Political Action Committee spending either for or against candidates in the upcoming 2026 general election has all but disappeared. With nearly all the major independent expenditure organizations having spent heavily during the primary season but laying low for the general, this gubernatorial race is a far cry from the 2022 contest between Republican Bob Stefanowski and Gov. Ned Lamont.
Independent expenditure organizations, also commonly known as political action committees (PACs), can take in and spend money to support or oppose candidates of their choice, but they are separate from political campaigns and are not allowed to communicate or coordinate with political campaigns.
According to filings on the State Elections and Enforcement Commission’s website, PAC spending for or against candidates in either party has dried up since the primaries.
Support for Republican candidates, including gubernatorial candidate Sen. Ryan Fazio, has disappeared since former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart dropped out of the Republican primary in the face of a spending scandal related to her time as mayor.
The only independent expenditures involving Republican candidates this year came from Hands Off Our Schools, which expended nearly $87,000 opposing Erin Stewart’s bid to become governor until she dropped out on May 14. In total, Hands Off expended $115,907.14. Hands Off Our Schools hasn’t made any additional filings since June 29, and those filings largely included costs associated with opposing Stewart.
A review of independent expenditure organizations shows no other PACs supporting Republican candidates during the 2026 elections. That could be problematic for Fazio who, according to the latest Quinnipiac University Poll, is trailing Lamont by 17 points and faces a name recognition issue, with 45 percent of respondents saying they, “haven’t heard enough about him.”
Connecticut GOP Chairman Ben Proto says he can’t communicate with PACs but after spending so much money against one Republican candidate, it would be nice to get some support for the party’s nominee or some opposition against Democrats
“It would be nice if some Republicans actually decided to go after Democrats on occasion,” Proto said.
Meanwhile, there are four separate PACs aligned with the Democratic Party, although much of their spending was made either early in the election season or on primary races.
Impact CT, Inc., an independent expenditure organization that had $1.1 million in the bank, spent $365,380.94, largely on consultants and polling during spring 2026, according to their latest July 10 filing, but the organization has not spent money on advertising for or against any candidates.
Connecticut for the Future, bolstered by money sent from SuperPACs in Washington D.C., has spent $96,483.06 almost entirely on Democratic primary races, including supporting Rep. Maryam Khan, D-Hartford, in her primary race to unseat Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Bloomfield, who has spent the last year engrossed in a multi-million scandal and federal investigation.
Similarly, Working Families for Education Excellence spent $128,466.45 this year, again, almost entirely on primary races, including supporting Khan’s race against McCrory, but spending in the general election for PACs associated with either party has essentially been nil.
It’s a far cry from 2022, when Republican Bob Stefanowski faced Gov. Ned Lamont for the second time in a gubernatorial contest and was backed by Advancing Connecticut, a PAC with $3.7 million from the Republican Governor’s Association, and Stronger CT pumped $2.7 million from the Democratic Governors Association into opposing him.
PACs tied to Planned Parenthood, the Working Families Party, and the CT League of Conservation Voters poured money into the 2022 legislative races, and CT for Justice spent well north of $100,000 on supporting Attorney General William Tong’s reelection.
At the time, President Joe Biden’s administration was proving unpopular amid sky-high inflation, and Republicans were looking to capitalize, although their efforts largely didn’t bear fruit in Connecticut.
“The independent expenditures only exist if there are donors who have a vested interest in the outcome on behalf of the candidate, that they’re intently trying to support the election or defeat of the candidate, or if the outside organizations – RGA [Republican Governors Association], NRCC [National Republican Congressional Committee], NRSC [National Republican Senate Committee] – see this as an opportunity for a pickup,” said Liz Kurantowicz, a political consultant who helped engineer a Connecticut Republican rise to power in the General Assembly from 2012 to 2016 through her political action committee.
Now, with President Donald Trump back in the White House and Republicans facing strong political headwinds, it’s likely that national PAC money is going to other races where Democrats feel they can pick up wins and Republicans are trying to defend.
A Democratic insider speaking with Inside Investigator said the Connecticut races – particularly the congressional races – are not seen as competitive, and that major Republican vulnerabilities in places like Texas, where incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott is surprisingly neck and neck with challenger State Representative Gina Hinojosa, are causing national SuperPACs for both parties to pour money into those races instead.
Kurantowicz says late September would typically still be considered early in the game, and that she would begin really pushing roughly three weeks out from the election, but with early voting set to begin October 19, it is nearly three weeks before voters can begin casting ballots.
Additionally, both gubernatorial candidates have money in the bank to get their messages out there, which may also limit how much PACs are willing to spend on the general election.
Lamont’s largely self-funded campaign has already spent roughly $10.4 million, including a primary campaign against Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden; Fazio recently received $18 million through Connecticut’s Citizen’s Election Program.
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