CT Patch Candidate Profile: Tom O'Dea For 125th House District

NEW CANAAN, CT — The 2022 election is heating up in Connecticut and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

Eyes are primarily focused on the gubernatorial election, but every state representative and senate seat is up for grabs. All five of Connecticut's congressional seats, plus one U.S. Senate seat, are up for grabs as well.

There are 151 seats in the state House of Representatives and 36 in the state Senate. Democrats currently hold majorities in both chambers

Connecticut Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Tom O'Dea, a New Canaan resident, is running for State Representative 125th District.

Campaign website

https://tomodeaforstaterep.com

Party affiliation

Republican

Education

Juris Doctor

Occupation

I am an experienced trial attorney (30+ years) and concentrate my practice in civil litigation on behalf of individuals and corporations in a wide variety of matters ranging from commercial litigation to personal injury litigation. I have the highest Martindale Hubble Rating (AV) which is "an elite group of approximately 10 percent of all attorneys" and I'm one of only 5 percent of lawyers to be rated as a "Super Lawyer."

See https://www.martindale.com/ & https://www.superlawyers.com/

Family

Wife - Kerry; Son Thomas - 23; Daughter Caroline - 21; Son Michael 18. All three attended New Canaan Public Schools.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Age

56

Previous public office, appointive or elective

From 1995 to 2004, I served by appointment of the Governor as a member of the Police Officers Standards and Training Council (POST), which is responsible for overseeing all training and certification of municipal police officers in Connecticut. From 1997 to 2004, I served, again by appointment of the Governor, as a Victim Compensation Commissioner within the state’s judicial branch, responsible for adjudicating claims brought by victims of crimes.

In 2004, I was appointed to the Judicial Selection Commission, including time as chair. The Judicial Selection Commission is responsible for recommending the appointment and reappointment of state court judges. I was elected to New Canaan’s Town Council from 2005 through December 2012. In November 2012, I was elected to the General Assembly and have won re-election on five previous occasions.

I am very proud of my bipartisan reputation and support which is indicative of the fact that fact that in the majority of my past campaigns I was unopposed by any democratic opponent. I am currently the Deputy Leader of the House Republicans.

Why are you seeking this office?

It has truly been an honor representing New Canaan & Wilton these past 10 years and, while I am very proud of the things I’ve accomplished so far (getting our Republican budget passed and the opioid legislation that has saved thousands of lives to name just a couple of the top ones), there are still more issues facing Connecticut residents that I’d like to fix, particularly now that I am in leadership as the #2 House Republican - including making Connecticut more affordable, more business friendly and more friendly for retirees along with maintaining local control of zoning and education.

We also need to reverse the anti-police legislation that was passed a couple of summers ago that has resulted in more crime, drugs and death throughout the state, as I predicted it would when the bill was debated on the house floor.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.

"Affordability and Local Control." We need to decrease spending and taxes across the board and extend the spending, borrowing and volatility caps our Republican Budget of 2017 established in the bond covenants for another 5-10 year and not let them expire June 2023. The reason for the surpluses we are experiencing are due to our Republican budget. Despite the foregoing, the excessive spending by the majority party has actually increased one of the highest unfunded debt per capita in the country from $75 billion to $95 billion in the last two years alone. Because of the anti-business legislation passed over the last decade, we are the only state in the country with less jobs now than we had in 2008.

Finally, we need to stop Hartford from reducing the amount of local control our communities have over education and zoning. We know what is best for our students and communities through our local Boards of Education and Zoning Commissions. Hartford should work collaboratively with municipalities utilizing incentives rather than mandates.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am a proven bipartisan leader with ten years of experience getting things done, including one of the best budgets in our state's history and opioid legislation that has saved thousands of lives. I have never participated in the State Citizens Election Program which has saved the State over $150,000. I am a Deputy Leader who has gotten dozens of my bills passed and improved hundreds of other bipartisan pieces of legislation. I believe over the last ten years few legislators have had input on more pieces of legislation over the same period of time.

