Ned Lamont

Ned Lamont was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee in the 2006 congressional election for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.).

Biography
Born in 1954, Lamont grew up in Syosset, New York. He is an heir to the fortune of his great-grandfather, Thomas W. Lamont, who was a partner of the banking and finance firm J. P. Morgan & Co. After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1972, he earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1976 and a Masters of Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management in 1980.

Lamont began his professional career working for a small newspaper in Ludlow, Vermont. He then entered the cable television industry, managing the startup of Cablevision's operation in Fairfield County, Connecticut. In 1984, he founded, and is currently president and chairman of, Lamont Digital Systems, a builder and operator of advanced telecommunications networks for college campuses and residential gated communities, with over 150,000 subscribers. His most recent salary was reported as $546,000 per year. A trade publication reported Lamont and his partners tried unsuccessfully to sell the firm two years ago. 

Before running for the U.S. Senate, Lamont was elected and served as selectman in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, for eight years (two terms), chaired the state investment advisory council, and served on many civic boards. 

2006 Senate campaign
After looking into a possible Senate run as early as 2005, Lamont officially declared his intention to challenge Lieberman in the Democratic primary in March of 2006. Pledging a large amount of money from his own personal fortune to finance his campaign, he declared the he would not accept any money from Washington lobbyists. He did, however, hire Ted Swan, who is registered as a lobbyist in the state of Connecticut, as his campaign manager. 

Lamont’s campaign attempted to focus the discourse surrounding the election on Lieberman’s moderate positions and frequent alliances with the Republican Party. Lamont painted Lieberman as a false progressive and drew focus to his support of the U.S. was in Iraq as a primary example. With public opinion becoming increasingly negative toward the war and the Bush administration’s handling of it, Lamont was able to boost his status from a little-known city selectman to a leading anti-war candidate capable of garnering national press attention. Hi campaign was propelled by the efforts of liberal advocacy groups such as MoveOn.org seeking to move the Democratic Party to the left on a number of issues, who were impressed by Lamont’s call for a quick withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Several powerful Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, campaigned for Lieberman during the primary, but party leaders were widely believed to have discouraged him from pursuing an independent bid was he to be defeated in the primary. 

On August, Lamont completed his transformation from dark horse to giant killer when he defeated Lieberman with 51.8% of the vote in the Democratic primary. The victory was seen by pundits as a reflection of a shift in voter perception regarding the war in Iraq and the direction of the country. 

After his primary loss, however, Lieberman did not drop out of the race. Instead, he announced an independent bid to retain his Senate seat. He exhibited more initial appeal to Republican and independent voters than Lamont, and the latter was once again forced to play catch up. In the general election, Lamont was tasked with the difficulty of extending his appeal to demographics which did not strongly oppose the war in Iraq.

Broadening his support to new demographics proved to be difficult for Lamont. He lost the general election to Lieberman, receiving 40% of the vote to Lieberman's 50% (Republican Alan Schlesinger received 10%). 

Campaign Contact Information
Lamont for Senate 300 Research Parkway Suite 102 Meriden, CT 06450 Phone: 203 634-6601 E-Mail: Info AT nedlamont.com Website: http://nedlamont.com/

Resources

 * Ned Lamont for Senate

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * ConnecticutBLOG Blogspot.
 * LAMONTBlog Blogspot.
 * La Resistance Blog.
 * My Left Nutmeg Blog.

