Republican Moore Hopes Second Time's The Charm In Run Against Ryan

Leon Moore is admittedly a reluctant candidate. But he’s not letting that stop him.

Yes, he would very much like to win the state 139^th District seat held for many years by Democrat Rep. Kevin Ryan. And yes, he believes his voice needs to be heard in Hartford. But he admits that his inexperience and naiveté make him uniquely unqualified. But despite that, he presses on, because, he said, “I just cannot sit back and continue to let him run unopposed. Someone has got to do something.”

Moore, 42, is in the race again having lost big time against Ryan, the career state representative, last term. And he says without hesitation or equivocation that he “is probably not the guy to beat” Ryan but is betting against hope that people will respond to him and his position on state government.  

Moore, a member of the Montville VFW, youth soccer coach, EMT and volunteer at Oakdale Fire Department, ran unsuccessfully against Ryan in 2010 and also had an unsuccessful bid in 2011 for a seat on the Montville Town Council. 

Moore on Moore

 “I want to be really, really honest. I may not be the best candidate. I really wish Dana (McFee, a Republican and Montville Town Councilor) had stayed in and run against Ryan because (McFee’s) more tenacious and he might have fought harder. But whether I’m the right candidate or not to beat (Ryan) I cannot sit back and let him run unopposed. Say, okay, I’ll let you take this without a fight? No, I cannot do that because no one else would. Whether I can motivate or not, I don’t know, I hope so. But something has got to change.”

A Moore idea for getting people working

One of the ‘new ideas’ Moore would like to see realized is actually based, he said, on an ‘old idea.’

Moore wants to more accountability undertaken and a fresh approach to unemployment insurance payments and programs. His idea is for people to not only prove they are looking for work but also ‘show’ they’re committed to working by taking unpaid jobs for non-profits.

"We have a pool of people that are able bodied. Get them up and out and do something for the community.

Moore, who is from Michigan originally, said when he arrived in Connecticut he was struck by “all these stone walls.” He said his mother-in-law explained that the walls were, in part, erected during the Depression “when people were out of work, so instead of just sitting home and collecting money from the government or getting welfare, able-bodied men built these walls.”

“These people that are unemployed today, a lot of them have skill sets. A lot who want to find work, instead of giving up, I hesitate to say mandate, but give them an option to work for United Way, a food bank, even if its just secretarial work. People with carpentry experience go in and help do repairs at a school or work at a kitchen at a school, unpack a supply truck at a school, that kind of stuff.

“People are already being paid for not working. Why not try to make use of that body pool to do something constructive it will get them active get them doing something. They go home and the wife will ask, ‘What did you do today?’ ‘Oh, I un-stocked a truck.’ It gives them the sense of doing something instead of just collecting a paycheck for nothing. And shows the rest of us they want to work.”

Why vote for me, he asks and answers 

“Hartford’s been running amok for years. People who want change – Republicans – with a more conservative view on things, people who want to see a change, I’m here for them,” Moore, the married father of two sons, said. “A lot of people want change but can’t see themselves running a campaign, putting themselves out there. So I’m doing it.”