Facts, Not Feelings: Why I’m Running for the 102nd

Many of you have seen my name before. I ran for State Senate in 2022 and 2024, and now I’m running to represent the 102nd District right here in Branford. Let me talk to you directly, neighbor to neighbor, and tell you why.

I’m not running for ego and nothing financial to gain. I believe in one simple idea: in life, you learn, earn, and return. I’ve been blessed, in business, and as a husband and father to three daughters, with a grandson I adore. I’ve done my learning and my earning. This is me returning.

I know what some will say: he ran twice and didn’t win, so now he’s after another seat. Here’s my honest answer. I keep showing up because I’d rather spend my time trying than sit on the sidelines and complain. I haven’t reinvented myself, haven’t chased whatever’s popular. My values have never wavered. My only question is: has anyone been listening? Because Branford needs that steady, consistent voice now more than ever, and I’m still here, still willing.

Here’s what I’ve come to believe after watching Hartford for years: we’ve lost our balance, which now is spilling into our town. People say conservatism and liberalism can’t coexist. I say they have to. A healthy government, like a healthy diet, is about balance. Anyone can love chocolate cake, but eat nothing else and you’ll crash.

That’s exactly what happens in politics when one side holds too much power for too long. It loses touch with reality and ends up representing, at best, half the people. Good intentions turn into extremes. The danger isn’t that one side cares about what it cares about, the danger is when there’s no one at the table to say, “wait let’s look at this a little closer and a little more reasonably.”

Now, let’s deal with the big orange elephant in the middle of the room, pun fully intended. Donald Trump. Whether you love him or can’t stand him, hear me out: he is not why Connecticut succeeds or fails. Neither was Obama or Joe Biden. None of them set your electric bill, your property taxes, or how your town runs. We have got to stop letting Washington rent space in our heads. This election isn’t about the White House.

And what’s happening here deserves your full attention. Weeks ago, a proposed development on Commercial Parkway, with nearly 400 apartments and 829 parking spaces, had residents packing Planning and Zoning meetings and asking the obvious questions: “Can our sewer handle it? Our water treatment plant? Our schools? Our police and fire response times?”

A week or so ago, the developer announced they were withdrawing the proposal. I’ll give them credit for listening. But read carefully what they said in their own written statement: they explained that their proposal was, in their view, a better outcome than a development that could “bypass local zoning” under Connecticut’s affordable-housing laws.

The problem isn’t one project. The problem is a state law, that treats our town’s decisions as suggestions.

Read that again, because it’s the whole ballgame. The developer themselves acknowledged, on the record, that under current state law a bigger, denser project could override Branford’s zoning entirely. This isn’t a Republican talking point. This is what the law allows and it’s the law our current representative, Robin Comey, has voted for and supported. One developer walking away doesn’t change that. The next one won’t have to. And this comes on top of roughly 600 new units Branford has already absorbed in recent years, with more in the pipeline.

When I represent the 102nd, I will fight to put zoning decisions back where they belong with the people of Branford. Because the problem isn’t one project. The problem is a state law that treats our town’s decisions as suggestions.

Meanwhile, as a state, we rank 44th in cost of doing business, 37th in cost of living, and 46th in economic outlook, which affects towns like Branford (CNBC’s numbers) not mine. That’s why our young people graduate and leave.

Let me be honest about the recent school money that’s been boasted about. The state increased construction reimbursement for Murphy and Tisko Elementary Schools by about $29 million. That’s welcome help. But let’s not confuse it with a vision. It’s brick-and-mortar money for buildings we were already renovating.

What I actually care about is our kids’ futures. I’ll fight for real investment in two things: programs that prepare our young people from an early age for the AI revolution already reshaping every industry, and the revitalization of the trades, teaching our kids to be electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and skilled builders.

Not every child is meant for a four-year college, and pretending otherwise has left a generation without paths.

I have nothing personal against my opponent. But after eight years, Robin Comey has failed to do the one thing her job description requires: represent all the people of Branford. The causes she’s championed - food allergies, Birth to Three - are worthy, and I’d protect and expand them. My own daughter used Birth to Three for my grandson, and it was invaluable. But eight years is a long time to serve a narrow slice of your district. Where has she been on Commercial Parkway? On electric bills? On property taxes? On standing up to her own party’s overreach even once?

My promise: I’ll fight for our coastline, our schools, and the family programs that work without footing the bill to Branford taxpayers or raising state taxes. I’ll bring state and federal dollars back to Branford. And I won’t just vote on bills. I’ll propose them.

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To Democrats: vote facts, not feelings. To Republicans who think I’m not conservative enough: vote facts, not feelings.

To independents, ask yourself honestly why you’re independent and then vote facts, not feelings.

And to everyone: don’t vote special interest.

Vote for balance. Vote for Branford. Facts, not feelings.