Special Election Set To Replace DiMassa In New Haven District

NEW HAVEN, CT — The special election to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of State Rep. Michael DiMassa has been scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 14, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Friday.

DiMassa, a Democrat who represented the 116th District including parts of West Haven and New Haven, resigned on Monday. He was arrested Oct. 20 on a federal complaint on accusations that he defrauded West Haven out of more than $636,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.

Under state law, the governor is required to issue a writ of special election within 10 days of a seat in the General Assembly becoming vacant, and a special election must be held 46 days after the writ is issued. Lamont issued the writs on Friday.

Lamont previously called the allegations against DiMassa “serious and very troubling.”

"If the allegations are true, he has not only broken the law but also betrayed the public trust,” Lamont said at the time of DiMassa’s resignation. “He had no choice but to resign. The citizens of West Haven and all of Connecticut deserve honest government."

DiMassa also recently resigned as Administrative Assistant to the West Haven City Council.

DiMassa and another person formed Compass Investment Group, LLC in January, which “fraudulently billed the City of West Haven and its 'COVID-19 Grant Department' for consulting services purportedly provided to the West Haven Health Department that were not performed," according to officials from the U.S. State's Attorney's Office.

West Haven paid Compass Investment Group $636,783 from February 2021 through September 2021, officials said.

DiMassa is also accused of making several large cash withdrawals from the Compass Investment Group LLC bank account, some of which were made "shortly before or after he was recorded as having made a large cash 'buy-in' of gaming chips at the Mohegan Sun Casino," officials wrote in a news release.

DiMassa has been charged with wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.