30Th District Candidate Criticized By Teachers Union For Comments

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Steve Baleshiski, the Republican challenger to six-term member of the state House of Representatives and current Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz in the November elections has come under fire from the state's largest teacher's union for an alleged pattern of intolerant comments, particularly on social media.

The two are running for the 30th Disrict House seat representing Southington and Berlin.

In a statement Aresimowicz described in a Wednesday phone interview as being "leaked" to the Hartford Courant and published on Tuesday, Connecticut Education Association President Jeff Leake said, “No candidates running for office, Republican or Democrat, should make vile comments and attacks regarding students who speak out on matters of public concern ... That is the opposite of what we teach about democracy, respect for each other and a civil society.”

CEA President Donald Williams, a former Democratic legislator, is also quoted as denouncing the posts in Courant, story.

Baleshiski, 22, is a 2014 graduate of Southington High School.

A specific target of the criticism is a post dated March 26, 2018 regarding David Hogg, a student who survived a February shooting incident at a Florida high school who has become an advocate for strict gun control laws.

The post, published in the Courant story, says, in part, "Apparently if you survive horrific events, that makes the stupidity spewing out of your mouth above reproach. I disagree. Hogg can burn in hell, I don’t care what he survived. Survivors who wage war on my country are my enemies.”

A message requesting comment through the Facebook campaign page of Baleshiski went unreturned Wednesday morning into the afternoon.

Aresimowicz on Wednesday said he has reviewed 45 pages of "things that have been said" regarding issues like government policy, religion and school shootings by Baleshiski.

"It's concerning," he said. "I understand if a 22-year-old runs to Facebook, but what he said does not represent the views of the 30th District and, in my honest opinion, they are disqualifying statements."

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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