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 talking about a grand Labor Day tradition and checking in with the head of the state’s largest union coalition.

Let’s dive in…

A glorious Connecticut tradition steps off this morning

For six decades, the lovely folks of Newtown have thrown one of the best parades in the state – one that has become the informal kickoff event for the fall campaign season.

Today, the 64th Newtown Labor Day parade will commence once again, and all the big names are set to be in attendance.

Just think how far we’ve come since last year’s parade…

For reference, you can watch this very well-produced story on last year’s march.

Ned Lamont was still dodging questions about running for a third term.

Ryan Fazio had not yet fully embraced his resemblance to Clark Kent.=

Rob Blanchard was still engaged in a desperate search for a house to buy in the 28th State Senate District.

Today, Ned Lamont is running hard for re-election. Ryan Fazio is the star of a creative (or cringe, depending on who you ask) new ad that leans into the whole Superman thing, and Rob Blanchard will march down the parade route as Newtown’s newest homeowner.

Oh, how time flies when everyone's having fun on the campaign trail.

Hawthorne talks labor priorities and sketches a “third-term Ned”

Of course, no LDW newsletter would be complete without checking in with the folks behind the holiday.

The Tip Sheet rang up Ed Hawthorne, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, while the veteran organizer was taking some time to celebrate after a busy stretch of events.

On Friday, Hawthorne greeted attendees at the AFL-CIO’s Labor Day weekend breakfast.

Mark Pazniokas captured the scenes at the breakfast, including what appeared to be the start of a public push to elect Jahana Hayes the next chair of the House’s Committee on Education and Workforce.

Speaking with Paz, Hawthorne talked up recent polling which showed strong public support for the labor movement.

In conversation with the Tip Sheet, Hawthorne said the polling reflects a swell of strength that has built up behind organized labor in parallel to the broader rise of economic populism across the political spectrum.

In short?

“People are frustrated,” Hawthorne said.

The union coalition that Hawthorne leads has now locked in its picks for this November’s elections, with Ned Lamont leading the list of endorsed candidates. Hawthorne and Lamont have had their share of disagreements over the years. There was a time when Hawthorne would tell just about anyone who would listen about his theory of “two Neds” – a “first-term Ned” and a “second-term Ned.”

In Hawthorne’s telling, “first-term Ned” was the man who shepherded a number of progressive priorities upon taking office. “Second-term Ned” is the man who dashed the hopes of the labor movement to secure unemployment benefits for striking workers.

If there is to be a “third-term Ned,” Hawthorne hopes he will be a governor who signs more legislation like this year’s sweeping House Bill 5003.

“More of that,” Hawthorne said, expressing a desire for an “omnibus labor bill in every session.”

As for two of the largest issues that state policymakers will have to tackle in the next few years, Hawthorne’s views can, unsurprisingly, be summed up with just a few words: looser fiscal guardrails and a strong state employee contract.

Has he reached out to labor leaders in other states to try and lobby for Hayes to get the gavel next year?

“Not yet, but that’s a good idea,” Hawthorne said.

McEnroe asks (and answers) five questions

If you happen to find yourself with a few free minutes today (perhaps with an adult beverage and a hot dog in your hand) do yourself a favor and check out Colin McEnroe’s latest column in which he asks five very pressing questions about the future of Connecticut politics.

Lucky for all of us, McEnroe actually took a stab at answering some of his own questions. He believes that Dick Blumenthal will seek re-election and wrote – rather emphatically – that Rosa Delauro could take on Susan Bysiewicz in a fight. That’s probably a contestable point, given the tenacity of both.

On a more serious note, Bysiewicz is currently navigating another staff shakeup at the top of her office. Sources relay that Matthew Anderson, Bysiewicz’s chief of staff since last fall, has departed her office for a private sector job out west. The Tip Sheet hasn’t been able to definitively confirm the name of a replacement. If anyone wants to lend us a hand, look for the guy holding the microphone with a big “8” on it at the end of the Newtown Labor Day parade route.

Oh, and McEnroe threw a Green Lantern question in there somewhere, too.

That’s all for this week. Happy Labor Day!