ANSONIA-DERBY – What’s the most important issue in the race for the District 104 seat in the state House of Representatives?
“The economy, stupid.”
Yes, the 32-year-old words of Democratic operative James Carville – often remembered as “It’s the economy, stupid” – ring true if a recent Valley Indy poll is to be believed.
The Valley Indy posted an online poll on Sept. 17 asking two questions:
1. Where do you live?
2. What is the top issue in this year’s race for state House District 104?
Question no. 1 had two choices – Ansonia or Derby, the cities covered by the district.
Question no. 2 was multiple choice with 21 issues, listed alphabetically. Participants could also write-in an issue. Users could vote for just one issue.
The poll was active until the morning of Sept. 23. One hundred and forty one people responded.
The top three issues, according to the unscientific poll:
1. Economy/inflation/cost of living — 23.4 percent.
2. Economic development in downtown Ansonia and Derby — 17 percent.
3. Crime — 10.6 percent.
Forget a grain, The Valley Indy poll should be taken with several pounds of salt. In an effort to prevent manipulation of the vote, only users signed into Google accounts could participate. There was no way to verify whether the people answering lived in Ansonia or the parts of Derby within District 104.
People with multiple Google accounts could have voted more than once (though with just 141 responses this likely did not happen). By the way, 63.1 percent of the respondents said they lived in Ansonia, while 36.9 percent said Derby.
The complete results are embedded below:
Results from a poll posted by The Valley Indy.
It was not a scientific poll, but the top results mirror a poll from the Wesleyan Survey Lab covered by The CT Mirror in May 2023.
In that poll, participants from across the state were asked “what is the most important problem in Connecticut?”
Economy/inflation finished at the top spot, with 26.2 percent of the vote. Taxes came in second at 17 percent (taxes placed fourth in The Valley Indy poll). “Other” placed third with 8.2 percent of the vote. Crime placed third in The Valley Indy poll but was fourth in the Wesleyan poll with 7.5 percent of the vote.
Candidates React
There are three people running to represent Ansonia and parts of Derby in District 104.
State Rep. Kara Rochelle, a Democrat, is the incumbent.
The Republicans nominated Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti.
The Independent Party nominated Thomas Egan, an Ansonia resident.
Cassetti Reacts
Cassetti said the poll results make sense.
“I understand the economy and crime are critical concerns for the Valley residents. They are for me as well,” Cassetti said.
Regarding the economy, Cassetti said the state should stop a truck tax because it contributes to high prices for goods, including groceries.
“The highway tax on truckers causes food prices to escalate. We have to eliminate that tax,” Cassetti said.
He said high electric bills are hurting residents, and called for a special session to deal with the mess. He called for more transparency so that people could understand their bills, and an end to hidden costs within utility bills.
“With our electricity costs, these are deals made behind closed doors,” Cassetti said. “We’re being taxed to death.”
Regarding downtown development, Cassetti said his administration, specifically Sheila O’Malley, the city’s grant writer, have done what no one thought possible: revitalize downtown Ansonia, and not just Main Street storefronts but the hulking former industrial buildings that make up the heart of downtown.
Cassetti said the grants to remediate underground contamination and to knock down old factories started when he was first elected mayor in 2013. The momentum started under his watch, he said.
He said if elected he’ll do the same for Derby’s Main Street.
“I would bring the same attitude to Derby, to being a driving force for Derby. For $18 million they have a new road, and new sidewalks, but what’s happening on the land that’s right there on the river?” Cassetti said. “You have to get a RFP out there right away. Find out what you can do there, and make deals with developers with time limits to build whatever it is that is going to be taxable income to the city.”
Regarding crime, Cassetti said the state legislature has to take another look at the police accountability act. He said the law badly damaged law enforcement morale and has officers second guessing themselves on the street.
“I get calls from people all the time from people complaining about dirt bikes. They say the bikes drive right past the police. I tell them ‘Yeah, that’s because their hands are tied. They can’t pursue. There’s nothing they can do,’” Cassetti said.
Cassetti said the police accountability act has also made it tougher to recruit new police officers.
Egan Reacts
Egan said the Valley Indy poll results make sense.
“I’m not surprised at all. The price of everything is up, inflation is everywhere,” Egan said.
Egan said the high cost of living in Connecticut has created a housing crunch. He said in Ansonia multi-family property owners faced steep tax increases because of revaluation. Those costs have been passed from landlords to renters. That’s why local Facebook groups in Ansonia and Derby have posts from people looking for other places to live because the rent was just jacked up.
“You see it on Facebook, but I’m a housing lawyer so I see it in court,” Egan said. The stereotype is that people faced with evictions are lazy, but the fact is a life event – such as illness or a car accident – drain savings and lead to people falling behind on ever-increasing rent.
Egan said the state has a good program for first-time home buyers that should stay in place. He suggested tax breaks for owner-occupied multi-family housing. Giving tax breaks to multi-family property owners who live in Ansonia and Derby could ease rents and lead to reinvestment in properties, he said.
Rochelle Reacts
Rochelle said poll results reflect what people tell her.
“I listen to my constituents, so this is not surprising at all,” Rochelle said. “People are trying to do more with less in this economy. Everything I do goes toward trying to rebuild the middle class. This is why it’s important to have people in government who have their act together and are putting good, sound policies into place.”
Rochelle said her efforts to address the economy include “the largest middle and working class tax cut in state history,” and eliminating taxes on most retirement income.
“I wrote a bill to double the incentive for job creation in economically distressed communities like ours,” she said.
Regarding downtown Ansonia and Derby, Rochelle said she has successfully snagged more than $23.4 million in state money for downtown Ansonia Copper & Brass alone since 2020.
In Derby, she noted state money is funding the $18 million Route 34 widening project that is supposed to be substantially done by mid-October.
Rochelle pointed out state aid is critical to local budgets.
“The local municipalities tout holding taxes down, but they could not do that if it weren’t for the increase of state money that has helped them stabilize taxes,” she said.
On crime, Rochelle’s record in the most recent session in the General Assembly shows she voted for a bill that gives health care coverage and financial assistance to the families of fallen police officers; voted yes to increase penalties for killing a police dog; and made it a crime to harass election workers.
Those bills became law.
She said she also supported a bill that would toughen penalties for “street takeovers.” However, that bill failed to make it out of the state Senate.
“I’m passionate about these issues because these are our neighbors,” she said. “These are seniors and hard-working people that don’t need to have their cars broken into or their homes burglarized.”
Rochelle said in Ansonia specifically she is responsible for a $100,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Club for a teen center. It’s open to Derby teens, too, she said.
“I got that done. I got that state money. We all know that teens can make good choices when they have good options. Typically towns fund their teen center but in this area the state paid for it because the state rep got it done,” she said.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Click here for the Cassetti campaign’s Facebook page.
Click here for a previous story on Egan.
Click here for the Rochelle campaign’s Facebook page.
Click here for Valley Indy coverage of the race so far.
