Crisci vs. Comey Debate Offers Clear Contrast of Issues for Voters

Thank you to everyone who packed the room for the debate. Thank you to the League of Women Voters of the East Shore, to BCTV, and to Representative Robin Comey for showing up. If you missed it, watch it on BCTV or the League’s YouTube channel and decide for yourself. This is what I took away from it.

Kids, then kids, then kids

The questions were supposed to come from the public and the League. Well past the half-hour mark, almost every one had been about education and childcare funding. Those things matter. I support them. My daughter is a single mom who needs childcare. My grandson went through Birth to Three, and I’ve said publicly that Representative Comey has done good work there. But investing in our children as much as my opponent has, which is a good thing, seems counterproductive if we’re going to drive them out of a town they can no longer afford to live in.

And yet nobody had asked about affordability. Not housing, not seniors, not veterans, not your tax bill. So I said it out loud: this is great, but how is it that we’re this far in and we haven’t talked about the things keeping people in this town up at night?

So I did the math

Branford sits at 3.29 percent on the state’s affordable housing list. Section 8-30g holds the 10 percent threshold over our heads, and most developments only have to set aside 30 percent of their units as affordable. Run the numbers, and under the 30 percent setaside rule, Branford would need roughly 4,750 new units to reach 10 percent.

Even at two people per apartment, that’s more than 9,000 new residents. At three, it’s over 14,000. Who pays for the roads, sewers, schools, police, and ambulances? With tax breaks for developers on the table, who covers the gap? You do.

What bothers me most is that we keep pricing out our seniors, our veterans, and our own kids, so somebody else can inherit what they built.

Help seniors stay, not just help them leave

We heard about programs for people once they’re already struggling. That’s good. But I’d rather help seniors stay in the homes they’ve paid for, for as long as they want. Stop taxing them. If we’re going to hand out housing help, the first people in line should be our seniors, our veterans, and the young people who grew up here.

Medical aid in dying

This came up when I ran for State Senate, and it came up again. My brother had cancer and went through some very dark times. If this option had been there, I hate to think what might have happened. Today he’s cancer-free.

Representative Comey said she would likely support it because the bill has guardrails. But guardrails can be moved. Look at the fiscal guardrails Hartford loosened in the last budget. A law can drift far from the spirit it started with. I’m not comfortable playing God. This deserves real caution, and I won’t pretend it’s simple.

What never came up: your electric bill

Not one question on energy. Representative Comey has told voters she helped lower electric bills, and rates did drop roughly $30 to $34 a month this May. What the mailers don’t tell you is that the relief only runs through April 30, 2027.

It’s curious how short-term discounts always seem to show up in an election year. My question is, what happens on May 1, 2027, after the people who campaigned on lower bills are safely re-elected?

I held up the mailer Representative Comey sent from the 2026 session and asked her which bill in it she wrote or championed. She talked about her special education work, which I respect, and I said so. She didn’t name a bill.

I asked how she voted on affordability and housing for Branford. I didn’t get an answer to that one either. For the record, she voted yes on House Bill 8002, the housing bill passed in special session last November.

About the binder

Representative Comey had a binder of prepared answers she turned to throughout the night. She said she likes to be prepared, and I respect preparation. But this format was supposed to have no questions in advance, and I found it disappointing to watch answers come off a page. I’m not accusing the League or anyone else of anything. I’m suggesting that in future debates, candidates bring a pad and a pencil and nothing else.

Voters deserve to hear how their representative thinks on their feet. In Hartford, votes sometimes happen in the moment. After eight years, our representative shouldn’t need a binder to tell us what she’s done.

The letter next to my name

I closed the night with this, and I’ll close this piece the same way.

Imagine there’s no letter next to my name. Put Representative Comey and me side by side like you’re hiring someone. Who has the vision? Who thinks critically? Who communicates? Who’s capable of the job?

She’s had eight years. At the debate, over and over, I heard what she’s hoping for, wishing for, and what she believes “we need to look at.” She’s been looking for eight years. At what point does the rest of Branford get her attention?

She keeps telling us she’s listening. Yet after eight years in office, she sent out a survey asking her constituents about affordability. If you’ve been listening for eight years, why would you need a survey to find out? She talks about childcare and services for kids, which are important, but she doesn’t talk about affordability. She may be listening, but she isn’t hearing.

To my Democratic neighbors: if the letter next to my name is the only thing stopping you from voting for me, I’m asking that you reconsider and think who would be best for Branford.

To my Republican neighbors: are you going to show up and make your voice heard? Don’t stay home.

To the independents: the Independent Party endorsed both me, a Republican, and Senator Christine Cohen, a Democrat who beat me twice. We share the same line on your ballot. If a party can put a Republican and a Democrat side by side on its line, it sees real value in voting across party lines.

Ask yourself: are you voting for the party, or for the person?

Early voting starts October 19. Election Day is November 3. This isn’t a contest. It’s a job interview, and you’re the one doing the hiring.

And remember this. Long after this president, and every president after, has come and gone, we will still be neighbors here in Branford. Let’s vote that way.