State Races Pit Well-Known Incumbents Against Unknown But Energized Challengers

By John Voket

In Connecticut, where current economic trends are more evidently defining the haves and have-nots, local voters will go to the polls next Tuesday and face choices between candidates who are well-known and virtually unknown.

Even those local residents who specifically seek out information on less accessible candidates may find themselves hard-pressed to develop any substantial information on 28th District Senate challenger Morgan Graham, 112th District Representative candidate Adam Feldman or Newtown resident Colin Cascia who is the Working Families Party-endorsed challenger in the otherwise contested 106th District.

Colin Cascia

Working Families Party

Unless you have retained one of the very limited mailings either Mr Feldman or Ms Graham have circulated, or learned about Mr Cascia by venturing deep into the Connecticut Working Families website, you might not recognize any of these names until the moment you enter the voting booth.

The most localized, and possibly the most intriguing among the three races may be in the 106th, where the incumbent Republican Julia Wasserman has been serving her constituents since before her challenger, Mr Cascia, was born. Both candidates in this race live here in Newtown.

Mr Cascia is a 20-year-old WestConn English major who works full-time at Chamomile Natural Foods market in Danbury. While he is considering a possible change of major to political science, his foray into state politics has certainly provided him with a wealth of hands-on education.

He was approached to run for the 106th District seat by Connecticut Working Families recruiters who visited with students at Danbury’s Independent Media Center. But it was not until he rolled up his sleeves and began inquiring about the needs of his fellow townspeople that Mr Cascia became truly energized to achieve his political goal.

“I went to the local census figures and found out that Newtown has 155 families with students in our school system, who are living at or below the poverty line,” he told The Bee Wednesday. “And I don’t believe the needs of these families are being addressed properly.”

Mr Cascia noted that when most people travel through the community, or encounter its political leaders, they come away with an impression that the town’s residents and politicians are exclusively upper, or upper-middle class.

“You just don’t see or notice the people who are poor,” he said. “And these families are certainly un-represented or under represented in Hartford.”

Impressed by his party’s campaign to promote living wages, Mr Cascia quickly adopted the issue as his major platform.

“A critic of the living wage initiative was recently discussing the issue with me. He said economic benefits tend to trickle down when government provides tax breaks to large employers. But since George W. Bush has been in the White House, these companies have gotten unprecedented tax benefits while they ship our jobs to Mexico, India, and Indonesia,” he said.

Mr Cascia believes that a living wage should sustain earners on a single-family income. “But there’s no way a family can survive on minimum wage in Connecticut today,” he asserted. “We need to stop rewarding corporate greed and recognizing and addressing human needs in our community, in Connecticut, and across the nation,” he said.

Locally, Mr Cascia relates very well to Newtown residents that are uninsured or underinsured.

“I don’t have health care. I can’t afford it,” he said. “And since you need health care to become a full-time student at WestConn, I’m forced to work full-time at an hourly wage, and take classes part-time, which extends my education process and the loans I have had to take out to pay for school. I’m going into significant debt to pay for my education.”

Speaking of education, when Mr Cascia looks at the money spent on education in Newtown public schools, he is disturbed.

“School spending in the district is of great concern to me,” he said. “I don’t understand how the incidence of drug use in our schools keeps rising exponentially when we’re spending so much on security measures and police in town.”

Mr Cascia suggests the problems associated with youth substance abuse and the disciplinary offshoots could be better administered through peer-on-peer support and intervention.

“We’re seeing larger classes and programming cuts while they’re hiring security officers and putting cameras in every room to discourage drug use and behavior problems,” he said. “But if we had more teachers, students would receive more individualized attention, which could translate into greater academic success and improved self-esteem, which might motivate students to resist using drugs and alcohol so they can feel better about themselves.”

When asked about the prospect of facing a 20-plus year incumbent, who is unopposed by the Democratic Party and cross-endorsed by Independents, Mr Cascia focuses on the bigger picture.

“In any situation where you have an unopposed candidate, it typically means certain issues are going to remain underexposed,” he said. “In a democracy you need to have more than one person running. Local representation can bring much more impact to the political process because those representatives live among the people they represent. They tend to be more accessible.”

Rep Julia Wasserman

R-106 Incumbent

Cross-Endorsed By The Independent Party In Voting District 1, 2 And 3A

Whether you encounter her on the floor of the Connecticut Legislature, where she has served for more than 20 years, or across a pallet of freshly picked produce at one of Newtown’s farmers’ markets, there may be few public servants more accessible or engaging than Julia Wasserman. A retired captain from the US Army, Mrs Wasserman’s bio lists nearly two dozen local, state, or grass-roots initiatives to which she has lent her talents and energies.

