Ned Lamont

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Ned Lamont

Edward M. "Ned" Lamont (born 1954) is a businessman from Greenwich, Connecticut who will face U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) in a primary challenge for the Democratic Party on August 8 in the 2006 elections.

Background

After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1972, Lamont earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University (home of the Lamont Library) in 1976 and a Masters of Public and Private Management from what is now the Yale School of Management in 1980. He then entered the cable television industry, managing the startup of Cablevision's operation in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Four years later, Lamont 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. The company's finances are private, though it currently has 35 employees, down from 100 in 2001.

Before running for the U.S. Senate, Lamont held local office in the suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut. Lamont unsuccessfully ran for a state Senate seat in 1990, finishing in third place.[link]

Lamont is the great-grandson of former J.P. Morgan & Co. Chairman Thomas W. Lamont, and has an inherited net worth estimated between $90 million and $300 million. On July 17 the Waterbury Republican-American reported the assessed value of Lamont's Greenwich's home was $30 million. His father, Ted, was an economist who worked with the Marshall Plan which helped reconstruct Europe after World War II. He later served in the Nixon administration in Housing and Urban Development. Ted Lamont is now an unaffiliated voter, having last voted for a Republican in 1988. He has told The Hartford Courant that ["Eastern Moderates no longer have a place in the GOP."]

Lamont is also the nephew of humanist philosopher Corliss Lamont, a socialist [link] who was director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1932 to 1954, president emeritas of the American Humanist Association, author of 16 books, and a lifelong peace activist.

2006 U.S. Senate Campaign

Lamont initially supported Lieberman's 2006 re-election bid, even donating $500 to Lieberman in February 2005.[link]

In March 2006, however, Lamont officially announced his campaign for United States Senate against Lieberman. Lamont has spent over $1.5 million of his fortune on the campaign and has pledged to spend another million of his funds in the primary. Also, Lamont pledged not to take money from lobbyists. In early 2006, Lamont received the backing of former independent Connecticut Governor and Republican U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker, who was unseated by Lieberman in 1988.

Lamont has tried to portray himself as a more progressive alternative to Lieberman, who has been criticized for being too conservative due to his support of the 2003 Iraq War and perceived closeness to the George W. Bush administration. His campaign began with support from "grassroots" and "netroots" Democratic and progressive activists, including DailyKos and MoveOn.org.

On July 6, 2006, Lamont faced off against Lieberman in a 51-minute televised debate which covered issues ranging from the war in Iraq to energy policy to immigration, and can be viewed as streaming video at the NBC 30 website [link]. Lieberman argued that he was being subjected to a "litmus test" on the war, insisted that he was a "bread and butter Democrat" and on a number of occasions asked, "Who is Ned Lamont?" Lieberman asked Lamont if he would disclose his income tax returns and Lamont did not answer the question. Lamont focused on Lieberman's working relationship with Republicans and critcized his vote for the "Bush/Cheney/Lieberman energy bill." Lieberman stated, in response to Lamont's assertion that he supported Republican policies, that he had voted with the Democratic caucus in the Senate 90% of the time.

External links

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