Good morning and welcome back to the Tip Sheet, a weekly newsletter from Tom Dudchik’s Capitol Report written by Mike Cerulli.

This week, we’re breaking down the top endorsements made by the Independent Party of Connecticut.

Let’s dive in…

Fazio secures Independent Party line

Ryan Fazio picked up another ballot line this weekend after the governing committee of the Independent Party of Connecticut voted to support him.

The vote was no surprise. Fazio was the only gubernatorial candidate to seek the Independent Party’s line. Party chairman Chip Beckett confirmed Sunday evening that the state central committee had voted in favor of Fazio.

Dan Haar previewed the endorsement on Saturday. News 8 previously reported that Ned Lamont declined to seek the Independent Party’s line.

In 2022, when the Independent Party carried an automatic line in the gubernatorial election, securing the party’s endorsement was determined by a competitive caucus which ultimately (after some dealmaking and a lawsuit) resulted in Rob Hotaling getting the nod.

But Hotaling narrowly failed to receive enough votes in the general election to give the Independent Party an automatic line this year. As a result, the Fazio-Corey campaign had to undertake a laborious petition drive. 

In addition to the Fazio ticket, Beckett said the Independent Party endorsed Fred Wilms for state treasurer, Stephanie Thomas for secretary of the state, and Sean Scanlon for comptroller. Scanlon and Thomas are each seeking their second term in their respective offices. Wilms, a former two-term state lawmaker, is the GOP nominee against incumbent Erick Russell. Beckett said a complete list of endorsed candidates across numerous legislative races would be available Monday.

As Haar noted, the Independent Party’s ballot line is assured to bring in some votes. Whether or not those votes make a difference, well, that’s a question for November.

Blumenthal watch: Cillizza weighs in

As we noted in the Tip Sheet last week, speculation surrounding Dick Blumenthal’s future has only grown louder in the time since Luke Bronin trounced John Larson in this month’s congressional primary.

National political pundits have begun taking an interest in the question of Blumenthal’s longevity. Chris Cillizza, the former Washington Post commentator, joined News 8’s Dennis House for a discussion of age in politics, offering his thoughts on Blumenthal's situation.

You can watch that interview here.

That’s all for this week. We’ll be back next week with another edition of the Tip Sheet.