NEW BRITAIN, CT — One of the 11 Republican candidates for governor announced Wednesday that he will skip the convention and petition his way onto the primary ballot.
“While I fully respect the Republican convention process and the many well qualified delegates, it heavily favors career politicians and those who have already tried and failed to be elected to statewide office” Bob Stefanowski of Madison, said in a statement.
Stefanowski will instead attempt to collect more than 10,000 signatures from registered Republican voters. He can’t take out the petitions until May 1.
Stefanowski has not participated in any of the Republican Party sponsored debates which started last year. He’s not expected to be on stage Wednesday.
“We have confidence that Bob will be best positioned to articulate our Conservative values and win in November after going through the petition process, which gives all of the over 450,000 registered Republicans a voice in selecting their standard bearer,” Patrick Trueman, Stefanowski’s campaign manager, said.
Stefanowski’s campaign believes the petition process will better prepare him for the August primary.
Before 2017, Stefanowski hadn’t voted in 16 years, according to records.
His explanation: “I worked in London for eight years and two years in Philadelphia,” he said in January. “I should have mailed in an absentee ballot.”