In addition, my volunteer work over last 24 years also distinguishes me from my opponent. I was a Founding Board Member and Legal Counsel to The Voices of 9/11 (now Voices), including a decade as Treasurer, Staying Put in New Canaan and the New Canaan Chamber Music Society. I have also performed extensive pro bono legal work and been a board member of New Canaan Youth Football and the Fairfield County Football League. I have performed extensive pro bono legal work for New Canaan Youth Lacrosse, New Canaan Squash, and was a founding member of NC Rink Inc and raised money to buy the ice rink and secured a $200,000 grant from the state for the Boucher Community Rink.

I was also a leading advocate and legal counsel to purchase Irwin Park. I was able to get the Town Charter revised in order to gain support and approval of sidewalks being extended throughout town and out to many of our parks.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

Although this question is not addressed to me, I would vehemently dispute any assertion I have failed the community in anyway. I generally work six to seven days a week year-round in my two jobs as an attorney and legislator. I am the first Deputy Leader from New Canaan since 1952 when Mansfield Sprague was Speaker. I have heard people argue that while I am hard working, I have changed in my ten years as a legislator. I assure you that what has changed is the amount of vitriol and lack of respect for differing opinions. The Founding Fathers intended legislators to compromise. I have often said the best legislation is bipartisan legislation and I have been very effective at working with the majority to get that done, most of the time. The two issues democrats are trying to distract Connecticut residents with are guns and abortion. Neither guns nor abortion are relevant issues in Connecticut.

First on guns, I worked on and voted for the most comprehensive gun safety, school safety, and school mental health legislation in the country after the Sandy Hook tragedy. If Texas had passed similar legislation, I truly believe the Uvalde tragedy would not have occurred.

Second, regarding abortion, as you probably already know, unlike the federal elected democrats, who under President Obama could have codified Roe v. Wade when they had complete control of the federal government (including a filibuster proof senate – they got Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote), Connecticut State legislators passed the Freedom of Choice Act in 1990 codifying Roe v. Wade so a pregnant woman’s right to choose is absolutely not an issue for Connecticut residents. There was bipartisan support for the legislation with input from the Hartford Archdiocese, Right to Life groups and Planned Parenthood.

I truly believe no one has worked harder and gotten more done in their first ten years as a legislator. My opponent is arguing for term limits. I agree with him but not at 10 or 12 years. We should have federal and state term limits of 18 years and limit any politicians net worth to a 10 percent increase of assets obtained while in office and anything above 10 percent has to be donated to a national charity with which the elected official has no affiliation or relative working with it. I would exempt any property or assets obtained prior to elected office from the 10 percent cap.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

The main issues facing Connecticut residents are Finances/Debt (affordability), Job Growth and Local Control of Education and Zoning. The majority wants to talk about guns and abortion which are not issues here in Connecticut because the majority has been a disaster with our state finances and tried to reduce/limit local control of education and zoning.

Finances / Debt / Jobs - Under approximately 50 years of one-party rule in the Connecticut legislature (2017 we had a tie in senate which led to our Republican budget), we have one of the highest unfunded debt per capita in the country - and our unfunded debt just increased from $75 billion to $95 billion in the last two years alone because of the massive spending increases. Connecticut is the only state in the country that pays the public sector more than the private sector for the same job. The majority in Hartford has increased taxes and spending and wants to distract you from our state finances. The Majority in Hartford has passed the most anti-small business legislation in the country over the last few terms. We have less jobs in Connecticut now than we had in 2008. The majority has outlawed Terry stops and limited police officers’ ability to defend themselves in court such that police now avoid active policing which, as I predicted, has led to an increase in crime, illegal drugs and death throughout our state.

