Republican John Shaban’s judicial nomination withdrawn.

Redding Republican John Shaban’s nomination for the Superior Court will not go forward. The former state representative, who enjoyed the crucial support of the House and Senate minority leaders to snag a spot among the dozen nominees, would not concede at his Thursday confirmation hearing that he had been charged with a crime in a 2019 domestic incident with his girlfriend.

Governor Ned Lamont notified the Judiciary Committee Monday that he was withdrawing the Republicans’ choice. Shaban spent more than an hour before the committee on Thursday and appeared to frustrate several members with his version of what it means to be arrested. Senator Gary Winfield (D-New Haven, the committee co-chair, expressed reservations about the Shaban nomination when he concluded questioning him near the end of the six-hour hearing.

Shaban served three terms in the House from 2011 to 2017. Since then, he has made unsuccessful runs for Congress, attorney general, state representative, and first selectman of Redding.

With only four weeks left in the regular session of the General Assembly, it is unlikely there is time for Republicans to substitute another choice for Shaban.

The nomination of the other candidate who met some resistance on Thursday, former state budget director Jeffrey Beckham, continues to be the subject of speculation and private deliberations.

Published April 6, 2026.