2006

 * "Lieberman Demands Lamont Sever Ties With Jane Hamsher," Talk Left, August 3, 2006.
 * "Lamont-Lieberman Election Day Video," PoliticsTV.com, August 8, 2006.
 * Kos, "CT-Sen: Who will stand with the Democratic nominee?" Daily Kos, August 8, 2006.
 * Chris Cillizza, "Lieberman Concedes Connecticut Primary to Lamont," The Fix/Washington Post, August 8, 2006: "Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh -- who, like Lieberman, has close ties to moderates within the party but is considering a 2008 presidential bid -- quickly announced he would support Lamont."
 * Joe Scarborough, "Why Lieberman's Loss is the Democrats' Gain," The Huffington Post, August 8, 2006.
 * John Amato, "Breaking News: First Dem Leader Steps Up," Crooks and Liars, August 8, 2006. re Hillary Rodham Clinton
 * "Lamont Upsets Lieberman -- and Editorial Pages," Editor & Publisher, August 8, 2006.
 * Paul Bass, "Lamont Topples Lieberman, Shakes Up the Country," New Haven Independent (CT), August 8, 2006.
 * David A. Keene, "Lamont's Victory, Democrats' Loss," American Conservative Union, August 8, 2006.
 * David Sirota, "Lanny, Joe & the right-wing religious hate machine," Sirotablog/WorkingForChange, August 8, 2006.
 * Jonathan Singer, "Democratic Establishment Unifies Behind Lamont," MyDD, August 9, 2006.
 * Dan Balz and Shailagh Murray, "Lieberman Defeated in Democratic Primary. Senator Vows Independent Run As Antiwar Challenger Prevails," Washington Post, August 9, 2006.
 * Rick Klein, "Lamont defeats Lieberman. Senator repeats pledge to run as independent," Boston Globe, August 9, 2006.
 * Shailagh Murray, "Lamont Relied On Net Roots -- And Grass Roots," Washington Post, August 9, 2006.
 * Susan Milligan, "Antiwar challengers across US get a vote of confidence," Boston Globe, August 9, 2006.
 * "Angry Voters, Not Blogger Buzz, Lifted Lamont, Activists Say," Bloomberg News, August 9, 2006.
 * Jonathan Martin, "Where The Lattes Reign," Hotline Blog/National Journal, August 9, 2006.
 * "Schumer, Reid Support Lamont," Hotline Blog/National Journal, August 9, 2006. re Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid Read joint statement.
 * White House News Release: "Interview of the Vice President by Wire Service Reporters," Via Telephone, Jackson, Wyoming, August 9, 2006.
 * Adam Nagourney, "Democrats Back Lamont in Race in Show of Unity," New York Times, August 10, 2006.
 * Patrick Healy and Jennifer Medina, "Lieberman Seizes on Terror Arrests to Attack Rival," New York Times, August 10, 2006. Also see John Aravosis, "White House official gleeful that terrorists wanted to kill thousands of Americans on ten US airlines over the Atlantic," AMERICAblog, August 10, 2006.
 * "Cheney: Lieberman Loss 'Disturbing' Because al Qaeda Is 'Betting They Can Break The Will of The American People'," Think Progress, August 10, 2006.
 * Stephanie Reitz, "Democrats Abandon Lieberman, Back Lamont," ABC News, August 10, 2006.
 * "Media uncritically repeated false GOP attacks on Lamont, Democrats," Media Matters for America, August 10, 2006.
 * Scott Lehigh, "No Leftist Purge of Lieberman," Boston Globe, August 11, 2006.
 * "Headline News Anchor: 'Might Some Argue That Lamont…Is The al Qaeda Candidate?'," Think Progress, August 11, 2006.
 * Bob Geiger, "Lamont Has Truly Arrived -- American Conservative Union Hates Him," Democratic Underground, August 11, 2006.
 * Shailagh Murray, "A Boost for Lamont as Democratic Leaders Shift Support. Round 2 Opens In Bitter Contest With Lieberman," Washington Post, August 12, 2006.
 * Jane Hamsher, "Karl Rove and Joe Lieberman: BFFs," The Huffington Post, August 12, 2006: "The GOP messaging on this has so far gone unanswered, even as right wing ghouls like Dan Senor are dispatched to take the place of Lieberman's lame Democratic consultants and commence the swiftboating of Lamont and those who could capitalize on his victory." See Vets for Freedom.
 * Partial Transcript: "Connecticut Senate Candidate Ned Lamont on 'FNS'," Fox News, August 13, 2006.
 * Andrew Miga, "Lamont: Lieberman Sounded Like Cheney," Associated Press (ABC News), August 13, 2006.
 * Judd Legum, "Kristol: Cheney’s Claim That Lamont Win Helps 'Al-Qaeda Types' Is 'Indisputably Correct'," Think Progress, August 13, 2006.
 * Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, "Demeaning Democracy. Cheney Paints Lamont Victory As Helping Terrorists," Hartford Courant (CT), August 13, 2006.
 * Bob Geiger, "Update on Senate Democrats Supporting Ned Lamont," Bob Geiger Blogspot, August 16, 2006.
 * "'NYT' Sunday Preview: Do Lieberman Foes Know What They Want?" Editor & Publisher, August 17, 2006.
 * John Aravosis, "Jon Stewart on Dick Cheney and Ned Lamont," AMERICAblog, August 17, 2006. YouTube link.
 * "Lieberman and Lamont Tied in Connecticut," American Research Group, August 22, 2006.
 * Chris Bowers, "CT-Sen: New Rasmussen Poll Shows Closer Race," MyDD, August 22, 2006.
 * "FACT CHECK: Ned Lamont Does Not Support ‘Immediate Withdrawal’ From Iraq," Think Progress, August 23, 2006.
 * Jennifer Medina, "Mrs. Clinton Offers to Raise Money for Lamont Campaign," New York Times, August 26, 2006.
 * Bob Geiger, "Confirmed: Inouye Dropping Lieberman and Supporting Lamont," BobGeiger.com Blogspot, August 29, 2006.
 * Don Michak, "Lamont-backing vets blast ads for Lieberman," Journal Inquirer (CT), September 7, 2006.
 * Andrew Miga, "Conn. Senate Race Centers on Iraq War," Associated Press (Forbes), September 7, 2006.
 * Mark Pazniokas, "Lamont, Lieberman Put Spotlight Back On Iraq," Hartford Courant (CT), September 8, 2006.
 * Jennifer Medina, "Lamont Criticizes Lieberman’s 1998 Rebuke of Clinton Over Affair," New York Times, September 8, 2006.
 * Neil Vigdor, "Lieberman camp pulls link to Osama photo," Greenwich Time (CT), September 8, 2006.
 * Andrew Miga, "Lamont Criticizes Lieberman in Debate," Associated Press (ABC News), October 16, 2006.
 * Joe Gandelman, "A New Factor In Connecticut Lieberman-Lamont Race: The Republican Candidate," The Moderate Voice, October 16, 2006.
 * David Sirota, "A Pathological Lying Problem on Display," The Huffington Post, October 16, 2006.
 * "Lamont reports $4.9 million raised in last quarter," Associated Press (Boston Globe), October 16, 2006.
 * John Amato, "Holy Joe gets pwned," Crooks and Liars, October 18, 2006. (YouTube link or QT download.)

2007

 * "Lamont Joins With Kerry, Targeting 4 GOP Senators," Associated Press (Hartford Courant), May 8, 2007.