Education / Zoning - Hartford has eroded local control of education and zoning and they have called for further state control of education and zoning in 2023. We need to stop this effort.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

While on the New Canaan Town Council I ran against amending the Town Charter to allow the Town Council to increase spending (currently Town Council can only approve, reduce or send the budget back to the Board of Finance). My efforts were successful and as a result our spending and resultant taxes did not explode as they would have if the Town Council could have increased the budget. As stated previously, I was the leader in getting outdoor dining approved in New Canaan back in 2006. I have working on and for many local non-profits and coached hundreds of our children in football, basketball, and baseball for the last almost 20 years.

I know New Canaan as well as anyone, have many relatives and friends in Darien and have been working in Stamford for about a decade. I know the new 125th District well. I have gotten many of great pieces of legislation passed and fixed hundreds of other bills. I worked diligently to get the 2017 Republican Budget passed and when Governor Malloy vetoed it, then Representative Tong called me to begin negotiating a bipartisan compromise that was based on our Republican Budget. That 2017 budget is the reason for our current surpluses. I worked with then Democratic State Representative Gerry Fox, as my first piece of legislation, to get Narcan in the hands of first responders and passed additional legislation to address the opioid crisis which has saved thousands of lives.

I run the floor of the House Chamber for our caucus and I believe if you asked any Democrat who is the most bipartisan Republican, I would be in everyone's top three. I have met with and called the Governor, Speaker, and Deputy Leaders of the House to work on legislation. I have the experience and proven results as a bipartisan legislator and leader.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

I have had the pleasure to serve under three Speakers who, while in the majority, usually worked to get things done on a bipartisan basis - about 85 percent of all legislation is bipartisan. Unfortunately, there were a number of times that really bad bills got passed without a single republican vote - particularly with the budgets, other than 2017, local control, public sector contracts, anti-business legislation, energy policy and the anti-police legislation. The best bipartisan legislation happened when the senate was tied, and house was within a handful of votes. Frankly, we need more Republicans in the house and senate to make sure there is compromise.

Another piece of great advice, beside "bipartisan is always best," is to "legislate with humility and respect for everyone" and "the Lord gave us all two ears and one mouth, use them proportionately."

Finally, "our job as legislators is to work together in the best interest of our constituents and all of Connecticut's residents and compromise is not a dirty word."

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

It has truly been an honor representing New Canaan and Wilton these past 10 years and, while I am very proud of the things I’ve accomplished so far (getting our Republican budget passed and the opioid legislation that has saved thousands of lives to name just a couple of the top ones), there are still more issues I’d like to get fixed, particularly now that I am in leadership as the House Republican Deputy Leader - like making Connecticut more affordable, more business friendly, more friendly for retirees and make sure we strengthen and maintain local control of education and zoning.

We need to lower the 8-30g threshold for a moratorium from 10 percent across the state to something between 2-10 percent depending on a municipality's size and percent development. We also need to lengthen the time period of a moratorium and make it easier to obtain to encourage good faith efforts at growing the affordable housing stock. 8-30g encourages predatory building practices not building more affordable housing. The state needs to be more of a collaborative partner and less of a tyrant.

Regarding education, the state needs to help the lower performing districts to imitate the higher performing districts like New Canaan and Darien. Why would you try and change the best performing districts? We need school choice and allow half of the state funding to follow the child to wherever they want to attend school, whether it is a Charter School or Parochial school or any accredited school. Kolbe Cathedral in Bridgeport has a 100 percent graduation rate a cost per student that is less than half what it costs in the public school.

In addition, we need to bring back the religious exemption for vaccines. We have one of the highest vaccination rates for school children in the entire country. There are approximately 20,000 students who are unvaccinated simply because of a lack of follow-up and monitoring while only roughly 6,000 students asserted a religious exemption. The legislation that eliminated the religious exemption was rushed and completely unnecessary. I offered a compromise that would have allowed a religious exemption unless the school or district came below the national average. Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle admitted my compromise made sense but because they didn't need to compromise, they wouldn't.

Regarding affordability, for years I've been advocating to eliminate the tax on estates, social security and pensions which would make Connecticut one of the best places to retire at a cost of less than 2 percent of a $24 billion dollar budget, which would result in an increase in revenue over the long run and increase property values dramatically.