In her tenure as State Representative, she has secured well over $100 million in state grants for Newtown, many of which were dedicated to the acquisition or preservation of open space and public lands. Much has been written about the pivotal role she played in helping the town recently close on the former state Fairfield Hills hospital and grounds, but in recent years, Mrs Wasserman said it is her work as ranking house member on the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee that is most rewarding.

“It really is the best committee in the entire legislature,” she exclaimed with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m extremely proud of the work we continue to do year after year.”

Besides her work on that committee, Mrs Wasserman serves on the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. But her life of public service includes local stints on the Newtown Legislative Council (four terms), as chair of the Newtown Conservation Commission, a co-chair of the Water Resources Task Force, as the Director of Health for the Town of New Fairfield, and on the board of directors for The Pope John Paul II Center for Health Care.

She has received many awards for her work from many prestigious regional and national causes, but continues to work doggedly, occasionally putting in 24-hour days in Hartford during particularly grueling budget or special legislative sessions.

Her current work on the Program Review Committee, she hopes, will yield successful future legislation on issues ranging from alternate incarceration programs for convicted inmates suffering from legitimate mental health issues, the Medicaid Eligibility Determination Process, concerns related to mixing populations in the state’s subsidized elderly housing facilities, pharmacy regulations, and preparedness for public health emergencies.

“I am working on a report that I hope will ensure that once the accused are incarcerated, they are evaluated for mental health issues. And if they are determined to be suffering from these issues, they come under the care of the UConn Health Center staff for treatment before they returned to the supervision of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services,” she said.

Mrs Wasserman believes that many of the prisoners suffering with mental health issues should not be put in among the general population in Connecticut’s prisons, and is proud that Connecticut remains on the forefront of this initiative.

She also feels that the upcoming session must yield legislation on medical malpractice settlements. “Last year we had a bill that passed the house and senate, but the governor wouldn’t sign it because it didn’t have caps [on settlements],” she said.

Mrs Wasserman wants to see increased support for the state’s small businesses.

“Connecticut is historically known for the success of its small business ventures,” she said. “This year we must focus on efforts to ensure small businesses in Connecticut remain successful. We have to make our state more affordable to work and do business in.”

Mrs Wasserman said one of the ways Connecticut can continue to expand its highly skilled work force is by capitalizing on the skills of employees working here today, and ensuring the state’s commercial enterprises are not hampered by inappropriate regulatory processes.

She hopes her voice on the ACE (Accountability, Creativity and Efficiency) Commission will eventually lead to an overhaul of the state’s vocational and technical schools and a restructuring in Connecticut’s higher education system.

Locally, Mrs Wasserman continues to share residents’ concerns about local development, job growth and retention, and transportation.

“North-south traffic flow on Route 25 and 34 is very bad,” she said. “And I hope we can begin to look at alternate ways to access Sandy Hook center.”

Adam Feldman

D-112 Challenger

Monroe resident Adam Feldman is looking forward to the end of campaigning for the 112th District seat, which encompasses a small segment of Newtown. But until the moment the polls close November 2, he is vowing to continue fighting the good fight, getting his name out to voters who may not know him from his local board of education races or as chairman of Monroe’s Democratic Party.

Local residents who are committed to the environment might be interested to know that Mr Feldman recently celebrated his latest endorsement by Connecticut’s League of Conservation Voters whose members believe this candidate will bring a strong pro-environment voice to the Capitol. But Mr Feldman is no single-issue candidate.

If elected, he endeavors to make a tenacious stand on property tax reform, and contribute to tackling Connecticut’s many transportation challenges.

“Our state’s Transportation Strategy Board has made a number of recommendations that will have a direct affect on Fairfield County and Newtown,” he said in a recent interview. “I favor continuing to fund the board and will do whatever I can to support its recommendations.”

Among the initiatives Mr Feldman supports on the transportation front are enhancing and increasing the number of commuter rail cars, working to see feeder barge ports developed to ease truck traffic on the I-95 corridor, and to expand opportunities for long-range commuters at Connecticut’s regional airports.

Mr Feldman, who works as an executive vice president for business development for a marketing and media firm in South Norwalk, is no newcomer to politics. In his ten years living in Monroe, he has maintained an active participation on the Democratic Town Committee for six years, and served as chairman for two. He has already successfully campaigned for a seat on the town’s Board of Education as well.

