Connecticut Democrats Say Rell Spent Taxpayer Money on Politics

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HARTFORD (AP) — Gov. M. Jodi Rell was accused by Democratic leaders on Thursday of spending taxpayer money for political purposes by hiring a pollster to conduct focus group sessions on the state budget.

The Democrats said electronic messages between Kenneth Dautrich, a professor at the University of Connecticut and the former director of the university’s Center for Survey Research and Analysis, and officials in the Rell administration showed that Mr. Dautrich provided political advice to the governor, a Republican, in addition to ideas on how to streamline state government.

“We’re disappointed that the governor has been using state dollars for political purposes,” said the House speaker, Chris Donovan, a Democrat, who did not rule out an investigation into the matter by a legislative committee. Other Democrats suggested that the Office of State Ethics investigate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/nyregion/09rell.html?_r=2&src=twt&twt=nytimespolitics

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