The state treasurer’s job is a powerful position and 3 Connecticut Democrats want it. First they face each other.

Despite operating mostly out of the public spotlight, the Connecticut treasurer is often seen as the second most powerful person in state government.

While managing a $44 billion pension fund, the treasurer is tasked as the sole fiduciary to make sure that the pensions for state employees and public school teachers are properly invested during the booms and busts on Wall Street.

With the incumbent treasurer, Shawn Wooden, not seeking reelection, three Democrats are now battling for the position in the Aug. 9 primary.

Former gubernatorial candidate and hedge fund manager Dita Bhargava of Greenwich is making her second run for the office following a loss in the August 2018 primary to Wooden. As a former vice chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, Bhargava is running against another former party vice chairman, attorney Erick A. Russell of New Haven, and Karen Dubois-Walton, a Yale graduate who serves as New Haven’s public housing authority leader and chairwoman of the state board of education.

Russell, seen as a 33-year-old rising star in the Democratic Party, won the party’s convention nod with 47% of the delegates in May as the other candidates declined to force a second round of voting.

One of the key issues in the race is the qualifications of the candidates, who have three different backgrounds but all say they are prepared through their careers and life experiences.

With more than 25 years of global portfolio management experience on Wall Street and now running her own hedge fund, Bhargava said she is clearly the best qualified candidate.

“You wouldn’t go to a barber to get a root canal,’' Bhargava said in an interview. “The bottom line is if you’re signing up to manage the state’s investments, then you should have investment management experience. And I am the only candidate who has managed billions of dollars of client money. That’s what this requires. ... I’m confident that I’m ready on Day One.’'

All three have qualified for $484,000 in campaign funds under the state’s public financing program — meaning they will have the same amount of money to spend in a scramble during the campaign’s final two weeks.

They each have television commercials running, including on MSNBC, which is favored by many Democrats and liberals who are likely to vote in a primary. The winner will run against Republican state Rep. Harry Arora, a longtime trader, in the November election.

Erick Russell

A first-time candidate who graduated from UConn law school, Russell works as a public finance attorney and partner at Pullman and Comley, a major Bridgeport-based law firm with nearly 100 attorneys. He represents cities and towns, state agencies, and the state itself in financing infrastructure projects, such as housing, public schools, and child care facilities, among others.

“A lot of that work is directly through the treasurer’s office,’' Russell said in an interview. “So I have direct experience in working through the office that will really allow me to step into this role on Day One.’'

Russell has captured the most high-profile endorsements in the race.

He has been endorsed by some of the top Democrats in the state, including U.S. Rep. John B. Larson of East Hartford, House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford, House majority leader Jason Rojas of East Hartford, and former lieutenant governor Nancy Wyman. At the municipal level, Russell is being supported by mayors Luke Bronin of Hartford, Joe Ganim of Bridgeport, Neil O’Leary of Waterbury, and Shari Cantor of West Hartford, among others.

Overall, 18 state legislators have endorsed him, which is important because the legislators are running for reelection this year and have networks of committed volunteers who help them get out the vote. The list also includes two former state treasurers, Joe Suggs of Bloomfield and Denise Nappier, the first Black woman elected as state treasurer in American history.

Besides elected officials, Russell has been endorsed by Region 9A of the United Auto Workers, a key supporter that comes armed with volunteers who are ready to join phone banks and knock on doors.

If elected, Russell and his supporters say he would be the first openly gay African American statewide elected official in the country. That designation came from the Victory Fund, a national group that has been working for the past 30 years to elect LGBTQ candidates across the nation.

As a student of former state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor at the University of New Haven, Russell went to the state Capitol for the first time to learn about the death penalty and public service.

As the son of an interracial couple whose now 80-year-old father met his mother in Germany when he was stationed there as a paratrooper in the military, Russell grew up in New Haven and tells the story about working in his family’s convenience store on Congress Avenue.

“It was a tough area at the time, and they worked around the clock to make ends meet,’' Russell said. “That was my lens into community in a lot of ways. My parents weren’t political at all, but we saw the struggle of working families in the city. It was through their sacrifice that I was the first person in my family to graduate from college and then law school. I’m making sure I’m giving back to communities like the one I grew up in.’'

Dita Bhargava

Bhargava captured attention for the normally low-profile treasurer’s race by broadcasting a provocative commercial about abortion as a series of bare-shouldered women appeared on the screen.

“People might ask why a candidate for state treasurer is focused on this issue. It’s a fair question,’’ Bhargava said. “I’m focused on it because the state treasurer has the power to affect corporate behavior by the investments it makes. Or doesn’t make.’'

