(Left to right) State Rep. Kara Rochelle, Tom Egan, Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti.
ANSONIA-DERBY – The Democratic candidate in last year’s mayoral race has filed to run in the race for the state House 104th district – this time, as an independent.
Thomas Egan, who runs a law practice in Ansonia and ran against incumbent Mayor David Cassetti last year, filed for the state race in June, campaign filings show. He has not announced a campaign – but he said he’ll decide this month whether he’s running.
In a phone call with the Valley Indy, Egan said neither Democratic incumbent candidate Rep. Kara Rochelle, nor Republican candidate Cassetti were the right fit for the district.
“The people of Ansonia and Derby deserve better,” Egan said. He said he’s still working on a platform, but that he wanted to lower taxes for small business owners. He pointed to recent business closures in Derby, including Riverwalk Social, which shut its doors on June 23.
“I’ve talked to the business owners, and they’re all struggling right now, they all are,” Egan said. “And I want to make sure we can make a vibrant community that can grow and thrive for business.”
Egan, who ran for Ansonia mayor as a Democrat, said he’s considering a run as an independent because he wanted the freedom to develop his own platform. He said that Rochelle was his campaign manager in the mayor’s race, and that she pushed him to be more combative than he wanted to be.
“I see what’s happening at the national level, and even at the local level, and Democrat, Republican, they’re both just so nasty and evil with one another. I don’t want to get mixed up in it,” Egan said.
Rochelle told The Valley Indy that she only briefly served as Egan’s campaign manager – and said that she quit because Egan had campaigned in an unprofessional manner.
“Initially, he asked me to be (his campaign manager), and I quit very early on, because I couldn’t get behind his conduct,” Rochelle said. She said that Egan had been combative with town Democrats, and that he had refused to listen to the campaign advice of others.
“The honest truth is that the Democratic party, based on his conduct last year, couldn’t support him because he acted in such an unprofessional manner,” Rochelle said.
Democratic Town Committee Chairman Dave Hannon, who alluded to party infighting last year after Democrats lost the mayoral race and every Aldermanic race, agreed with Rochelle. He said he quietly chose to pull resources from Egan’s race because Egan wasn’t communicating with town Democrats.
“We didn’t openly not support him, but I pulled resources from him, because he wasn’t doing the work,” Hannon said. He said Egan had previously refused to meet with Democrats or work with them on door-knocking and lawn sign efforts.
“As far as his so-called state rep campaign, it’s a vanity project, as far as I’m concerned,” Hannon said. “He’s not going to put in the work, because he hasn’t in the past.”
Egan, in response, said that Hannon had never told him he was pulling resources, and that he had put in more work than Hannon gave him credit for.
“I don’t think he saw me out there knocking on doors, going to businesses, going to homeowners, talking to people in the community,” Egan said. He said he has nothing negative to say about Hannon or Rochelle.
Cassetti, running under the Republican nomination, welcomed the new entrant to the race.
“I’m looking forward to beating the pants off him and (Rochelle) in November, and I’m sure it’s going to happen, so I welcome everybody to the race with one hundred percent support,” Cassetti said.
Egan, Rochelle, and Cassetti each told The Valley Indy in separate statements that they hope the race will remain focused on the issues in the coming months.
As an unaffiliated candidate, Egan will need to submit a nominating petition with at least 64 signatures by Aug. 7 to gain access to the ballot. Egan said he currently has 70, but that he’s still collecting signatures before he plans to submit.
Election Day is Nov. 5, 2024.
