Alarm among Democrats as Lamont campaign considers hiring former PURA official at center of agency’s implosion.

The opening day of the regular session of the legislature and Governor Ned Lamont’s annual state of the state address brought many Democrats together at the Capitol building. Talk of the 2026 gubernatorial was a natural topic in a crowd thick with Lamont well-wishers. Optimism about the way forward to a November win for the popular Greenwich Democrat was tempered by concern he will commit an early blunder by hiring Theresa Govert.

Daily Ructions readers will remember Govert’s role in the yearlong upheaval at PURA, the state’s utility regulator—even if she does not. Govert served as chief of staff under agency former chair Marissa Gillett. It was the discovery of an email written by Govert that brought down both Gillett and Govert when The Courant’s Ed Mahony published it last fall. The email confirmed that Govert had announced restrictions on Gillett’s two PURA fellow commissioners’ access to staff members.

Gillett had denied the policy existed when she testified at her confirmation hearing earlier in the year. Govert remained silent. The lethal email disappeared. The notorious December 2024 op-ed purportedly written by two Gillett and Govert friendly legislators cast doubt on the credibility of the quartet. Gillett’s text message on an op-ed reviewed by her days before the nutty piece appeared in the CT Mirror were deleted from her cellphone. Govert, who was mentioned in one key text, testified last summer that medication she was taking at the time caused her to forget whatever she may have known about the origins of the op-ed.

The year of jarring revelations at PURA caused both Gillett and Govert to leave their powerful perches. Govert landed an ill-defined spot in the Department of Administrative Services. Her tattered reputation has not been an impediment with Lamont’s chief of staff, Matthew Brokman. He is the driving force to move Govert to the Lamont campaign in a crucial position, Daily Ructions has learned from concerned, longtime Lamont supporters.

Lamont remains one of the nation’s most popular governors and is seeking a third term in which the tail winds are with Democrats. Nevertheless, events can intervene into the most stately processions to victory. It is no time to score an own-goal that will benefit the Republican nominee and provide an excuse for rehashing Lamont’s considerable errors in addressing the mess at PURA and the state’s high electricity costs.

This is a developing story.

Published February 4, 2026.