When it comes to the raising the bar on Connecticut’s quality of education, he sees a direct tie to lowering state taxes.

“To ease the burdens on our education system, we need the voters and state leaders to support a stable budget. If residents see taxes stabilizing, they’ll support education reform,” he said. Mr Feldman specifically hopes to be able to support early childhood intervention programs statewide, and said he will fight to ensure Connecticut fully funds the 50 percent commitment to Education Cost Sharing (ECS).

Locally, the candidate is disturbed by what he sees as out of control development on the Route 25 corridor.

“I see too many applications for large scale developments along Route 25,” he said. “We must adhere to our communities’ plans of conservation. Too many people see dollar signs while ignoring the long-term impact to our town’s infrastructure.”

While Mr Feldman is on the record supporting “out of the box thinking,” like a recent proposal to increase conveyance taxes in Newtown to fund conservation and acquisition of open space, he said he recognizes that that the local real estate industry is responsible for helping to keep the state’s economy moving.

DebraLee Hovey

R-112 Incumbent

If local residents are concerned about the trends in state taxes, they may see Republican incumbent DebraLee Hovey as a particularly savvy ally. In about the past month, Ms Hovey, a Monroe resident, has been recognized twice by Americans for Tax Reform.

She was chosen by the group as one of 22 Connecticut Taxpayer Friendly candidates in September, and more recently, was among 24 state lawmakers who signed the organization’s No New Tax pledge. In a recent interview, she said she sees taxes on Connecticut businesses as a major source of the state’s economic challenges.

“We need to change the atmosphere in Connecticut to pro-business,” she said. “Doing that will actually help small businesses flourish. We need to give companies large and small that invest in our state incentives including tax relief.”

She said that unemployment insurance rates in the state also need to be examined and adjusted, and that Connecticut’s tendency to seek litigation instead of mediation against businesses is giving potential investors reason to locate their industries elsewhere.

“It’s a top-down issue. Our attorney general is very litigious…everything’s a lawsuit. The greater the likelihood of a certain segment of our business community facing some sort of class-action, the higher their insurance rates go,” she said. “Being a watchdog is important, but I’d like to see better proactive enforcement of state statutes to head off litigation, and more mediation when problems are found.”

On another legal front, Ms Hovey is disturbed by recent trends in state medical malpractice insurance.

“My constituents are losing doctors every day, and I’m getting worried they won’t be able to access the quality care they need and deserve,” she said.

Although she represents only a small segment of Newtown residents, she remains committed to keeping at least one or two local constituents on an informal advisory group that meets with her monthly so she can keep her finger on the pulse of the 112th District. During recent meetings, she is hearing more concern from residents about issues including a lack of affordable housing.

“People are becoming more impassioned about affordable housing, especially for our seniors and young people. They’re getting the sense that there are too few opportunities for our sons and daughters, and our parents, to remain in our hometowns, and I share their fears. If things continue the way they have been in recent years, I’m afraid there will be no diversity in our communities, and we’ll lose that vital cross-generational exposure that our young people need and deserve,” she said.

Politically speaking, Ms Hovey said she is very happy with the new direction Governor Rell is taking in state leadership. “I was one of the first seven representatives to call for Governor Rowland’s resignation, not because I necessarily felt he was guilty, but because his word was compromised,” she said.

“It’s great working with Governor Rell and I have an excellent working relationship with her,” Ms Hovey said. “She has her eye on the people of Connecticut, her business is done with an open door, and the people are responding to her in a very strong and positive way.”

Morgan Graham

D-28 Senate Challenger

Fairfield resident Morgan Graham may be one of the least-known candidates on the local ballot in 2004. She works throughout Fairfield County as an agent with Prudential Connecticut Realty, and is running on a two-tiered platform to improve the condition of Connecticut’s transportation systems and to become a strong advocate for those touched by the scourge of family violence.

A self-proclaimed animal lover, Ms Graham and her same-sex wife (she was legally married before the whole same-sex hoopla became a national political issue) have served as adoptive “parents” to many animals as volunteers for the regional Animal Shelter Assistance Program. She has also been an active volunteer in the local Big Brothers Big Sisters program, as well as a vocal advocate for the Love Makes a Family Initiative, whose supporters strive to provide a public voice for all families, especially those subjected to social, economic, and legal discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

Ms Graham is a political newcomer, but she told The Bee earlier this week that she is undaunted in becoming Connecticut’s transportation reform candidate.

