Race for comptroller heats up

Jarjura produces derisive attack ad targeting Lembo

By Don Michak
Journal Inquirer
Published: Monday, July 26, 2010 11:28 AM EDT

Waterbury Mayor Michael J. Jarjura is playing hardball in his bid to be the Democratic nominee
for state comptroller, and Kevin P. Lembo, the state health care advocate who bested Jarjura to
win their party’s endorsement at its state convention in May, doesn’t like it one bit.

The battle leading up to their Aug. 10 primary showdown reached a boiling point last week,
when Jarjura charged that Lembo didn’t qualify for $375,000 in public campaign financing
approved by the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

That dispute was slated for a hearing today in Hartford Superior Court.

But Jarjura over the weekend also launched a direct mail assault on Lembo in conjunction with a
special website paid for by Jarjura’s campaign — somewhat delicately titled “LemboLies.”

Both decry the “Lembo Limbo,” wondering how low Lembo can go in attacking Jarjura and
“hiding” things about his past. They allege that Lembo “was taken to court for not paying his
bills’ and “now wants to be in charge of Connecticut’s checkbook.” They also argue that he was
chief of staff “for a right-wing Republican who worked against health care reform, against a
woman’s right to choose, and proposed raising the eligibility age of Medicare to 70.”

Lembo promptly declared that he was “shocked” and “appalled” by Jarjura’s “distortions and
lies,” calling the mailer and the website “juvenile.”

“Some of my opponents’ claims are just bizarre,” he added.

Lembo, a New Jersey native who lives in Guilford, said that “having been a homeowner in three
states, I am unaware of any personal credit issues or unpaid bills.”

He said that in the late 1990s he worked for former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey, but
that Jarjura “failed to reveal that the lieutenant governor also became a Democrat in very short
order and ran against her former running mate, Republican George Pataki.

“But for the record, she is probably less conservative than the mayor of Waterbury,” he added.
“She actually supports a woman’s right to choose.”

Jarjura had charged on the website that while Lembo says he was assistant comptroller under
Comptroller Nancy Wyman, the Tolland Democrat now running for lieutenant governor, “that
position never existed until he left.”

But Lembo said Wyman gave him that title “and she can verify it.”
“My work in the comptroller’s office focused, in part, on convincing the legislature to increase
contributions to the Rainy Day Fund, and I am proud of that effort,” he said.

Jarjura also alleged that Lembo “forgot to tell us that his health care advocate salary is paid for
by the insurance industry,” and that after vowing to fight rate increases, “Lembo backed down to
the insurance companies that pay his salary.”

“If it has been a secret to the mayor of Waterbury that the office of the health care advocate is
funded through the insurance fund,” Lembo countered — adding that he knew Jarjura “was
absent for that vote as a member of the General Assembly” — then Jarjura is “woefully
informed.”

The office, Lembo said, like the Banking and Insurance departments, “is funded by an
assessment on the regulated industry. I make no apologies for helping consumers save $20
million since taking office. My record of accomplishment is pretty clear.”

Lembo, who was considered a longshot in the contest for the Democratic endorsement, won the
support of 55 percent of the convention delegates after Fairfield First Selectman Ken Flatto
withdrew and released his delegates in favor of Lembo. Jarjura took 19 percent of the vote,
qualifying him for the primary.