Emails from the Senate Republican minority arrive daily in the mailboxes of the reporters covering the state Capitol, a new strategy for a caucus at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years. On matters great and small, partisan and not, 海角换妻鈥檚 tiniest legislative caucus is intent on being heard.
Statements are offered decrying the release of a 鈥渒iller cannibal鈥� from prison, a motorist cited for traveling asleep in a self-driving car on I-91, and the attack on the Pennsylvania governor鈥檚 residence. There is applause for deportations by the Trump administration and grief for the passing of a pope who criticized them.
鈥淰isibility is a positive thing. I鈥檝e always believed that, and when we have smaller numbers, you need to work harder to be more visible,鈥� said Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield. 鈥淎nd that includes speaking up on stories that aren鈥檛 necessarily political.鈥�
Most, but not all, of the GOP messaging comes in the name and voice of Harding, who unexpectedly emerged as the Republican leader after the caucus chased his predecessor, Kevin C. Kelly, from the job in February 2024. Harding had just begun his second year in the Senate after eight years in the House.
Harding is 37, a practicing lawyer, married and the father of two young children. He was born in New York to an Irish Catholic extended family of mixed political preferences. While a toddler, his parents relocated to the Fairfield County community of Brookfield, then a community of 14,000.
There is a bit of a throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks feel to the new communications strategy.
鈥淭here鈥檚 kind of a thought process of you speak on everything, and then once in a while you may find some issues that resonate with folks, and you never know what issue hits with people or may change a vote or open a mind. And I think that that鈥檚 part of the rationale,鈥� Harding said.
A less popular topic for Harding is President Donald J. Trump, whose rise in national politics has coincided with hard times for blue-state Republicans 鈥� even more so in 海角换妻. Harding鈥檚 caucus issued no assessment of the president鈥檚 first 100 days.
Republicans, who had come close to parity in the General Assembly when Trump took office in 2017, lost more state legislative seats in 海角换妻 than any other state during Trump鈥檚 first term. They now hold 11 of 36 seats in the Senate and 49 of 151 in the House.
鈥淚鈥檝e given my assessment when asked about those things,鈥� Harding said of Trump. 鈥淎nd my communication style, and our Senate Republican communication style, continues to remain consistent: We鈥檙e focusing on the things that we actually can control here in the state.鈥�
For Harding, that means honing a sharper edge on criticism of Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democratic governor with a high approval rating, and the Senate Democratic majority. In mid-April, Harding led Republicans in a boycott of a confirmation vote that he says was produced by a deal that bordered on bribery.
Lamont had agreed in February to give Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, a seat on the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Fonfara then dropped his opposition to the confirmation of Lamont鈥檚 choice for a second term as chair of PURA, Marissa Gillett. Fonfara had the votes to keep her nomination bottled up in committee.
Harding called the deal a 鈥渂latant quid pro quo.鈥� Last week, he gave new life to the issue with an amendment that would have barred Lamont from nominating Fonfara for the remainder of the governor鈥檚 term. It had no chance of passage, but the ploy signaled an intention to aggressively hit the majority when possible.
The same week, he excoriated Lamont for tolerating the Board of Regents for Higher Education nudging aside the embattled 海角换妻 State Colleges and Universities chancellor, Terrence Cheng, while allowing him to continue collecting his full salary for duties to be determined until his contract expires on July 1, 2026.
鈥淟ast I checked, when you get a salary of $442,000, you should darn well know what your job is going to be for that amount of money. It is breathtaking. What waste of the taxpayers鈥� money,鈥� Harding said. 鈥淗e should have been fired.鈥�
had reported that the chancellor had charged tens of thousands of dollars to his state credit card on travel and meals, including chauffeured rides to and from his home in New York, despite his contract providing stipends for a car and apartment in Hartford.
鈥淲e need to set a tone with our state employees that the taxpayers鈥� money should be held sacred,鈥� Harding said.
Days later, he tweaked the Democratic majority by offering an amendment during a floor debate that would have required any higher-education salary exceeding $400,000 to come for approval by the General Assembly. It was an attempt to make them part of the Cheng story, and they pushed back.
鈥淚 share the good senator鈥檚 frustration, dismay, disgust with the judgment and sloppy bookkeeping that we have seen at the very top of the leadership of the CSCU system that Sen. Harding mentioned,鈥� said Sen. Derek Slap, D-West Hartford.
But Slap, the co-chair of the Higher Education and Employment Committee, accused Harding of grandstanding, noting that his committee already had crafted legislation imposing greater oversight.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the right way to do it. It鈥檚 been through a public hearing. It has been vetted, and it鈥檚 good government,鈥� Slap said, while Harding鈥檚 鈥渁mendment is ripped from the headlines. This amendment has not gone through a public hearing, and it contemplates significant structural changes to how we function as state government.鈥�
Harding鈥檚 amendment was rejected on a party-line vote.
One advantage of being in the minority is the ability to avoid hard votes.
Harding did not join House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, in proposing a GOP alternative to the budget crafted by the Lamont administration and revised by the legislature鈥檚 money committees.
The House Republican budget called for a pay freeze, which would have complicated the Senate GOP鈥檚 desire to vote for the state police raise that came before the Appropriations Committee on Monday. Most House Republicans on the committee voted against it.
鈥淲e appreciate the House Republicans offering a budget,鈥� said Harding, an Appropriations Committee member. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a far better alternative than what the governor proposed and far better than what the the Democrats ultimately passed out of Finance and Appropriations.鈥�
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said he was not surprised by Harding and the Senate GOP ramping up their communications.
鈥淲e all find different ways in which to communicate with people and see if it resonates,鈥� Duff said. 鈥淭hey communicate, we communicate. And it鈥檚 always a battle the ideas, to try and talk about what we stand for. So I think it鈥檚 kind of simple.鈥�
But Duff said Harding will find it more difficult to remain circumspect on Trump.
鈥淭hey have to communicate whether they鈥檙e with him, or they鈥檙e separating from him. And that is up to them to communicate,鈥� Duff said. 鈥淭hat is, I think, their mission at this point. Because, while their base may be pro-Trump, the rest of the state is clearly not pro-Trump, and they have to figure that part out.鈥�
Act Local NWCT, an anti-Trump group that claims more than 700 members in Harding鈥檚 district, accuses him of using state issues as an excuse not to speak out on the president. They are holding an 鈥渆mpty chair鈥� town hall 7 p.m. Thursday in New Milford that Harding is declining to attend.
鈥淲e have a lot of questions regarding how we鈥檙e going to combat D.C.鈥檚 cuts, tariffs, and policies here in CT,鈥� the group鈥檚 founder, Jackie Eaton said in a statement.
Harding said many of the Act Local members quizzed him during a town hall meeting last week in Torrington, and he is declining to attend Thursday because the Senate session that day is likely to conflict.
Any suggestion he is ducking the group, Harding said, 鈥渋s unbelievably misleading.鈥�
