HARTFORD, Conn. — A new Quinnipiac poll shows incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont is maintaining a double-digit lead over his Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski, 56 to 41 percent.
Monday morning, Stefanowski took a stand on law enforcement, signing a pledge with his running mate Laura Devlin, vowing if elected he would reverse three parts of the state’s police accountability law.
Stefanowski says he wants to expand qualified immunity, bring back consent searches and review the use of force standards.
This announcement comes just a few days after the funeral of two Bristol PD officers Dustin Demonte and Alex Hamzy were killed on duty.
State Democrats are now firing back, claiming Stefanowski is “attempting to politicize” the murder of those two officers.
“If you tell me that keeping police officers safe is not your number one priority, you ought to move out of this country,” Stefanowski said outside the Capitol Monday.
“Let anyone, Democrat, Republican, stand up and say ‘We think this bill is perfect.’ Let them stand up and say that,” he continued.
The 2020 police accountability bill put in place multiple measures like implicit bias training, a requirement for body and dash cams, officer bystander intervention, and more.
The most controversial part though was qualified immunity, one of the three things Stefanowski vowed to change.
“We’re going to change this bill, we’re going to work through the details and make it safer for the men and women behind us,” said Stefanowski.
Monday, state Democrats spoke out, claiming Stefanowski is attempting to draw a line between the law and the shooting in Bristol two weeks ago, calling it “disgraceful political pandering.”
In a statement, state legislators said, “Bob Stefanowski and Republicans are politicizing the murder of the two heroic Bristol Police Officers Lt. Dustin Demonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy as an investigation by state police is underway and just days after they were laid to rest… They are creating a false reality to scare and intimidate voters, when data from the state police shows crime is down 30% over 10 years and overall crime is down 3% and violent crime is down 9% over the last 2 years. Stefanowski and the Republicans should learn to be honest with voters. It is clear they do not have anything else to campaign on but false narratives to satisfy their own extreme political agendas.”
Some in law enforcement argue the tragedy in Bristol is changing people’s minds.
“People realize ‘Wow, that wasn’t a great idea. Wow, defund the police didn't work. Wow, we need the police.’ I believe the tide is slowly turning back to that,” said Det. Sgt. John Krupinsky, president of the Connecticut State Fraternal Order Of Police. “People want to feel safe.”
Stefanowski said crime is out of hand and important to Connecticut residents, but the Quinnipiac poll shows money is still top of voters' minds.
Inflation ranked first with 37 percent, taxes second at 13 percent and crime tied for third with abortion at just 8 percent.
Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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