To hear and accept the report of the Finance Committee. 4. To hear and accept the report of the Finance Committee

34TH DISTRICT RACE Candidates talk health care, economy, police reform

By Lauren Takores Record-Journal staff

Two candidates running for the state Senate seat to be vacated by Len Fasano spoke recently about where they stand on issues facing voters in the 34th District.

Fasano, the North Haven Republican who leads his party's Senate caucus, anno unced in April he would not be seeking a 10th term. The district includes East Haven, North Haven, Durham and Wallingford. The race is currently between Republican Paul Cicarella Jr., vice chairman of the North Haven Republican Town Committee and a member of the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, and Democrat April Capone, a former East Haven mayor and a former manager at the state Office of Policy and Manag ement.

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Both candidates secured ballot access through party nomination, and both have qualified for funding from the state Citizens’ E le ction Program after raising the minimum of $16,000 from at least 300 individuals.

A third party or independent candidate has until Aug ust to petition to be on the November ballot.

Candidate platforms

Cicarella, 36, said his platform is based on “common sense solutions,” a philosophy he applies to creating jobs, growing the economy and making living in Connecticut affordable for working and middle class families. “T oo many people are leaving the state at an alarming rat e,” he said, “espe cially young professionals. We have to definitely create good-paying jobs to keep people here in Connecticut.” As a small business owner — he o wns three investigative and security companies — h e’s an advocate for afforda ble, though not universal, health care for all.

“Health care is a huge expens e,” he said, and the cost of insuring a family can be oppressively burdensome if people don’t receive health care benefits through an emp l oy e r. “How we would go about doing that, I’ d have to really analyze data that I have not had access to yet and come up with a common-sense sol u t i o n ,” he said. The father of two elementary school-age children, education is also important to him, as well as ensuring seniors are able to afford to live in the state.

Cicarella said that the

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biggest concerns facing residents of the 34th District are getting people back to work and health care.

“Right now is the time to list en to what they have to say,” he said, “and from my time speaking with everybody, that ’ s definitely a concern; making it affordable to stay within the district and the state.”

Capone, 45, said she belie ves legislators are “the chief advocate” for their cons tituents and must vote in ways that ensure the resources taxpayers send to Hartford benefit their district. They also must help individuals “ cut through the red tape” when de aling with state agencies. “I have done all of those jobs in one form or another,” she said, citing her past local and state government experience and her current job at Yale New Haven Hospit a l ’s Center for Living Organ D onors.

“Experiencing COVID as part of the heath care team — I’ m not a clinician, but experiencing it as part of the team at Yale New Haven, I am very concerned about the state of health care,” she said. “I think we have learned the hard way that having your health care tied to your job is probably not the best option for many pe ople.”

Democrat April Capone and Republican Paul Cicarella Jr.

She said that she’s in fa vor of “ affordable, reliable coverag e” for everyone, but stops short of Medicare for All.

“Sometimes we need to get to where we want to go t h rou g h i n c re m e nt a l chang e,” she said. Capone said that she and her husband are small busines s owners, so she would advocate for getting small business back on track and keep people employed. “This is a working-class distr ict,” she said. “I think the is sues of pay equity, pay fairnes s, fair taxation resonate with the people of this district. We’v e got hard-working middle class people in this district who certainly pay their fair share into the state. Can we really say that about Connecticut’s most fortunate residents?”

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