Three legislators to seek new terms; Gibbons undecided

Written by Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter
Monday, 30 January 2012 16:00

While it might seem that the election was just yesterday, the Connecticut General Assembly races coming up this November are already starting to take shape.

Incumbents in three of the four races have already committed to seeking new terms, leaving a fourth one as an open question for at least a few weeks more. Greenwich has been sending Republicans to Hartford for close to 100 years and State Sen. L. Scott Frantz (R-36) and State Reps. Livvy Floren (R-149) and Fred Camillo (R-151) hope that trend continues for at least another two as they will all be running again. That just leaves open the question of the 150th District, which has been represented by Lile Gibbons for the last 12 years. Before this week’s League of Women Voters Legislative Breakfast, she confirmed to the Post that she hadn’t yet decided on whether to run again for another term.

Ms. Gibbons did not go into detail about what factors she was weighing, but said she would make a decision in February. Republican Town Committee Chairman Jim Campbell spoke to the Post on Tuesday and said, “Lile Gibbons has been an outstanding state legislator and I hope she decides to run for another term.”

There had been some question about whether Mr. Frantz would seek re-election or if he would instead begin to seek a higher office. His name has come up in conversations as perhaps a future candidate for governor or the U.S. Senate and he had also been thought to at least be considering running against U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4), who is running for a third team this November. While Mr. Frantz will not be challenging his fellow town resident this year, he did leave the door open to considering it “maybe in the future.”

“I care deeply about the constituents of the 36th District,” Mr. Frantz said. “I’ve grown very fond of working with them and being able to help with the smaller issues that are impacting their daily lives as well as on the larger issues of governance.”

Over the last four years, Mr. Frantz has noted the difficulty he faces as a Republican in the state Senate. While Greenwich is a Republican-dominated town that has been sending members of the Grand Old Party to Hartford since the days of Woodrow Wilson, Republicans are very much in the minority in the state legislature. Mr. Frantz has expressed frustration in the past over difficulty having Republicans heard on issues like spending and taxes. This would seemingly have increased since Gov. Dannel Malloy’s election in 2012, giving Democrats control of the executive and legislative branches.

“We need more good people in Hartford,” Mr. Frantz said. “Democrats have two-to-one majorities in both houses and they have the governor too. That’s not a good balance for governance. There needs to be a better balance and the more we have one, the better off it will be for the state. We’ve got to fight for a better future for Connecticut, especially with the next generation coming down the pike.”

Ms. Floren told the Post last week that she was eager to run again for her seventh term in office. She said that she believes the major issues of the coming election will continue to be the state’s fiscal shape.

“We had a huge tax increase and I’m not convinced that it was the right thing to do,” Ms. Floren said. “We need to focus on other ways to increase revenue for the state so we can scale back that increase. I think the taxes are too much and they are overburdening our businesses and our residents.”

Ms. Floren said she is very interested in hearing proposals over the course of the next legislative session about how there can be new revenue streams from areas like allowing online gambling, revising the state’s “blue laws” and an effort to maximize potential money the state might be owed on intellectual property. That project is being championed by town resident Joseph Kaliko, an attorney specializing in intellectual property.

Ms. Floren said she wants to see taxes reduced and points to a recent pledge by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to reduce the state’s income taxes by 10% across the board. While some critics doubt whether Mr. Christie can do that without further reduction of services, Ms. Floren said that since Connecticut is so close to New Jersey the state should keep a close eye and perhaps even take a cue from Mr. Christie.

“It’s vital that we remain competitive,” Ms. Floren said.

Ms. Floren has had two Democratic opponents during her runs for office and easily bested them both.

“I try to always be in campaign mode,” Ms. Floren said. “I love reaching out to my constituents and meeting with them so I can be aware of the issues that they are dealing with and they can understand why I cast my votes. That’s a very important part of doing my job.”

Mr. Camillo confirmed to the Post that he will be running for a third term this November. Mr. Camillo said that despite the challenges Republicans face in Hartford he has been able to work with his colleagues in a bipartisan fashion on legislation.

“I don’t look more than one term ahead, but in the first two terms I’ve been fortunate to work with great people and get bills that will have a real positive impact on the people introduced and passed,” Mr. Camillo said.

He pointed to the 2009 “Pet Lemon” law, where people who unwittingly buy sick animals from a pet store can get up to $500 back for their veterinarian bills, as an accomplishment of his first term. In his second term, he shepherded through a bill that provides protection from lawsuits to volunteer firemen, fire police and ambulance workers.

Mr. Camillo also talked about the “Live Here/Learn Here” act that was part of this past session’s jobs bill. The bill provides for people going to college in Connecticut to take part of their income tax and create an account instead that will allow them to purchase a home in the state instead of leaving. This year he was able to get it included with the other legislation and said he hopes to see it expanded in upcoming years to help people trying to start small businesses.

Democrats have come close in the 151st District before, particularly in 2006 when Ed Krumeich II nearly beat incumbent Republican State Rep. Claudia “Dolly” Powers.

Democratic Town Committee Chairman Frank Farricker told the Post that there was a lot of interest from district Democrats in the seats, particularly Ms. Floren’s in the 149th. State redistricting has put more of Stamford, traditionally more of a Democrat stronghold than Greenwich, into her district and Mr. Farricker said the DTC will be working closely with their Stamford counterparts to find the best candidate. While he didn’t go into specifics, Mr. Farricker said “good candidates” were interested in all the races and that the party would look to announce its slate in one major announcement in the future.

“We will have a full slate of candidates, I can tell you that,” Mr. Farricker said.

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