Bhargava’s ad was initially blocked on the Hulu streaming service because the company’s parent, Disney, refused to broadcast commercials involving abortion. But the decision was soon reversed, and Bhargava says it will serve as an example of how she would run the treasurer’s office.

“It’s a microcosm of what I envision my role as state treasurer would be,’' Bhargava said in an interview. “You have these relationships with these companies. You guide companies to do the right thing, and then they get rewarded with their investment. ... I didn’t hesitate a second to call them out on it. Look, companies that do the right thing should get rewarded with the business, and that’s exactly the type of relationship that I will hold with the companies that we invest in as state treasurer.’'

After Bhargava’s abortion commercial was blocked by Hulu, Russell stepped forward on the issue. He said that his campaign would not spend any money on Hulu in solidarity on the abortion issue.

While Russell has been backed by some marquee names, Bhargava has major endorsements from former Pepsi chief executive officer Indra Nooyi, former Bridgeport mayor Bill Finch, state senators Saud Anwar of South Windsor and Cathy Osten of Sprague, and Rep. Kerry Wood, the co-chairwoman of the House moderate caucus.

A former employee at Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Citadel, a major hedge fund, Bhargava says she has the experience to understand the financial markets.

She said keeping companies accountable is crucial, bringing up the case of Stamford-based Purdue Pharma, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019 following a national controversy over its sale of the painkiller OxyContin.

“Purdue Pharma lied right through their teeth, because of greed, about the addictive nature of their pills,’' she said. “We have a society that is addicted to painkillers, and that leads to more lethal drugs, and now fentanyl. This is a real problem. Why are they bankrupt? Because they lied, they were greedy. That is not a good, long-term investment, and it’s a perfect example of what happens when you don’t work with companies to do the right thing. This is our pensioners’ investments, and we don’t want those investments to be liable.’'

Karen Dubois-Walton

In New Haven, Dubois-Walton gained attention last year when she ran against incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker, but she dropped out of the race before trying to force a potentially divisive primary. She had blasted Elicker regarding high property taxes at a time of increased state aid, along with problems in the public schools and the police department.

For the past 15 years, she has served as the leader of the city’s housing authority, a large agency with an annual operating budget of $140 million, $800 million in assets, and 150 employees.

A former chief of staff to then-New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Dubois-Walton earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Boston University on her way to becoming a trained clinical psychologist. She was named four times among the “100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut” by the state NAACP.

Besides running the housing authority, she spends time as chairwoman of the state board of education and chairwoman of the board of the Melville Charitable Trust, a $155 million foundation that is dedicated to ending homelessness.

Running the multifaceted treasurer’s office is an executive management leadership role that is far beyond simply trading stocks and bonds, she said.

“My concern is others think about the job too narrowly,’' Dubois-Walton said in an interview. “I am the only one who has managed in the public sector. In city hall and the housing authority, I’ve been the one managing public pensions, managing a capital investment program and portfolio, the one who has actually designed capital investments from beginning to end. Building consensus, putting the deal together, working with financial analysts, working with ratings agencies, working with bond counsel, and getting the bonds sold.’'

She added, “You have to have that experience of knowing how to select the right folks, set the vision, and lead. I just think I’m head and shoulders above anybody else. Look at what I’ve done in New Haven.’'

Despite her brief criticism of Elicker, Dubois-Walton has been endorsed by Elicker, DeStefano and former Mayor Toni Harp. In addition, she has been endorsed by Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney — a longtime powerhouse in New Haven politics — and three House members in the New Haven delegation. She is also supported by the union-backed Working Families Party, which is known for organizing liberal volunteers in elections.

After her parents died when she was 17 years old, she was helped because her parents had been public servants and paid into pension funds. Those funds, she said, allowed her and her sister to attend college.

Gov. Ned Lamont has repeatedly stayed away from endorsing anyone in multiple contested Democratic races, but he praised Dubois-Walton earlier this year when he appointed her as chairwoman of the state school board.

“Karen has been an incredibly active member of the New Haven community throughout her career,’' Lamont said at the time, “particularly focused on removing barriers to fair housing among marginalized communities, reversing housing segregation patterns, and making improvements in under-resourced neighborhoods.’'

When Dubois-Walton was jointly endorsed by DeStefano, Elicker, and Harp, the three New Haven mayors said they had never come together in quite this way.

“Now in truth, this is the first letter that the three of us have ever written together,’’ the mayors wrote. “But that’s what Karen does. Her leadership brings people together around the right values, a sense of hope and opportunity — and the sheer hard work to get the job done. We know. We know Karen. And we know that it matters, it really matters, who our next state treasurer is.’’

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com