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05/20/2020 12:00 AMThe East Haven GOP held its nominating convention on May 19 and, in addition to nominating candidates for justices of the peace and registrar of voters, selected incumbent State Representative Joe Zullo to seek re-election to East Haven’s 99th Assembly District seat in the Nov. 3 election. In accepting the nomination, Zullo expressed both gratitude and excitement.
“I humbly accept the East Haven Republican Town Committee [RTC] nomination and hope that the people of East Haven will echo your enthusiasm and return me to our state capitol this November,” said Zullo, after being nominating by incumbent East Haven Town Clerk Stacy Gravino.
The East Haven GOP, along with local parties across the state, held its convention digitally due to the social distancing restrictions stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The convention proceeded without formal speeches, but with Zullo holding a “Facebook Live” broadcast after the convention to deliver a more formal nomination address.
Zullo explained, “Now, more than ever, East Haven needs a strong, passionate, experienced voice in Hartford. Over the past eight weeks, in addition to answering questions and helping residents navigate our unemployment system, I’ve been fighting to ensure transparency, consistency, and clarity from the governor as we seek to safely and swiftly reopen our state and our economy. If re-elected, I will continue to fight to ensure that the policies we craft to help reopen our state will help East Haven families get ahead and will seek to ensure that we make it easier, and not harder than it already is, for families and small businesses to make ends meet.”
Zullo added, “East Haven can rest assured that, if re-elected, I will continue to be a strong voice in opposition to the majority’s tax-and-spend agenda and will continue to fight for accountability and fiscal sanity in our state capitol.”
Zullo who was elected last February in a special election, took 54 percent of the vote by a margin of 1,658 to 1,408. In addition to serving on the Veterans Affairs and Finance, Revenue, and Bonding committees, Zullo was elevated by his caucus in February to serve as its ranking member on the legislature’s Housing Committee. During his Facebook Live address, Zullo announced his intent, if re-elected, to re-raise revisions to the state’s affordable housing framework that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, never received debate on the House floor.
“In my first week as ranking member, I introduced concept legislation which would expand homeownership opportunities, make our state’s affordable housing statutes fairer to towns like East Haven, and which would discourage their exploitation by developers. If re-elected I intend to raise these initiatives again, because we desperately need to expand housing opportunity in our state and make our housing laws fairer for towns like East Haven.”
In his address, Zullo emphasized his deep roots in the East Haven community and drew upon his experiences growing up in the town, his involvement in the town’s schools and various civic groups, and his experience as the town’s former corporation counsel and as a small business owner.
Zullo added, “Like Mayor Carfora, my roots and my family’s roots run deep throughout East Haven. I understand business in town because I own a business in town. I understand our schools because I’ve spent hundreds of hours in them with our students and teachers.”
Zullo is a longtime volunteer with the town’s school system, serving as an annual sponsor of Momauguin School’s Field Day, a participant in the school’s DARE Graduations, a district math competition judge, and a volunteer as a Capstone judge for high school seniors. Zullo is also a member of the Board of Directors of the East Haven Chamber of Commerce and the treasurer of the town’s Fall Festival Committee.
“We have a strong social fabric that holds our community together, and I understand our community because I’ve built my life around it,” said Zullo. “We’ve seen that strength borne out over the past few weeks, in our community’s resilient and united response in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In addition to emphasizing his record of supporting small business, education, and the expansion of benefits for police, firefighters, and veterans, Zullo also laid out his priorities for a second term in his Facebook Live address.
Zullo explained, “If re-elected, I will continue to be a strong voice in opposition to new taxes and intend to pursue policies to help seniors stay in their homes, to expand home-based family childcare, and to rein in rising healthcare costs, including the high costs of insulin.”
Zullo added, “Along with Mayor Carfora, I will also fight to ensure that any plans for the future of Tweed Airport address and respect the quality of life and safety concerns of the residents living around the airport and of the entire community.”
Zullo concluded, “Once again, I want to thank the East Haven RTC members for their support and enthusiasm, along with the residents of East Haven for the opportunity to have served these past fourteen months. This is a job I love, in a community I love, and that I’ve loved for my entire life. I am humbled and proud to have been nominated for re-election and I am hopeful the voters of East Haven will reward me with the continued opportunity to serve and fight our community in Hartford for another two years.”
For more information, visit www.joezullo.com.