In Wednesday's State of the State Address, Republican Gov. Jodi Rell unveiled a series of election-year gimmicks that guarantee Connecticut will continue to lag behind the rest of the nation and world in job growth. 

John is the only candidate in the race for governor with a real plan to grow Connecticut's economy and a record of creating new jobs in a changing economy. That's why an ever broadening coalition of people is supporting his campaign. Today, we are excited to announce the first group of prominent Connecticut business leaders (listed below) to publicly endorse John’s campaign. They know that John will provide the strong economic leadership our state needs. 

Over the past 12 years, John's stewardship of New Haven has resulted in a dramatic transformation of the city and the creation of thousands of jobs, as well as a vibrant biotechnology sector.  John has a profound understanding of the global economy and how Connecticut can successfully position itself. He has a strong record of uniting Republicans, Democrats, business leaders, non-profit institutions, and politicians. 

Last night, Mayor DeStefano delivered his State of the City address to a crowd of city aldermen and alderwomen, local leaders, and city residents, who packed the city's aldermanic chamber.  The State of the City provides an annual opportunity both to take stock of the city's progress and address the city's continuing needs. Last night, Mayor DeStefano focused on three key areas: public safety, housing, and the city's financial situation.  

At the end of his speech, Mayor DeStefano also addressed an issue close to the hearts of many in Connecticut, calling for the speedy resolution of disputes over the proposed Yale New Haven Cancer Center. He called on all sides to compromise, pointing out that either we all will win, or we all will lose.

Read more about Mayor DeStefano's address in the New Haven Independent and the New Haven Register.

Yesterday, union members and local leaders at eleven cities across the state gathered to announce New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199/SEIU, SEIU Local 32BJ and HERE-UNITE Locals 34 and 35’s endorsement of John DeStefano for Governor of Connecticut.

I was in Hartford midday, where union members were joined by Mayor DeStefano in the Legislative Office Building -- read more about it in the CT News Junkie story.

Then I headed to Norwich (in the fog), where we met outside the Southeastern Mental Health Authority building. Danielle McMullen addressed the gathered workers on behalf of the union, citing Mayor DeStefano’s strong record of support for working families, and Representative Jack Malone spoke on John’s behalf. Representative Malone spoke about the significance of such early and unified union support for Mayor DeStefano’s candidacy, citing strong union support as one of the factors that will propel DeStefano to victory in November. Read more the about the event in the Norwich Bulletin story.

This week's press on Mayor DeStefano's Youth Initiative: New Haven Register article,  WTNH story, and yesterday's Register editorial. The editorial lauds the new initiative, both for its plans for the city's youth, and for the clarity of its goals.

All three stories reflect the strong support for this new initiative. The Mayor's initiative a proactive response to the needs of New Haven's youth, including both concrete first steps and long-term goals. Folks are glad to see city government taking leadership in such an important area.

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Yesterday afternoon, hundreds gathered for Mayor DeStefano’s seventh inauguration and the inauguration of the Board of Alderman. The event was conducted with due ceremony at New Haven’s beautiful Celentano School, newly renovated as part of the city’s massive school renovation program. The event was a real celebration of New Haven: from the national anthem sung by students to prayers offered by representatives of three faiths to the Celentano students who assisted the Mayor during his speech. But the highlight of the afternoon was the Mayor’s announcement of the new City Youth Initiative: A Dream for Our Kids.

In his speech, Mayor DeStefano noted how far the city has come in the past twelve years. He noted that twelve years ago, New Haven had no Shaws on Whalley Avenue, no community farmers markets, no Festival of Arts and Ideas, no Pfizer, no Ikea; key buildings on Temple Street stood vacant, and Ninth Square was all but abandoned. The Mayor also cited improvements in education: New Haven’s pre-school program serves more kids than any other program in Connecticut; the number of kids graduating from high school has increased by more than 30% over the past twelve years.

This past month, City Hall partnered with the Connecticut Food Bank in a food drive to collect food for our state's needy families. Yesterday, the Food Bank announced that the drive had surpassed its goal of collecting one ton of food. The incentive for donating food? A chance to blow up New Haven's Veterans' Memorial Coliseum. Those who donated food were entered in a raffle, and the winner, chosen yesterday, will push a ceremonial plunger to spark the implosion of the building.

The razing of the coliseum is the next step in a massive downtown redevelopment project that will bring the Long Wharf Theater and Gateway Community College downtown, also making way for new retail and housing. Redevelopment of the coliseum site will extend the flourishing Ninth Square district, already home to increasing numbers of new housing units, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and galleries.

See today's article in the Register, complete with photo of the two little kids whose dad won the raffle. 

Again, check out the press that John DeStefano's candidacy is starting to get state-wide. This week's article in the Journal Inquirer is a great example: "DeStefano Says Governor's Race is About State's Economic Future."

In other news, editorial boards across the state are starting to give Jodi Rell the scrutiny she deserves. Check out these editorials:

Courant
Rell Camp Can't Err on Ethics
A big smudge on Rell record

Norwich Bulletin
Our View: Rell’s aide must go if law violated

This week we are proud to announce the endorsement of Teamsters Local 1150, which represents 3500 Sikorsky workers. Local 1150 joins twenty-one other unions endorsing John DeStefano, citing his strong record of local, statewide, and national leadership.

These unions are joined by elected officials and leaders from across the state who are committed to electing John DeStefano Governor of Connecticut. We are proud to call these leaders and organizations our friends and supporters. Join them!

Today, Governor Rell showed us why she is going to lose this election—once again, she was asleep at the switch.  The actions of Governor Rell’s chief of staff call into question both the Governor’s ability to enforce her own fundraising rules and her ability to follow through on promises to Connecticut citizens.

To read Mayor DeStefano's comments on today's Courant article, see this morning's press release.

Yesterday’s announcement that Electric Boat will lose 2,400 jobs is just the latest blow to a SE Connecticut economy already hurting. This morning, news coverage from all over the state points to what a blow the loss of these jobs will be to the entire region. Not only has the region steadily been losing jobs, but new jobs created fail to make up for those lost: the average salary of jobs lost in the region between 1990 and 2002 was $66,000; the average salary of jobs created during that same period: $33,000.

This is just one of a litany of examples of how Connecticut’s economy is stagnating. Connecticut needs an aggressive economic plan that will grow jobs all over the state and provide job security for our working families, and for the past decade the administration has failed to create such a plan.