Two progressives are competing for the Democratic nomination for the state Senate seat left open when Jan Hochadel announced her retirement. It’s in the 13th Senate District, covering Meriden and parts of Middletown, Cheshire and Middlefield.
State Rep. Jack Fazzino (83rd House District—Berlin, Meriden and Cheshire), a 31-year-old attorney and party-endorsed candidate, is looking to move to the Upper Chamber after four years in the House.=
His opponent, Cheshire Town Council member Jim Jinks, 54, works in marketing and is presenting himself as an “outsider” looking to bring change to Hartford-- something Fazzino argues he’s already delivering.
“Affordability, due process, housing availability… I’ve been an advocate for broader change and systemic fixes,” says Fazzino.
“We really need to fix broken systems in Hartford,” says Jinks, “whether it’s ECS (education cost sharing) or the grip that Eversource has on the state. We need to fix these things to make Connecticut more affordable for everybody.”
Both candidates support raising taxes on the wealthy to pay in order to fund a long-sought increase in education funding. But Jinks points out that Fazzino supports Gov. Ned Lamont, who promises not to do that, if reelected. Jinks is endorsing Lamont’s challenger, Josh Elliott, who would.
“I think the time is now to have that reckoning with how do we properly address tax reform so that cities with tremendous need, or midsize cities like Meriden and Middletown are getting their fare share,” says Fazzino.
Jinks agrees, saying, “To me, it’s pretty straightforward. There’s a proposal that has been gaining some steam to marginally increase taxes on people making more than a million dollars, and also a small increase in capital gains taxes.”
The candidates agree that immigrants need to be protected from aggressive ICE tactics, and they appreciate the steps Gov. Lamont has taken to do that.
Saying his grandfather emigrated from Sicily, Fazzino says, “I want to make sure my neighbors are protected, and so on the Judiciary Committee, we have done tremendous work around strengthening the Trust Act, creating constitutional, private rights of action for situations where federal agents violate the Constitution. These are really important legal remedies that our residents need right now.”
“I certainly do support anything we can do to help protect our residents,” says Jinks. “Obviously, it’s beyond the bounds here to be just picking people up off the streets. They’re grabbing people that are American citizens. I support what the governor has been doing.”
Jinks calls Fazzino a political insider, claiming in a Monday press release that there’s been “a surge of out-of-state Super PAC spending” in the race, benefiting Fazzino. Both candidates are receiving funds from the state’s public Citizens Election Program.
“The influx of outside PAC money and lobbyist cash flies directly in the face of why Connecticut created the Citizens' Election Program in the first place,” says Jinks, “and it's an unfortunate direct, toxic by-product of the Citizens United Supreme Court case."
Jinks says he’s running a grassroots campaign, but Fazzino says he’s doing the same:
(Jinks’ dark money claim) is a bad-faith, desperate attack from my opponent just one week before Election Day... More than 300 local, small-dollar donors have put their trust in me to represent them. That grassroots funding has evolved into a grassroots coalition…
An outside group spending independently, with absolutely no knowledge from me, coordination from me, or approval from me, is a distraction from those facts. That my opponent is fixating on this distraction just one week before a primary is a clear sign he has no real interest in critiquing my work and record as a state legislator. Perhaps that's because he has none to run on.
Jinks says he’s won four straight elections in a Republican-leaning district and has been a leader on the Cheshire council as vice chair and chair of the Budget Committee.
Fazzino has won two straight general election races in his House district, which covers some of the same territory—the first time in a squeaker, the next by a wider margin.
The winner of the Aug. 11 primary is expected to be sworn in to the state Senate in January, because there’s no Republican opponent in November. Early voting continues through Sunday, Aug. 9.
