Candelora, Who Represents Part Of East Haven, Gets GOP Endorsement

NORTH BRANFORD, CT —Republican delegates from four towns endorsed Vincent Candelora to seek reelection as state representative for the 86th assembly district during a party nominating convention Tuesday.

“I truly cherish the responsibility that comes with serving as a voice at the capitol for residents of North Branford, Guilford and Durham, and I really look forward to working on behalf of East Haven residents again,” Candelora said.

Candelora, 52, is also Minority Leader in the CT General Assembly. He's serving his eighth two-year term. For a time, he represented a portion of East Haven until it was moved out of the district in 2010 during the 10-year redistricting process. In 2020, the northern part of the town was added back to the 86th district.

Edward Boughton Jr., chairman of North Branford’s Republican Town Committee, nominated Candelora. It was seconded by Phil Augur, chairman of Durham’s Republican Town Committee.

“When it comes to the pursuit of common sense policies and solutions, there’s no stronger voice in the legislature than Vincent Candelora,” Boughton Jr. was quoted as saying. "We’re really fortunate that he’s our state representative, and I know he’ll continue to serve us with a level of professionalism and thoughtfulness that all of us can find pride in.”

In a news release announcing the endorsement, Candelora was quoted as saying that there is "little doubt that affordability is the most pressing issue on the minds of Connecticut residents."

During the 2022 legislative session, Candelora led the 54-member House Republican caucus in proposing a $1.2 billion plan for tax relief, the release reads.

“Inflation is, of course, a devastating issue, but beneath that lies layers of policy decisions that have prevented our state from fully recovering the jobs we lost during the great recession,” Candelora said.

Noting that the candidate is "appreciated by colleagues on both sides of the political spectrum for his deep understanding policy matters," he has over the last two years been a "leading voice for main street job creators negatively impacted by the state’s response to COVID-19."

And, it's pointed out that Candelora was a "critic of the broad emergency powers that allowed Gov. Lamont to make or amend laws as he saw fit."