Ann Lamont Wanted State to Pay to Promote Ned’s Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor.

Governor Ned Lamont’s top advisors were excited in June when the Wall Street Journal opinion section agreed to publish a letter from the Greenwich Democrat. Lamont’s missive was a response to a Journal editorial on UTC’s merger with Raytheon and the companies’ decision to locate its headquarters in Boston. The Journal blamed the decision to move UTC out of Farmington on the state’s tax policies.

Lamont’s reply highlighted his first budget. He concluded with a call to stop your complaining, “Part of what ails Connecticut is a willingness to harp on the past instead of focusing on the great assets we have.”

An enthusiastic message from Yale leadership dean to Ann Lamont prompted the governor’s wife to tell communications director Maribel La Luz, “This should be amplified in social media with a paid buy.” La Luz, who soon departed the office for the Department of Economic Development (DECD), didn’t think the taxpayer could be tagged with the bill.

Mrs. Lamont disagreed. “Out of promotion for the state-it’s not political. I consider this a defense of CT and good for business and tourism as it’s a positive piece about the state.” If the public could not foot the bill, could the Democratic party pay for some social media boosting.

The party did pay for a social media buy. When Sonnenfeld did not see the piece going viral, he expressed his disappointment to Mrs. Lamont, who made an inquiry of Ryan Drajewicz, the governor’s chief of staff. Seems the Wall Street Journal did not take down its successful paywall for a letter from Ned Lamont, so anyone interested in the letter but not a subscriber only saw the first paragraph.