What a haul: John Larson’s $6.6 million in special interest money. Veteran Democrat’s has financed 2/3 of his campaigns in the past decade with PAC contributions.

Embattled Democratic incumbent U.S. Representative John Larson was in a state of hyperbole recently over an independent expenditure from a Connecticut-based committee on behalf of party-endorsed candidate Luke Bronin.

Larson and Bronin have gone a few rounds over each other’s campaign contributions. Larson seemed to think he’d landed a punch by criticizing Bronin’s relationship with Connecticut Democratic mega-donor Stephen Mandel. Buckshot is the preferred weapon on the struggling Larson campaign.

Since the 2016 campaign cycle through the first quarter of this year, Larson has raised $9.962 million in campaign contributions. More than $6.6 million of that haul was in special interest contributions. That”s 66%

There is a certain unexpected symmetry to Larson campaign spending. Tens of thousands each cycle to Peppercorn’s Grill–one event a few years ago cost more than $26,000 for “political meals”–and what looks like a peppercorn rent for campaign office space at Goodwin University for $550 a month. Larson’s taxpayer financed office space is also at Goodwin University.

Larson insists the 1st Congressional District is not for sale. Here’s a random sample of some of the special interests that have donated to the 14-term Democrat in recent years with no expectation of intruding on the Congressman’s time or attention:

A Pleasant Peninsula

WaMart Inc. PAC for Responsible Government

The Home Depot Inc PAC

Charter Communications PAC

CVS Health PAC

Bank of America PAC

T-Mobile U.S. Inc PAC

American Soybean Association PAC

Blue Cross Blue Shield PAC

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP Partners PAC

Greenberg Traurig PAC

Avangrid PAC

United Health Group PAC

Federation of American Hospitals PAC

Google PAC

AIPAC

Ambulatory Surgery Center Associations PAC

And on and on and on it goes for $6.6 million with only one seriously contested race–this one.

With Bronin’s astonishing party convention victory on May 11th, Larson has unexpectedly become the challenger for the nomination. The East Hartford Democrat–frequently alluding to his early life in a public housing project in the 1950s–continues to have some trouble capturing the worn Mayberry Village tough shibboleth that has peppered so many speeches.

The primary in the 27-town district is August 11th. Democratic voters will witness an intense, historic struggle in the next two months during the first Connecticut House primary that includes an incumbent.

Published June 11, 2026.