Candidates Clash On Government’s Role

George Logan and Jorge Cabrera agree about one thing: Families in Connecticut’s 17th State Senate District struggle with the costs of living.

But when it comes to what to do about it, one promotes paid family medical leave and a $15 minimum wage. The other argues those policies choke businesses, and tax dollars, out of the state.

Democrat Cabrera, a business representative for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 919, is challenging incumbent Republican Logan for the 17th District in a rematch on Nov. 3. Cabrera won a primary in August against Hamden Councilman Justin Farmer, and will face Logan in the general election as he did in 2018, when he lost by just 77 votes.

The district both candidates are vying to represent includes parts of Hamden, Woodbridge, and Naugatuck, and all of Derby, Ansonia, Beacon Falls, and Bethany.

The contest pits two candidates with clashing views on not just specific policies like paid leave and minimum wage, but the broader views of government underlying then.

This past Wednesday, Cabrera’s campaign held a ​“campaign launch” over Zoom. During the primary, he highlighted his work as a union organizer fighting to provide healthcare and a living wage for working families. On Wednesday, he doubled down his critiques of Logan’s voting record, setting the tone for a rematch that is likely to be one of the tightest state races this election cycle.

Cabrera has cast himself as a champion of working families fighting for progressive policies like a living wage and a public healthcare option. In an interview with the Independent, Logan stressed the need to lower the cost of living in the state with less, not more, regulation and taxation.

As both Logan and Cabrera articulated their platforms and their views on a few key votes that took place last year, they highlighted a classic Democratic-Republican disagreement: whether more or less government intervention is the best way to maintain a healthy economy.

At his campaign launch, Cabrera told the story of his parents, who never had a chance to get a good education. His father worked multiple jobs to pay the family’s expenses, including the medical bills of Cabrera’s mother, who had asthma.

“These are the things I think about when I think about a minimum wage, which Senator Logan voted down,” he said.

Since his initial campaign launch in February, Cabrera has focused on Logan’s votes against the $15 minimum wage and paid family medical leave bills that passed the legislature last year. On Wednesday, he continued that line of attack, painting Logan as a politician who has a good rapport with constituents but then turns around and votes against their interests.

As campaign manager Dhrupad Nag put it, ​“He’s friendly, but he’s not your friend.” He said Logan ​“represents the status quo,” and believes that people can live on low wages and should not be able to take time off.

Logan defended his votes, and offered a very different picture of what the state needs to do to help its residents afford the costs of living.

He said he supports the idea of paid family medical leave, but did not support the specific bill that passed because it required employers to provide the leave (paid for with tax dollars), rather than giving employees the choice to opt in. By mandating paid family medical leave, he said, the law will end up leading to lower wages.

The bill that Gov. Ned. Lamont signed into law last year pays for medical leave with a .5 percent payroll tax deduction, meaning the policy is fully employee funded, and is not funded by employers. Logan said that the net effect of that funding mechanism means workers get lower wages. He said he wanted the bill to provide a choice for workers, who could opt in to a payroll deduction to be eligible for leave, but would not get it automatically.

He said the policy, though it does not cost employers directly, puts pressure on them to compensate for the loss of income from the payroll deduction. ​“It’s just another example of discouraging businesses to want to come to Connecticut,” he said.

He said the same of the $15 minimum wage bill that passed last year. (The wage is being gradually raised to $15 an hour; it currently stands at $12.)

“I think it’s short-sighted and ingenuine to artificially raise the minimum wage, which is going to result in less jobs being available, to well more than twice the federal minimum wage,” Logan maintained. Forcing businesses to pay higher wages makes it harder for them to afford workers, kills job growth, and discourages businesses from coming to Connecticut, he said.

“I want more people working and paying taxes, not less,” he said.

Logan framed his campaign pitch around affordability. ​“My message to folks is about affordability,” he said. ​“I think we can do lots more to make Connecticut affordable.”

Logan said the state needs to stop creating ​“unfunded mandates.” Those include training requirements for teachers and curriculum requirements for school districts that are not supported by extra funding from the state, and therefore cost districts more.

He said the state also needs to stop creating regulations that make it harder to do business in the Connecticut. He gave the paid family medical leave bill as an example.

When asked about Logan’s defense of his voting record, Cabrera said he sees a ​“fend for yourself” mentality.

“There’s a thread running through all of it, which is that he’s not really doing what he needs to do to help the people of this district,” he said.

Police Accountability

Logan and Cabrera also offered differing views on police, and specifically on the police accountability bill that passed the legislature in July.

Logan voted against the bill, leading the attack when it came to the senate floor by saying that its provisions limiting governmental immunity — the state-level version of qualified immunity, an oft-used legal defense for cops — would result in more crime and more costs. Before the senate ultimately passed the bill, Logan argued that limiting governmental immunity would cost municipalities more, making them hire fewer officers, thereby increasing crime rates.

Logan told the Independent that there has already been a spike in crime throughout Connecticut, ​“and that’s going to continue until we make it clear that security in our community, safety in our community, is of the utmost importance.”

“We should support our law enforcement,” he said. ​“I think we should not be talking about defunding the police, or reducing their budgets.”

Cabrera, on the other hand, came out in support of the police accountability bill when it came before the legislature.

“I don’t believe in defunding the police, and I think the language that is often used is highly partisan and doesn’t capture everything” Cabrera told the Independent. ​“What I do believe in is we need to do a better job of funding the social fabric in our communities.”

He said it’s also critical that police officers be held accountable for their actions. ​“The issue is when a police officer oversteps their bounds… and someone loses their life, they need to be held accountable,” he said.

Cabrera said that in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, he went to protests throughout the 17th district. At many of them, Logan was there marching with him, he said. For Logan to then turn around and vote against the police accountability bill, Cabrera said, ​“to me is the height of hypocrisy.” 

Employer Jabs

At Wednesday’s campaign launch, Nag offered another line of attack Cabrera’s campaign will use this election cycle: Logan’s employer.

Logan is director of community relations at the Aquarion Water Company. He was previously director of environmental management, after being a lobbyist for the company before he became a legislator. In 2017, the regional energy giant Eversource bought Aquarion.

Eversource is now the subject of a state investigation after its botched response to Tropical Storm Isaias, which left some residents out of power for as long as a week.

“It would take an immense amount of courage,” said Cabrera, for Logan to stand up to Eversource if he were asked to vote on a bill that did not work in the company’s favor.

Logan defended himself saying that all of his activities are water related and are confined to Aquarion. He said his job has nothing to do with electric or gas rates, as do other parts of Eversource.

“Because Eversource purchased the water company, it somehow disqualifies me from being a state legislator? That’s ridiculous,” he said.

He jabbed back at Cabrera, who he said has his own conflict of interest to worry about.

“My opponent is a paid union organizer. He’s a paid union leader. Talk about the potential for conflict of interest,” he said. ​“He is clearly on all fronts siding with the theory and mantra of union leadership. To me that is much more of an issue.”

Cabrera responded by saying that he works for a private-sector union, and does not have anything to do with the public unions whose contracts the legislature passes.

Cabrera has been endorsed by a wide array of statewide and local unions and labor groups, including the AFL-CIO. He also picked up the Sierra Club’s endorsement on Monday.

Logan said he has not focused on seeking endorsements and does not yet have a list of them. He said he will be sending one out soon.