Chris Donovan has taken his name off the ballot, clearing the way for Elizabeth Esty to take his spot as the Working Families Party-endorsed candidate.
Donovan hand-delivered a letter to the Secretary of the State’s office today, officially withdrawing himself from the race.

Read more here.

By Jordan Fenster
Register Staff
How does a bill become a law? It doesn’t, when the legislator who proposed it goes against their own party, according to some lawmakers.
Earlier this month, Democratic Simsbury state Rep. Linda Schofield published a column in which she spoke about reprisals for going against the party line.
“I was the frequent target of (state House Speaker) Chris Donovan’s vengeance, because I didn’t always vote the way he wanted me to vote,” she wrote.

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By Mary E. O'Leary and Jordan Fenster

Staff Reporters

NEW HAVEN — Five more people Thursday pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy and election law violations in the 5th District campaign scandal involving a Waterbury smoke shop for a total of eight charged in the case that has roiled a congressional election in Western Connecticut.

The individuals face sentences of five years to 57 years with jury selection set for Oct. 10, long after both parties sort out their 5th District candidate choices in primaries on Aug. 14, but front and center in the news before the November election.

A total of $27,500 in illegal “conduit checks,” that is checks that hide the true identity of the donors, were all contributed to Democratic House Speaker Christopher Donovan's campaign for the 5th District seat and were signed by 11 individuals, according to the court documents.

Read more here.

By Mary E. O'Leary and Jordan Fenster
Register Staff
The federal grand jury indictment of Robert Braddock Jr. Wednesday alleges that the scheme to hide the identify of contributors to state House Speaker Christopher Donovan's 5th District congressional campaign began earlier than previously known, and that the participants were worried about being targeted by the FBI.
The total amount of alleged illegal conduit checks, which are donations given in another person’s name, totaled $27,500, according to the document.
It shows one of the alleged conspirators, widely identified as former labor leader Ray Soucy, advising two owners of roll-your-own tobacco shops not to bring up any proposed legislative bills with Donovan that could be seen as a quid pro quo in a meeting scheduled on Nov. 16, 2011, at a restaurant in Meriden because “the men in black” might be following them.

Read the full story here.

By Jordan Fenster and Mary E. O’Leary
Staff Reporters
Connecticut House Speaker Christopher Donovan, happy with a internal report exonerating him of taking campaign contributions in exchange for swaying legislation, told reporters Thursday night he was moving on with his campaign.
With music playing from a nearby bandstand in Hubbard Park in Meriden, Donovan said Stanley Twardy, a Republican former U.S. attorney hired by Donovan’s congressional campaign committee to look into an alleged scheme to hide the identity of donors, “had full rein to ask questions” and he found no quid pro quo arrangement.

Read this story from Friday's paper here.

Follow ongoing coverage of the campaign finance scandal, and the race for the 5th district here.

Readers can find all stories related to the race for the 5th district, and the Chris Donovan campaign finance scandal here.