Rob Blanchard is a husband and father of one and the Democratic candidate for state senate in the 28th district.

Blanchard is a young professional with experience working on Governor Ned Lamont’s campaign and a private sector in finance.

He said, “I’ve got the career in government but also have served locally on planning and zoning and councils dealing with municipal budgets and education and things of that nature.”

Blanchard’s focus, if elected, will be on affordability in Connecticut.

“I think an issue that I’ve heard a lot about and really at the core reason that I’m running is the affordability crisis that we have in our state that impacts young families like myself, as well as small businesses and even seniors as well,” Blanchard shared. He said affordable housing and childcare are two issues, as well as healthcare and transportation, that need to be addressed for residents’ quality of life.

Blanchard said, “Healthcare is a big passion of mine … I think it’s really important that we not only have more people recruited to healthcare, working with our hospitals and colleges … especially like Western to create a pipeline to connect those two, but that we also address the cost of healthcare.”

He added, “This is the region of the state that really ought to be linking employers and colleges more to create opportunities in education, healthcare, manufacturing, and so finding ways to spur growth there, whether it’s through tax credits for employers that hire new graduates or loan forgiveness for people who are going into teaching or public safety … I think those are really good opportunities as well.”

Blanchard noted that transportation, or rather the lack thereof, is a huge issue affecting the entire state, not just Newtown. Traffic is a huge discussion when it comes to proposed developments such as the 2-4-6-8 Riverside Road development and the 20-60 Castle Hill Road development.

“The other thing that can kind of hamper our economy is our transportation system. It can impact everything from business’ decision to be here or to transport goods, or people’s quality of life. I heard from people in Newtown that are concerned about people cutting through, making … main streets not safe,” Blanchard said.

Blanchard wants Connecticut to be a state where businesses want to be, but noted the cost of Connecticut is a hurdle, especially as everyone has been watching their electric bills, and so has Blanchard. He knows residents are concerned about the rising costs of utilities and hopes to put plans into action if elected. “[Rising Eversource bills] weren’t created overnight,” he said, and believes it will “take some time to get it together, but I think people want a long-term fix, and they deserve a long-term fix.”

“What those solutions look like are somewhat complicated. What I see as the issue is generation issue … We’re not generating enough power, so therefore it’s driving up the cost. We need an all-hands on deck approach.”

Blanchard suggested looking at nuclear, “which is cleaner.” He also suggested having a “multi-pronged approach with neighboring states.” Blanchard thinks the state should consider other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, “which can certainly have some upfront costs … that can be more expensive, but can certainly help to drive down cost and generate power in other ways.”

“When the Millstone contract is up again, we need to be really judicious with them in ensuring that we’re not getting stuck in these guaranteed rate return contracts,” Blanchard said. He added, “The last thing that I think is really important that we passed locally on the RTM in Fairfield, and I was hugely supportive of, was something called community aggregation pricing.”

“What frustrates people is unpredictability in pricing … What community aggregation does is it allows towns to purchase power and it prevents those spikes where there’s unpredictability in the bill.”

Recently, Blanchard has put out an ad that calls out Senator Tony Hwang on his public voting record. Blanchard said of the ad, “He may say he advocates for these issues,” like gun violence prevention, “but when he actually votes on them, it doesn’t line up with what he’s saying.”

In response to Hwang’s letter to the editor on October 11, “Hwang Responds To Attack Ads,” Blanchard said, “I’m not desperate, I’m just being very clear about his record … I think his record speaks for itself.”

Voting will take place on November 5 for in-person voting, and Blanchard wants Newtown to know, “I want to be [Newtown’s] voice because there are issues that are unique to Newtown that I want to make sure that I’m advocating on their behalf. I’m someone who wants to roll up my sleeves … and I really want to have [Newtown’s] back and bring more back to the community for them.”

=====

Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.