“There’s a lot of talk about it because of the speech and because of the anger that’s being thrown at Joe Lieberman from rank-and-file Democrats,” said state GOP Chairman Chris Healy. “The poor guy should hire a food taster these days.”
Chief among those who could be appointed are Rep. Christopher Shays, who is facing a tough reelection campaign against a well-funded opponent; Associate U.S. Attorney General Kevin O’Connor; and the two former House members who lost in 2006 — Reps. Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson.
Shays is a proven winner who has held onto his Democratic-leaning seat despite strong challenges each of the last two cycles, while Simmons unseated a 20-year Democratic incumbent in 2000 and only lost by 83 votes in 2006.
O’Connor is a young and well-known former U.S. attorney who ran for Congress in 1998, taking a respectable 41 percent in an open-seat race against Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) in a strongly Democratic district.
Johnson is the oldest of the four, at 73, but state GOPers see her as both a potential placeholder and as someone who could seek reelection.
Other names mentioned include state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, state House Minority Leader Larry Cafero, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase Rogers, state Senate candidate Scott Frantz, Ireland Ambassador Tom Foley and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Barbara Franklin.
The exercise might prove futile, though, as the governor has frequently surprised observers with her appointments, said a state GOP source close to party leadership.
“She’s proven unpredictable, appointing a lot of women to positions, whether it’s judges or commissioners,” the source said. “So you’d have to think about a prominent woman mayoral candidate or something like that. But we’re talking about a U.S. Senate seat here.”
Rell spokesman Chris Cooper said the governor has been asked about the process but isn’t preparing for such a hypothetical.
“She’s said that’s a bridge we’ll cross if we come to it,” Cooper said.
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