Tale of two candidates: Elliott continues to miss House votes to campaign. Fazio represents his district and calls in to winning pitch to RTC.

State Representative Josh Elliott continues to choose his campaign for governor over his constituents. The Hamden Democrat has been missing roll call votes during the hectic final days of the regular session of the General Assembly. It comes to a conclusion on Wednesday, May 6th, but Elliott has been taking a powder from House sessions to hunt for Democratic state convention votes.

Eliott has been one of the few members of the House missing roll call votes night after night this week. On Monday, Eliott appears to have left the House to make a dash to Willimantic to make his pitch to local activists. The Journal of the House notes only that he missed roll call votes to attend to “personal business.”

State Senator Ryan Fazio, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, has been attending to his responsibilities by staying at the Capitol as the Senate conducts its work. The Greenwich Republican has learned to hone his pitch from a distance. On Monday, he called into the East Windsor Republican Town Committee and make his pitch remotely. Result: a surprise endorsement from a party committee in an area of the state thought to be a stronghold for rival Erin Stewart.

In a Wednesday text, Fazio wrote, “It’s been a unique challenge, but a good problem to have. I love being in the Senate and working for the policies I believe in. That has meant I have missed some campaign opportunities and called into some others, including in East Windsor recently where I was very proud to win their RTC endorsement.”

Democrats and Republicans meet in May to endorse candidates as a prerequisite to August primaries.