Lembo-Jarjura, Round 2

The Democratic race for comptroller is turning into the hottest battle among the many primary contests on the August 10th card.  Last week, Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura let loose on his party-endorsed opponent, insurance advocate Kevin Lembo.  During an appearance on Dan Lavallo’s radio program, Jarjura accused Lembo of being a tool of incumbent comptroller Nancy Wyman.  Jarjura went on to suggest that Wyman may be supporting Lembo, once her subordinate, in order to cover up something or other in her office.  It was an odd accusation.

Jarjura also complained that Lembo’s campaign was veering into issues irrelevant to the comptroller’s job, such as Jarjura’s support of the conservative Family Institute and his hiring of felonious former governor John G. Rowland.  A few days later, Jarjura won the endorsement of the Family Institute, which blasted Lembo as a left wing nutter, doing the same thing Jarjura had complained of a few days before.

This afternoon, Lembo appeared on Lavallo’s show and mocked Jarjura for being a candidate for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and, finally comptroller.  Lembo, of course, was an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor before making a last minute switch into the race for comptroller after Wyman’s entry into the lieutenant governor’s sweepstakes upended Lembo’s campaign. He skedaddled into the competition for Wyman’s job a few days before the convention.

File this under hunches, but this has the sound of a campaign that’s going to get rougher.