With Permission
Democratic State Rep Sean Scanlon, announcing today that he will seek re-election as 98th District state representative, hopes to secure public financing for his 2016 campaign by the time the legislative session begins next month.
The 98th District covers the town of Guilford and two sections of Branford, Stony Creek and Pine Orchard. Scanlon, 29, and a Guilford native, is director of community affairs for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.
State Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr., who represents Branford, Guilford and four other towns, and State Rep. Lonnie Reed, who represents Branford, have not yet announced their candidacy but they are expected to seek re-election to the Connecticut legislature.
Scanlon told the Eagle in an interview that since he knew he was going to run for re-election, he wanted to start raising funds under public financing laws early on. “I wanted to do it before the legislative session begins. Then I can focus my complete attention on the session. I will start to campaign in earnest in May.”
In 2014, Scanlon, then a rookie, raised $5,500 from 165 people in just four days — securing him $25,000 in public financing for his first campaign for public office. He said “it has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Guilford and Branford in Hartford for the last twelve months.”
Scanlon won his first election to the state Assembly after Democrat Pat Widlitz retired after serving two decades in office. He defeated Attorney Cindy Cartier, the Republican candidate.
This morning he filed the paperwork required to seek a second term. He has served for one year. His second year, this one, is known as a short session year, one that runs from February to May.
Highlights of First Year
Scanlon, a member of the Public Health, Environment, and Transportation committees, made prescription drug abuse a central focus of his first term.
He co-sponsored and led the effort to pass Public Act 15 – 198, a landmark law that requires prescription drug abuse education for doctors and other prescribers, cracks down on “doctor shopping” for prescription drugs, and allows pharmacists to provide life-saving anti-overdose drugs like Narcan over the counter. He is now seeking new ways to provide Narcan to local and city fire and police departments. He said that since August the state police carrying Narcan in their cruisers have saved 40 lives.
“People sometimes ask me why I spend so much time on addiction and the answer is that even if they don’t think it’s a major issue to suburban communities, it absolutely is,” Scanlon said.
This year he hopes to revisit the Uber legislation, which passed overwhelmingly in the House at the end of May but died in the Senate as the session ended. “I hope the committee chair will address” the Uber issue, he said. The bill that passed would require drivers, who work for the app-based company and who transport passengers, to submit to background checks and have insurance protection.
In the past year Scanlon said he voted for what he thought was right for the 98th District, including rejecting Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget and succeeding along with other colleagues in preserving the state’s clean election law.
“I haven’t been afraid to cast my vote or speak up against proposals I think are wrong for this district and state no matter who puts them forward,” Scanlon said.
As a new member of the General Assembly, we asked what surprised him the most about the job.
“The schedule is the hardest thing to wrap your head around.” The schedule has been in place for a long time because Connecticut is a part-time legislature that is required by law to end on a certain date. It means gradually building up to a schedule that runs 14 to 16 hours or more a day. “It is certainly something you knew, but to actually do it is challenging.”
Bi-partisan support
Scanlon said one of his goals is to continue to try to achieve bi-partisan co-operation on bills.
“When I ran for office, I told people I wanted to go to Hartford to work with Republicans, not just fight them all the time and I’m proud to say I’ve done that,” he said. In his first term, 12 of the 15 (80 percent) bills Scanlon either sponsored or co-sponsored had at least one Republican co-sponsor, he said. He was also elected co-chair of the bipartisan Young Legislators Caucus, a group of 25 members of the General Assembly who are under the age of 40.
He has also delivered for Guilford and Branford, getting funding for a variety of town projects. He worked with Guilford First Selectman Joe Mazza to secure $446,000 in state funds to upgrade the municipal parking lot behind shops along the Guilford Green. He also worked with Kennedy to secure $85,000 in funding for the Guilford Land Conservation Trust to preserve 17 acres of open space in the Westwoods. And he said he will work with Branford First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove to help secure funds for the Walsh Intermediate School renovation and expansion.
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