🔒Despite circus, economy, budget top CT voters’ minds

Donald Trump's presidential candidacy has diverted much of the attention away from real policy issues this election year, but make no mistake about it: The economy and Connecticut's fiscal standing will be the top issues on Nutmeg State voters' minds when they head to the ballot box this November.

That's why the state's current ruling class — Democrats currently own the House and Senate as well as the governor's mansion — likely trembled last week at the series of bad economic news that hit the news wires:

• Rogers Corp., which has been based in Connecticut for 184 years, announced it was moving its corporate headquarters to Arizona, relocating at least 70 jobs.

• Cablevision's new parent company — Altice USA — said it was laying off 600 of its Connecticut employees, including workers at a call center in Shelton and back-office facility in Stratford.

• Standard & Poor's released a report that said the state's low budget reserves, high fixed costs and overreliance on income taxes from the wealthy make Connecticut one of the most vulnerable states to significant fiscal stress should even a moderate recession hit the United States.

That's not to say Democrats and their policies are fully, or even partly, to blame for the latest job cutbacks or headquarters relocation — Altice, for example, cited advances in technology for its layoffs, while Rogers Corp. said it wanted to be closer to the “growing business and technology centers on the West Coast” — but they certainly play into the narrative that Connecticut's poor business climate is dampening economic growth and causing businesses to rethink or retract their presence in the state.

When you are the majority party at a time of so much fiscal and economic tumult, voters tend to cast ballots for change. A June Quinnipiac poll that found 79 percent of Connecticut voters were somewhat or very dissatisfied with the direction of the state, only confirms that sentiment.

That's where Trump may actually be an asset for Connecticut Democrats. Some moderate Republicans' aversion to Trump's brash personality and oftentimes unintelligible platform, could cause some Connecticut GOP voters to sit this election out.

That, however, would be a mistake by voters, because with all 187 General Assembly seats up for grabs this November, control of the state House and Senate hangs in the balance.

With a slight 21-15 majority, Democrats' stranglehold on the Senate is in jeopardy. Even their larger 87-64 House advantage isn't totally safe.

And it appears the business community is stepping up its efforts to influence the election.

As the CT Mirror recently reported, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association “is making its first major foray into the world of independent expenditures,” investing $400,000 in a political media blitz aimed at helping four Republicans win seats in swing districts to tilt the Senate in favor of the GOP.

Although CBIA's fiscally conservative ways have never been a secret to lawmakers or politicos, the group — at least publicly — has tried to remain party agnostic, supporting candidates from either side of the aisle who back a pro-business agenda. The group is still supporting some moderate House Democrats in the upcoming elections, the Mirror reported, but its more outward attempt to steer the Senate into the hands of the GOP is likely part of the group's recent strategy shift to take a more aggressive stance with their lobbying efforts.

The business community's heightened efforts to elect pro-commerce state legislators are a good thing, particularly at a time when budget deficits raise the prospects of further tax increases. It will put pressure on candidates to support policies that encourage businesses to invest and grow jobs in Connecticut, which is the only way the state's economic malaise will be reversed.

Just as voters will have the economy top of mind this election season, so too should our elected leaders.