“I’ve been an auto commuter for years on the Interstate 95 corridor and the regional rail system, and it seems things on keep getting worse,” she said.

Among her priorities are to enhance the promotion of, and benefits to, those who actively participate in ride sharing and carpooling. She said she will be a strong advocate for an overhaul of the state’s commuter rail system, and is dead-set against doing so on the backs of existing commuters.

“Our commuters can’t afford to, and don’t deserve to, pay any more,” she said. “My goal is to propose a commuter rail system modeled after the system serving Washington, D.C., where a substantial segment of commuters to the city participate.”

She also supports the regional feeder barge initiatives to help reduce truck traffic and ease congestion on the state’s highways, especially I-95.

Although she admits her experience is limited and the issues she supports are limited, Ms Graham has visited Newtown and has talked to potential constituents here about their concerns. And she believes she is ready and able to be their advocate in Hartford.

“I recently visited the Blue Colony Diner with [US Senator] Chris Dodd, and the people there were telling me to go to Hartford and work to reduce property taxes, and to see them kept at a decent level,” she said.

“I spoke with parents who are becoming more concerned about their college-bound students, and are looking for some relief from the escalating costs of college education. But with the wealth of exceptional state colleges, universities, and community colleges here in Connecticut, I’d like to enact legislation to provide greater financial and tax breaks to parents who send their children to state schools,” she said.

Ms Graham said, if elected, she would be a tireless voice for those children and families touched by domestic violence.

“I’d work to see the issues related to domestic violence are addressed much more aggressively,” she said. “We need more progress on prevention and intervention before these incidents happen. I just don’t see domestic violence prevention as being a priority to the many legislators who are not directly affected by it.”

Senator John McKinney

R-28 Incumbent

Three-term incumbent Senator John McKinney does not necessarily view himself as an environmental candidate, but there is no question that he has affected and supported significant, even historic, measures when it comes to conservation.

“In Hartford, politicians sometimes get into fierce debates about particular bills or line items in a budget. But the truth is, next year or next week, the people are likely to forget about those bills and line items,” he told The Bee recently. “But as a father of three young children, I have to admit that when you make a bad decision regarding the environment, the consequences become permanent.”

Senator McKinney is well aware of the ripple effects of environmental legislation.

“I’m concerned about the increase in asthma linked to air pollution,” he said. “And since most Connecticut residents live within one mile from a major state highway, I’m a strong supporter of legislation to limit the harmful effects of truck and auto emissions.”

Coming from a culture of politics and activism has given Sen McKinney a strong sense of self, and he makes no bones about bucking party trends when they diverge from his strong convictions.

“Since I ran for office the first time, I decided I was going to be the kind of representative I was brought up to be. My father was well-known for his political life, my mother is still running an AIDS foundation; I’ve worked hard to be a good attorney and I’ve owned and sold a small business. But ultimately, it’s the voters who have to decide if I will remain the best person to do the job for them in Hartford,” he said.

Sen McKinney said he sometimes shares a different perspective that “doesn’t necessarily fit the traditional Republican agendas,” but he does not believe the GOP is splitting between old-school and relative newcomers like himself.

“I hope I’m representative of a new generation of Republicans, but I believe I’m still reflective of the Republican Party in Connecticut,” Sen McKinney said. “Republicans don’t always have all the answers, and neither do the Democrats. I believe the answers come from our constituents making their concerns heard, and then being a leader for them in the Senate by working to build consensus.”

When he talks with constituents in the 28th District, Sen McKinney said the overriding issue is taxes, and how much the government is spending.

“It’s a big issue: taxes and spending habits. Our state tends to spend too much money, and that money is spent through too many unfair formulas,” he said. “But there is no consensus to change. In my opinion state government is responsible for the people’s money, and we have a lot of special interest groups within our own state agency structure that come to Hartford saying, ‘don’t cut my programs.’ And I find that there is an unwillingness in Hartford, not about cutting programs, but having spending increments lower than what are asked for.

“[The special interest groups] don’t see others doing it, so they feel like, hey, why should we do it,” he said.

In terms of the state budget, Sen McKinney said political leaders need to show an ability to slow down the growth of state spending. “We pass two-year budgets, and I’ve seen spending levels set at four to eight percent, while inflation stands at two percent, which is more than many residents see added to their paychecks in any given year.”