State Legislators Get A Free Ride

None of New Haven’s state legislators needs to ​“run” for re-election this year — because no one has emerged to challenge them.

At least as of now.

All six state representatives and two state senators based in New Haven — all Democrats — have decided to seek new two-year terms in the elections this year.

The deadline has passed for Democrats to challenge them in primaries. Not a single challenger has emerged. (In single-party New Haven, primaries are usually tantamount to general election.)

The deadline has also passed for Republicans to secure spots on the November general election ballot. Not a single Republican candidate has signed up, either.

Technically, a third-party or write-in candidate could still emerge by an Aug. 8 filing deadline. None has been spotted. (The Greens are running a candidate for New Haven registrar of voters, under a system in which the Republican and Democratic incumbents cannot lose. Green party town chairman Charlie Pillsbury confirmed that the party will run no candidates this year for any New Haven state legislative offices.)

So as long as state Sens. Martin Looney and Toni Harp and state Reps. Pat Dillon, Gary Holder-Winfield, Juan Candelaria, Roland Lemar, Toni Walker, and Robert Megna remember to show up to vote for themselves on Nov. 6, they’re in. No need to print flyers or bumper stickers, raise money, or ask anyone else to vote for them if they don’t feel like it.

A handful of New Haveners do have a chance to choose among two West Haven candidates, thanks to a gerrymandering maneuver that added a sliver of the Hill neighborhood to the district of West Haven state Rep. Lou Esposito. He faces a primary from David Forsyth in the 113th General Assembly district.

New Haven incumbents are accustomed to getting a pass most state-legislative election seasons. Either no one runs against them, or just a token opponent gets a name on a ballot, then disappears and never amasses a team of workers. New Haven state legislative seats tend to be won for life, with several members of the current team having served in Hartford for decades.

But rarely does the entire slate get the seats back without even a single nominal race. For instance, sometimes a legislator retires: Two years ago that led to a two-way primary contest in the 96th State Assembly District, which Lemar won. In 2008, Winfield won a competitive primary against Charlie Blango for the open 94th District seat.

This year, those two legislators seemed sure to face opposition, because their districts were redrawn. Half of Holder-Winfield’s district, previously 100 percent in New Haven, moved to Hamden. Lemar’s New Haven-Hamden district suddenly flowed into East Haven.

And yet even those two have no primary or Republican general election opponents.

That fact bucks a statewide trend. The number of legislative races uncontested by a major-party candidate dropped 41 percent this year, to the lowest number since 1998, according to the secretary of the state’s office. Click here to read a release on that subject.

Observers offer a variety of suggested reasons for the disappearance of democratic elections for state office in New Haven:

•The collapse of the city’s Republican Party, for instance. ​“The numbers are the numbers; the votes have moved to the suburbs,” observed former state GOP Chairman Chris Healy. As of the most recently released count, New Haven has 62,273 registered voters. Democrats number 43,966; Republicans, 2,374; unaffiliated voters, 15,600; ​“other,” such as Greens, 333.)

• A general long-term decline in political participation (although New Haven has seen a resurgence of energy in aldermanic and town committee races).

• A takeover of the local Democratic Party by a labor-backed faction that used to fuel intra-party challenges.

• The high-profile, influential position at the Capitol of New Haven’s state legislators.

• The advantage to the Republicans of avoiding contests they can’t win in Democratic cities, contests that might otherwise turn out more Democratic voters for the U.S. Senate race.

And incumbents are hard to beat.

Democratic Town Chairwoman Jackie James offered another suggested reason: Voters are happy.

“I think they’ve done great work as a delegation in Hartford. They’re working well with folks in the community,” she said. ​“I think it’s a great thing.”

James’ Republican counterpart, city GOP Town Chairman Richter Elser, pretty much agreed with that sentiment. He doesn’t run for office, he said, because ​“I actually think Toni Harp [his state senator] does an OK job. I disagree with her, but I don’t think I’d make a better candidate. She has a track record of working for her constituents. I like Pat Dillon [his state representative]. I think she does a good job.” Elser said he sees no point in ​“being a challenger for the sake of being a challenger.”

“I know this is going to sound trite, but I really think we have the best delegation in Hartford. Almost everyone has a leadership position — is a chair of a committee or is influential in getting legislation through. More so than any delegation in Hartford, they know how to work the system to get things done,” reflected Toni Harp (pictured).

So what does an elected official do at election time when he or she has no one to run against?

In part, help other candidates who do have opponents.

That’s what Holder-Winfield is up to. He’s helping Esposito in West Haven. He’s also helping Democrat Chris Murphy run for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

And the officeholders still do see a need to touch base with constituents at election time, stay aware of their concerns, and maintain an organizational base for future elections. Just in case someone ever runs against them.

Dillon (pictured), who first won her seat in 1984, is campaigning, opponent or no opponent.

“I always do. That’s one way I learn,” Dillon said. ​“It helps me be a better legislator.”

“You have an obligation to explain your record and what you’ve done over the last couple of years and what you’ll do in the future,” said Looney, now the Senate majority leader. He has represented his New Haven district since 1992. (He served as a state representative for 12 years before that.) ​“You’re trying to generate interest and enthusiasm.”