Thomas MacMillan File Photo
(Updated) Immediately after State Rep. Cam Staples announced he’s leaving the legislature to seek higher office, two local politicians threw their hats in the ring.
East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar said he expects to announce in the next few weeks that he’s seeking the Democratic nomination for the 96th Assembly District seat, which covers parts of New Haven and Hamden. The seat opened up Wednesday after 18 years when Staples announced he’s running for attorney general.
“I’m pulling together my team,” Lemar said. He said he plans to form a candidate committee (as opposed to an “exploratory” committee) and seek public financing. Until then, he’ll be “talking to friends, family and supporters” about the campaign.
Lemar, who’s 33, works as a communications consultant. He has served for three years as Ward 9 alderman, the same office Staples used as a launching pad to get to the state Capitol. Staples served as Ward 9 alderman for three two-year terms.
Competition is already shaping up from the Hamden side of the district.
Mike D’Agostino, a 38-year-old lawyer who chairs Hamden’s school board, threw his hat in the ring Wednesday afternoon.
D’Agostino said even before the seat opened up Wednesday, supporters were encouraging him to run for the Democratic nomination for Staples’ seat. He said he is “considering forming an exploratory committee and expect[s] to have a formal announcement soon.”
A former Hamden police commissioner, D’Agostino served as New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney’s campaign treasurer for his last several campaigns. He currently works at the Hartford-based law firm of Bingham McCutchen. He’s a member of the Democratic State Central Committee.
A third potential candidate, Wooster Square Alderman Mike Smart, said he has not made a decision yet as to whether he’ll join the race.
Running for that position is “definitely something I would be interested in,” Smart said.
Debra Hauser, a former Democratic co-chair in East Rock’s Ward 10, said she is “interested in exploring the possibility” of running for the seat. “I am going to meet with some of my advisers and family and think it over,” she said.
The Democratic nomination will be decided by a special two-town party convention, slated to take place in early May. At that convention, 10 delegates from New Haven and six from Hamden will vote on whom the party will endorse going into the primary.
Roland Lemar will be an awesome State Rep for Hamden and New Haven. He's got passion and smarts, works hard, and can pull people together to get things done. We need him - and more folks like him - in Hartford.