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04/26/2022 01:34 PMThe battle for the 101st General Assembly District state representative seat is on. On April 1 Madison Republican John Rasimas, a former deputy state auditor, officially launched his campaign to challenge incumbent Democrat John-Michael Parker, who was elected to the position in 2020, unseating five-term incumbent Republican Noreen Kokoruda.
Rasimas Has Five Key Issues
Rasimas said he worked for close to four decades in Hartford collaborating directly with the state legislature, making him an excellent candidate in regards to fiscal policy and budgeting.
“We are basically a CPA firm for the state. That’s the way I have always looked at it. There are 187 legislators up in Hartford,” said Rasimas. “There is a state comptroller, there is a state treasurer, and not a one is a CPA.
“The State of Connecticut administers a budget of $23-, $24 billion. I think there should be a CPA up there, just one, and a fiscal watchdog, and that’s me,” Rasimas said. “Someone who can explain to the rest of the legislative body what the true numbers are.”
Rasimas also works as an accounting educator at Central Connecticut State University, which he has done for close to two decades at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including governmental and nonprofit accounting. This is Rasimas’s first run for elected office. He did serve in Southington 30 years ago when he finished the term of another official on the Board of Finance.
According to Rasimas, though his previous position as auditor was apolitical, he had been eying an elected office for some time.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about but really wanted to wait until I retired to run for office, or even file to run,” said Rasimas.
Rasimas said the impetus to run was something he felt compelled to do with his background and knowledge gained in his auditing position.
Another issue close to his campaign is concern about the juvenile justice system, according to Rasimas. In 2019, he and his wife Kathy were involved in a hit-and-run accident caused by a juvenile in Middletown and in which they were both seriously injured, his wife losing a leg in the incident.
The relatively minor punishment the juvenile received was a major factor in his decision, said Rasimas.
“With this accident, we got thrown into the juvenile justice system and the juvenile justice reforms that were enacted in 2010,” said Rasimas. “Until you’re involved in something like this, you can’t understand the ramifications of something like this, so that is one of my principal issue—juvenile justice reforms.”
According to Rasimas, he has several issues that will be the thrust of his campaign.
“I say I have five issues,” he said. “One is the budget and sorting out the books and let everyone know what that budget actually is.
“Two is state aid,” he continued. “Madison and Durham are really being short changed. Clinton got 44 percent state reimbursement for their high school [in 2013], Guilford got 34 percent [in 2015], and Madison is getting 18 percent for ours,” said Rasimas. “That’s just one part of that issue, the other part is educational aid. We used to get $2 million of educational aid 10 years ago, now we get $400,000. Madison sends over $70 million to Hartford in income tax alone and we get $22 dollars a head back in educational aid.”
“Number three is of course juvenile justice reform, and also the issue of fentanyl. Hartford has to realize how terrible and shocking this problem is for our towns and act,” Rasimas said. “Number five is Hartford’s interference in our local issues. Most recently the Transportation Committee trying to get involved with our town beach parking lot, and the same with [affordable housing statute] 8-30g. Folks don’t truly understand the ramifications of laws like that until they see a project going up. Those are the issues most important to me.”
Parker Set for Re-election Run
John-Michael Parker has been on the campaign since early February when he announced his decision to run for reelection. Parker first came into state government during the throes of COVID, but in his first term in Hartford was appointed to several key committees, including the Education, Environment, and Public Health committees.
Parker said that ensuring that our state government takes care of all Connecticut’s residents, prepares them to succeed, and builds communities in which they can thrive are among his top priorities.
“It’s been an incredible time. It is an extraordinary privilege to serve. I feel that every day and all the time. It has been a challenge, that is for sure. But it has been a challenge for all our constituents, considering the extent of the problems we face,” said Parker. “It’s been incredibly gratifying to serve in government during a time when we really needed government to work for our community. Being a part of that fabric has been inspiring, to see the effort put into practice. Working with my colleagues in the legislature, some brilliant folks from across the State trying to make Connecticut a better place to live.”
He said he is eager to improve healthcare access, educational opportunities, and environmental protections across the state, and to keep Connecticut among the best places to live, work, and raise a family.
Parker is a Madison native and is a 2010 graduate of Yale University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. In his career, he has successfully led nonprofit organizations in both Connecticut and New York City.
“I was incredibly privileged to be able to take advantage of everything a small town like Madison can provide,” he said, adding that once he “began working in education and community service, and as I got a bit older, I began to think about where I wanted to start my family and what community I wanted to be rooted in, [which] brought me back to Madison,” said Parker.
“Once I was here and settled in, I thought about what was the best way to serve my community,” he said.
Parker currently serves as the executive director of Arts for Learning Connecticut, a state provider of arts in education programs. He stressed that despite the current climate in politics, he is proud to be able to work with colleagues from all parties.
“I want to emphasize that something I was pleasantly surprised to learn in the legislature is how bipartisan our work is,” said Parker. “I actually helped create and now lead something which we call the Future Caucus, which is a group of bipartisan Democratic and Republican legislators who are working on education, energy, the climate, and mental health. And that’s all about working with people from across the aisle.”
Parker also said his previous experience working as an elementary and middle school science teacherh has served him well on the Education Committee. Parker also serves locally as a member of the boards of Madison Youth & Family Services, the Academy Community Center and Design Committee, and the non-profit Women & Family Life Center.
Parker said there were several issues from his first term that highlight his commitment to Durham and Madison.
“When I look at the job of being a state representative, you’re looking at making state policy and working on serving your constituents,” Parker said, which from a constituent perspective has meant “being there for them and representing them in Hartford during the pandemic, and being there to help them with unemployment issues, with registration in the state programs, being there to help when offices were closed and they needed help to get through to someone, but also being part of helping with Meals on Wheels, volunteering with Youth & Family Services. Really, the small constituent stuff is what is important. It’s not just one story, it’s all of those pieces put together, being responsive is a big part.”
“The other side is the policy stuff. Being there in the community for the small stuff is important, but being in Hartford working on these important committees has been incredible as well,” Parker said. “Being tasked with working on our big opioid bill House Bill 5430—this is an on-going crisis that our state faces, and this year on the Public Health Committee, I was given a chance to lead that effort, which is a pretty cool thing for a freshman to do…”
Seeing the house pass the bill unanimously on the floor “was my proudest moment of the last two years,” he said.