The race to win the 86th District General Assembly seat in the November 2018 statewide election has a third contender. On Aug. 24, North Branford resident and Democrat Vincent Mase, Sr., announced he was entering the race, endorsed by the North Branford Democratic Committee. It is Mase’s second bid for the state representative seat, following his unsuccessful first run as an unaffiliated candidate in 2016.

Mase joins a field including Republican-endorsed candidate and incumbent State Representative Vincent Candelora of North Branford, who is running for seventh term; and Green Party-endorsed candidate and Guilford resident Colin Souney, who is running for the first time. As previously reported, Candelora and Souney announced their bids in June 2018.

The 86th District represents North Branford and parts of North Guilford, Durham, and Wallingford. Representatives are elected for two-year terms.

Vincent Mase, Sr., Democratic Candidate

Mase is an attorney with a private practice and has also served for the past 12 years as president of National Association of Letter Carriers AFL-CIO Branch 19. In North Branford, he served as an interim council member with the Town Council in 2017 before being appointed in January 2018 as a present member of the town’s Board of Education.

“I believe in moving the 86th District forward by investing in all of our local towns. Agriculture, small businesses, and education will be the focal points of my campaign. I will continue to address these issues through avenues such as investing in local farms and small businesses, supporting current businesses to succeed, and trying to bring new businesses to provide jobs and offset our tax base. A focus will be on new businesses that are environmentally friendly to other businesses and, most of all, to our families, children, and grandchildren. Our towns need small businesses that will increase the values of our homes and not businesses that will depreciate the values of our homes,” Mase stated in a press release.

Mase also stated he feels the 86th District needs a change in leadership.

“I believe that a state representative must go beyond the halls and corridors of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. I truly believe that our state representative has not only a duty, but an obligation to be a leader at home, right here in our own backyards as well. We have not had that experience in recent years. We need a change! I will be that state representative that will stand with you both in Hartford and at home.”

Vincent Candelora, Republican Incumbent Candidate

Candelora, an attorney who works in family-owned businesses, is currently deputy House Republican leader and serving his sixth consecutive term as 86th District state representative. In a press release on June 18, he formally announced his bid for reelection as the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate for the 86th General Assembly District (see full release at www.zip06.com).

“I have watched Connecticut House Republicans grow from a small minority just a few years ago to a 72-member caucus that played a major role in developing last year’s bipartisan budget,” Candelora said. “The plan we passed in October, and this year’s budget adjustment, were huge steps forward for the state. We made voting on union labor contracts mandatory, funded the Retired Teachers’ Healthcare plan, restored funding to the Medicare Savings Program, and made other structural reforms that will help our economy recover. I am honored to have had the opportunity to contribute, and hope to continue serving my district next year.”

In Hartford, Candelora has served on the Legislative Management, Finance, Revenue & Bonding, Judiciary, Public Health, General Law, and Screening committees.

Colin Souney, Green Party Candidate

Souney, a Guilford resident with two decades in a variety of vocations including construction, welding/machining and operating his own business, is endorsed by the Green Party of Connecticut, which formally announced Souney’s candidacy for the 86th District seat on June 14 in a press release (see full release at www.zip06.com).

“I will be a common-sense voice for the people, not an entrenched, ‘bought and sold’ politician,” Souney stated. “Here in Connecticut, we are plagued by endless bickering of entrenched politicians over insensible taxations and ideas that yield the ‘least worst’ decisions. Past policy has depleted the state’s budget and sent it into alarming debt,” said Souney.

According to the press release, to address Connecticut’s budget deficit, Souney advocates the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. In working to ensure health care for all, Souney calls for improvement of mental health systems and ensuring adequate funding for services to individuals and their families and communities. He also advocates an “efficient but gradual” minimum wage increase to $15 hour, and will work to ensure subsidies, tax breaks, and other incentives are available for small business.