M. Jodi Rell (Getty Images/Neilson Barnard)
Connecticut Gov.
M. Jodi Rell is the strong favorite for re-election in 2010, should she decide to run, but you wouldn't know if from the latest fundraising numbers.
Rell raised $20,000 in the second quarter of 2009, just a fraction of what two prospective Democratic challengers, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz and Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, pulled in in the same period. A third Democrat, former state House Speaker James Amman, has yet to release his fundraising report for the period.
Bysiewicz raised $141,000 and Malloy $147,000, leaving the former with $171,000 cash on hand and the latter with $195,000 at the end of June. Rell, in contrast, reported just $71,000 in the bank.
Of course there is little reason for Rell to feel any sense of urgency at this point. In her first full term as governor (she completed the final two years of Republican John R. Rowland's term when he resigned in 2004 in the midst of a corruption scandal), the Republican incumbent has continued to cruise along with high popularity ratings. Unlike Bysiewicz, Malloy and Amman, who face a heated primary, Rell's road to the nomination is clear.
Rell, however, has yet to confirm that she wants to defend her seat in 2010, and her lack of fundraising focus at this point raises questions about how serious she is about another run.
CQ Politics rates the race Republican Favored.
To follow the 2009 and 2010 governors' races, check out CQ Politics' election map.
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