AP Political Writer Susan Haigh has covered the Connecticut statehouse and political scene since 1994.