QUIGLEY: Our Republican Candidates for State Office and Why You Should Vote for Them.

Submitted by Dan Quigley, Chair of the Greenwich Republican Town Committee

As this extremely unique and challenging year moves into its final stretch, our local elections are upon us. Covid has made this has a campaign season unlike any other.

Suffice it to say, our Republican candidates have had to find creative ways to connect with constituents in 2020. As RTC Chair, it has been a privilege to work closely with them, and I couldn’t be more excited about our slate of candidates.

Ryan Fazio (State Senate, 36th), Harry Arora (State Rep., 151st), Kimberly Fiorello (State Rep., 149th) and Joe Kelly (State Rep., 150th) embody the diversity, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and intelligence of our community. Together, they are running to represent Greenwich in Hartford, a place that is in desperate need of new leadership.

Our candidates come equipped with fresh, new ideas rooted in the core Republican principles of fiscal responsibility and effective and efficient government. They are husbands, wives, parents, sons, and daughters. They are your neighbors, self-made, hardworking and experienced. They are us.

For 32 of the last 34 years, Democrats have had control of the state legislature, and for the last decade, they have had control of all of our state government. During that time, they have raised our income taxes three times; our economy is stagnant; we have no job growth in our state; and more than 200,000 residents have fled Connecticut to states with lower taxes. Are you happy with these results? Do you think CT is moving in
the right direction?

To add to an already bad economic situation, this year Democrats added a new payroll tax and a potentially destabilizing real estate conveyance tax. The latter is clearly targeted at lower Fairfield County. Beginning on January 1, 2021 the new payroll tax will cost the average single wage family in Greenwich $660/year. If a family has two wage earners, it will cost more than $1300/year. Not to mention the net effect it will have on small business owners, to whom CT is already unfriendly.

In the 2019 legislative session alone, Democrats voted to pass 20 tax increases and/or new taxes on CT residents. Adding insult to injury, there was the effort by our Governor (led by State Senator Kasser) to implement tolls on major traffic roads throughout our State. Fortunately, this initiative was prevented by a focused, grass-roots Republican opposition.

Alex Kasser and Steve Meskers, along with their Democratic caucus have also made our police a political target. The Police Accountability Bill passed by Democrats over the summer was a rushed, knee-jerk reaction to national headlines. It will make police work more difficult; hurt recruiting and retention by exposing officers to personal liability; and weaken the morale of police departments throughout our state. The safety and security of our communities should never be compromised for the sake of political expediency.

In addition, Democrats want the police rank-in-file to remain silent rather than exercise their 1st Amendment rights to speak out on behalf of themselves, their families, and of the public safety in Greenwich. The Silver Shield’s endorsement of Kimberly Fiorello and Ryan Fazio is an expression of their legitimate, and sincere belief that the new Police Accountability Bill will impede their ability to do their job and threaten their livelihood.

The economic and political damage one-party government has inflicted on Connecticut has been costly, but it is not irrevocable. It can be fixed. The path to repair begins when we cast our ballots. While our four candidates cannot fix our State on their own, their election will send a clear message to Hartford that the people of Greenwich have an abiding interest in seeing that their State does not become more of a fiscal mess than it already is.

Our Republican candidates want to end the disastrous progressive income tax policy, eliminate excessive regulation and other obstacles for small businesses and entrepreneurs and bring jobs back to our state.

They will work to cap the cost of tuition at our state universities, reduce wasteful government spending and replace the Police Accountability Act with a more reasonable bill that respects the rights of both our citizens and our police.

Local Democrats are not comfortable running on their record. It is a bad one. Instead, they have decided to put all of their eggs into one basket: Their singular goal is to tie our local candidates to a polarizing President for whom they have great disdain.

I believe this is a miscalculation. It grossly misjudges the intelligence and sophistication of the voters in Greenwich who want to see their State avoid the financial mistakes and mismanagement others have made, and become the “land of steady habits” once again.

As Chairman of the Greenwich RTC, I couldn’t be more proud of Ryan, Harry, Kimberly and Joe, and I can’t wait for you to get to know them.

References:

Is Your State in Financial Trouble? Here’s How All 50 Stack Up.

The Best And Worst States For Entrepreneurs In 2020

Connecticut lost $1.1 billion in wealth to other states in 2018 Yankee Institute Jan 10, 2020

Hartford Courant – Police Retention