State election regulators approved a $6.5 million grant Wednesday for the joint re-election campaign of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, as well as grants for nine state and local campaigns.
In order to qualify for the public funding, the campaign had to raise $250,000 in small donations from supporters.
“We are pleased that our grant for public financing was approved today and are grateful to the thousands of grassroots supporters across Connecticut who have joined our campaign,” Eleni Bourinaris-Suarez, a spokeswoman for the Malloy campaign, said.
Tom Foley, Malloy’s 2010 rival and Republican Party-endorsed candidate, has said his campaign also collected the necessary donations. Foley appeared on the agenda of the State Elections Enforcement Commission on Wednesday. However, his application was continued until next week.
Chris Cooper, a spokesman for Foley, said regulators are seeking additional information on some of the donors. Follow up requests are not uncommon for the group and could pertain to details like unreadable signatures or clarification of a donor’s occupation, he said.
“We’re going to get that information together and get it to them by Friday. That will enable us to be on the agenda for Wednesday of next week. We expect to qualify at that meeting,” Cooper said.
If approved, Foley will get about $1.35 million for his primary race against Senate Minority Leader John McKinney.
Regulators approved several other grants Wednesday, including $812,550 for the campaigns of Democratic state Comptroller Kevin Lembo and Republican state treasurer candidate Tim Herbst.
The SEEC also approved $406,275 for Republican Party-endorsed lieutenant governor candidate Penny Bacchiochi for her primary race against Heather Bond Somers and David Walker.
“This is the next step forward in the process that began more than a year ago. I want to thank everyone for the tremendous support that we have received along the way. It was important to us that we qualify for funding early on to maximize our efforts,’’ Bacchiochi said in a statement.
In addition to the statewide candidates, six candidates or incumbents for the state House also had their grants approved. They are Reps. Sam Belsito, Christie Carpino, Dan Fox, Rick Lopes, and James Maroney. Andy Garfunkel also qualified. The SEEC also awarded state senate candidate Marilyn Moore a public financing grant.