The race for the 87th General Assembly District is on. Democrat Theresa Ranciato Viele has won her party’s nomination to challenge four-term incumbent Republican Dave Yaccarino for the seat.

Theresa Ranciato Viele

Ranciato Viele is a lifetime resident of North Haven with family roots in the town dating back to the early 1900s.

Professionally, she is co-owner of disaster preparedness and recovery firm Techmate/Blue Lotus and the owner of GIRLTOWER, a zoning and wireless communications consulting firm. On a volunteer level, she has served on the Zoning Board of Appeals as co-chair and Blight Committee as chair; she currently serves on the Planning & Zoning Commission.

“I’ve been a volunteer in North Haven for a long time,” she said. “Being involved on a local level for that many years, I’ve interfaced with thousands of residents sitting on those boards and I do know what the needs and concerns of our citizens are.”

She is also involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Red Cross as well as a member of the North Haven Rotary Club.

Ranciato Viele believes her business experience has prepared her to help in Hartford.

“We are in crisis and I think that we need to do four things in legislature: We need to communicate, we need to coordinate, we need to collaborate, and cooperate. And those are four things that I’ve learned in my business and my volunteer work,” she said.

She already has several ideas in mind of what she wants to work on.

“One of the first things is to work on more revenue to come into the state [and] work on plans, bills, that haven’t made it through,” said Ranciato Viele. “We just need more revenue flowing into this state and the legislature in the last few years has not been able to accomplish this task.”

She also wants a better funding formula for education.

“I think I’m running because I believe I can represent North Haven better,” said Ranciato Viele. “And I can work across the aisle.”

Dave Yaccarino

Yaccarino is seeking a fifth term representing North Haven, where has lived his entire life.

Yaccarino is the leading House Republican lawmaker on the legislature’s Commerce Committee. He serves on the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding; Screening; and Executive and Legislative Nominations committees and on the Bonding Subcommittee.

Outside of his role as a state representative, Yaccarino has owned DJ’s Comics and Collectibles for 27 years. He has volunteered for the Boy Scouts for 16 years, is a member of the North Haven Republican Town Committee, and has served as a youth mentor. He is the co-chair of Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame. He was formerly a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Yaccarino said that serving as a state representative is a full time occupation.

“I’m running again because I’ve gotten a lot done in eight years,” said Yaccarino.

He said that the job is really about helping people in the community.

“At the end of the day it’s representing folks. People, you’re representing people, not Democrats or Republicans, just people,” said Yaccarino.

He said he believes that the state “lags behind” in terms of jobs. He wants to bring companies into the state. With its universities, he believes that Connecticut can compete with Massachusetts and New York.

“We all want new businesses, and education is key. I want to continue to work for the people of North Haven, on local education, on a state budget that’s reasonable,” he said. “I want a healthy North Haven, healthy Connecticut, and the only way to do that is to grow and have policies that will help us move forward.”

The way to get the job done, he said, is to always be honest, to work hard and to listen to the people.

“It’s helping people and advocating for people,” he said. “And anybody that can run can say that, but I have the record to show that. That’s the person I am and I have been. A lot of people in politics they talk a good game, but you have to look at their record and what they do and stand for.”