The race for the 35th House District has taken shape with two official candidates for the race: incumbent Democrat Christine Goupil of Clinton and Republican challenger Chris Aniskovich, also of Clinton.

The 35th House District represents Clinton, Killingworth, and northern Westbrook. Goupil was elected to represent the district in 2020 after defeating Republican John Hall of Westbrook and Green Party candidate John May of Clinton. That year incumbent Republican Jesse MacLachlan was nominated for a fourth term but dropped out of the race in August.

Both Goupil and Aniskovich are current members of the Clinton Town Council with terms that end in 2023. Aniskovich is the chairman of the council and has been since 2019.

Goupil

At the state level, Goupil has been the vice chair of the Planning and Development Committee and served on the Transportation and Human Services committees since she began her term.

In Clinton, Goupil served as Clinton’s first selectman for a term of two years, however a charter change—one that Goupil supported—led to a change in government structure, eliminating the first selectman position in town in favor of a town manager/town council form. Goupil also served on the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission.

Goupil said she was motivated to run for reelection because there she said there’s “more work to be done.”

“In the past two years, we have made strides to put Connecticut back on a path of progress. We just passed the largest tax cut in Connecticut history, made meaningful investments in mental health for children and childcare for working families, funded gun violence prevention, [and] improved infrastructure for transportation while committing to protecting our environment for generations,” said Goupil.

“Near and dear to my heart are our investments in our veterans and veterans’ organizations. We passed legislation to protect our first responders who serve us and fought to protect women’s rights and healthcare. We’ve come too far to risk an end to that progress, and my private sector experience and in local government has allowed me to serve effectively and bring more funding back to our towns,” Goupil continued.

“My focus is—and has always been—to find solutions and share resources, putting people over politics for a stronger and healthier 35th District,” Goupil said.

Goupil has a professional background in project management at KPMG, Clear Channel Communications, and The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. More information on Goupil and her campaign can be found at www.facebook.com/RepChristineGoupil.

Aniskovich

Aniskovich is the chair of the Clinton Town Council. Besides the Town Council, Aniskovich has served on the Planning & Zoning Commission and Board of Assessment Appeals. Outside of politics, he has served as the president of Clinton Youth Football, been a board member and coach for Henry Swan Little League, and been a volunteer basketball coach in the park and recreation basketball league.

Asked why he was running for election this year, Aniskovich said, “I’m looking to bring better representation to the towns of the 35th District. There’s a lot of issues facing our towns and I believe there’s more than can be down to help our towns.”

“I think we need more representation for all people in the district, regardless of party affiliation, as opposed to just representation for one party or one agenda,” said Aniskovich.

“If I am elected, I think the most important issues facing our state are growing the economy, promoting job growth, and protecting our coastal resources. As a part of the Clinton Town Council, I have seen firsthand the impacts of the pandemic on small businesses and the struggles of working people who are confronted with uncontrolled inflation,” said Aniskovich.

“Investments in our communities that promote growth and job creation and keep our towns affordable are essential. We also need to do everything we can to address the impact of climate change on our coastline. The state needs to partner with towns to make real investments in coastal resiliency efforts,” he continued.

“This run for state rep is not about me, it is about the people of the 35th District and making sure everyone is represented, regardless of party affiliation. It will always be about the people for me, not politics,” said Aniskovich.

Professionally, Aniskovich works as a mortgage broker at Security Financial Mortgage Group in Clinton, which he also owns.

More information on Aniskovich and his campaign can be found on Aniskovich22.com and Aniskovich for State Rep on Facebook.