Logan-Cabrera Rematch Launched

Top state Democrats turned out in force Tuesday night to help union organizer Jorge Cabrera kick off a rematch State Senate challenge that pits two starkly different political visions against each other.

Cabrera, a union representative for UFCW Local 919, ran against incumbent Republican State Sen. George Logan in 2018, and lost by only 77 votes. Now, he’s seeking the Democratic nomination once more so he can again face Logan in the Nov. 3 election for the 17th State Senate District seat.

Prominent state and local Democrats gathered Tuesday evening at a supporter’s house in Hamden for a fundraiser to help launch Cabrera’s campaign. As supporters held plates with chocolate-covered fruit and squares of cheese, Cabrera vowed to fight for the working people of his district, as he already does in his capacity as a union organizer.

“The bottom line is I’ve been fighting for working families for over 20 years,” he said. ​“I’ve been living this. I’ve been living my values.” Logan, his opponent, has not done so, he said, adding that Logan does not vote in the interest of the people in his district.

Cabrera said that he learned stamina in his last run, and that this time around, he would try to ​“draw a starker contrast” with his opponent. ​“I think Senator Logan’s votes don’t help our district.”

The 17th District includes parts of Hamden, Naugatuck, and Woodbridge, and all of Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, and Derby.

Tuesday was Cabrera’s first fundraiser, with a suggested donation of $100. He said he hopes to hold a fundraiser in every town in the district before March, when the campaigning will begin in earnest. According to Kyle Blake, who ran donations on Tuesday, the event raised between $1,000 and $1,500.

In April, Cabrera led striking Stop & Shop workers as they picketed for 11 days. He spent every day driving between the stores he represents checking in on the strikers to make sure they had what they needed, and to keep their spirits up. As she introduced Cabrera, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (pictured below) described him out in the rain, in the cold, fighting for his workers.

“Not once did I see the other guy there,” she said of Logan, who quickly became the target of a few speeches that were equal parts Cabrera-plug, equal parts Logan-bash. ​“And then when the time came in the state legislature to raise the minimum wage, which helped uplift 170,000 families in our state… the other guy voted no, and when it came time to support families by saying we can pass the most progressive paid family medical leave in the country… the other guy voted no.”

While Bysiewicz spoke Thursday night, Senate President Pro Tem. Martin Looney stepped into the kitchen. As the host introduced him, he walked into the dining room, and apologized for arriving late.

“Got stuck in traffic coming out of Hartford,” he said.

Bysiewicz chimed (pictured) in: ​“We can fix that!” The crowd laughed.

“When he says that he’ll be there with you on an issue and he’ll consider it seriously, he will be there,” Looney said. ​“And that is what Jorge Cabrera is all about. He is someone who stands up as a witness and somebody who is consistent and somebody who will be a champion and somebody with a backbone and somebody with courage that we can count on for every single tough vote that’s going to come up.”

Looney did not spare Logan, his Senate colleague who also represents Hamden. ​“The thing about Senator Logan is that he is someone, when asked about some issue that he should be supporting based on his constituency, and he will say, ​‘You know, you raise some good points, I will have to think about it, I will have to consider it, I will have to think about it again, I’ll have to consider it a little bit more,’ but in the end, he never breaks with his caucus. On paid family medical leave, he was not there. On minimum wage, he was no there.”

“Once when he was talking about someone who was evasive like that after appearing to give thoughtful consideration to an issue but then voting otherwise, [Winston] Churchill said ​‘this is a man who is constantly wrestling with his conscience, but his conscience never wins,’” Looney continued.

Logan: I Never Hide

Logan said that he has ​“no idea what he’s talking about,” referring to Looney’s criticisms that he hedges and does not vote in the interest of his district. ​“Because I actually have no issue, no problem justifying, defending my positions on any topic. I make myself quite accessible.”

He pointed out that while Cabrera was holding a fundraiser, he was at the Ansonia Library meeting with constituents. He holds frequent events with constituents in all of the towns he represents, including monthly open meetings at three Hamden diners on Dixwell Avenue: The Acropolis Diner, The Three Brothers Diner, and Barbara’s Restaurant. 

Logan filed paperwork to run for reelection on Jan. 2. ​“The key is Connecticut is a great place to live and work and raise a family, and what I’m hearing is that Connecticut is becoming less affordable for people,” he said. ​“We need a change in leadership here in Connecticut.

“Adding more legislators in Hartford that are going to follow along with the bad policies of the current administration is just not the way to go for the 17th district or the state of Connecticut.”

Logan said that he does, in fact, support paid family medical leave, and supported a different bill last year that did not pass. That bill would have given workers the choice to buy into paid leave, rather than enacting a small payroll tax on all workers to fund the program, as the bill that passed did.

“I think it’s a bit hypocritical to talk about minimum wage when these same folks are the same ones increasing the cost of living for everyone in Connecticut,” he said of the accusations that he had not supported raising the minimum wage. He said the bill hurt employers, making it harder for them to hire people. A better solution, he said, would be to make Connecticut a place where businesses can thrive.

Divided On Public Option

Both Cabrera and Logan identified education and healthcare as priorities.

“I’ve met too many people out knocking on doors who are either underinsured of uninsured,” said Cabrera. In his speech, he told the crowd that when his wife got cancer recently, they were lucky that she had good insurance. He said they had thought about what it would have been like if they hadn’t had it.

Cabrera referred to a bill introduced by Sen. Matt Lesser and Rep. Sean Scanlon last year that would have created a public insurance option. It passed the house, but did not make it to a vote in the senate. He said he would support similar legislation.

Logan said he does not think a public option is a good idea. ​“I have not heard a proposal that does not hurt the private insurance industry,” he said. Hartford is a hub for insurance companies, he said, and a public option would compete directly with insurance companies. He said a better approach would be to make private insurance more affordable. He also mentioned preventing the cost of prescription medications from skyrocketing.

Both candidates also said improving Connecticut’s education system would be a priority. Cabrera said he would fight to bring more state education funding to Hamden and the other towns in the district, and would look for other revenue sources like grants and partnerships.

“You have to really roll your sleeves up and get in there and fight with your colleagues,” he said of getting more state funding for schools. He criticized Logan for not having leveraged his vote when the senate was split 18 – 18 to bring home more state education dollars.

Logan said that he, too, will fight, and has fought, for more education funding. He said the formula that determines how aid is awarded should be adjusted to make it fairer.

He also suggested giving the responsibility of administering special education funding to the state. At the moment, the state funds special education costs, but municipalities administer the money. When a student switches districts mid-year, the district often does not have the funds because that student was not budgeted for. Administering those funds at the state level would prevent that problem, Logan said.

In addition to Bysiewicz and Looney, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, Senate Deputy President Pro Tem. Mary Abrams, and State Rep. Robyn Porter showed up to support Cabrera Tuesday night. In a presidential election year, Democrats will turn out in force, and just might push Cabrera over the edge, they said.