Allan Appel Photo
An English Civil war scholar stormed the border from Hamden and transformed the most competitive contest for a New Haven state legislative seat into a three-way race.
His name is John Morrison.
Wearing neither cuirass nor helmet, Morrison (at center in photo) emerged modestly Tuesday evening inside the cafeteria at Wilbur Cross High School. There a Democratic Party convention was forming to endorse a candidate for the open 96th General Assembly seat that had been vacated by Cameron Staples.
The 96th is largely in New Haven, with some areas of Hamden. Of the 16 delegates who made the choice Tuesday night, 10 were from the Elm City, six from Hamden.
Under party rules for a multi-town race, anyone who receives at least 15 percent of the delegate votes — i.e., three — automatically earns a spot in a party primary, which this year takes place on Aug. 10.
Before Tuesday night’s convention, only two candidates were in the race, both from New Haven. Front runner Roland Lemar was expecting to get the majority of votes; challenger Deb Hauser was expecting to qualify with at least three delegates.
The two of them had been politely slugging it out alone since their announcements: Lemar (at right in photo) is utilizing public financing; Hauser (at left) is not. She characterizes him as an insider, with “machine” backing, whereas she admits she is new to the intricacies of policy and legislative experience. For him the chief issue facing the state is reforming education; for her it’s making the state more business friendly.
The two thought they had the field to themselves after Hamden’s Mike D’Agostino dropped out of the race weeks before.
Surprise at the Wilbur Cross cafeteria: After the New Haveners were nominated and made their two-minute speeches, the Hamden favorite son rose to make his own.
By the end of the night, Lemar received 10 votes and Hauser and Morrison three each, so that all qualified to be on ballot.
Then in a move that would have pleased Oliver Cromwell, the newcomer thrust a dramatic proposal for statewide tax and education reform into the campaign: taxing the rich more to create a dedicated revenue stream to support public schools.
“The real issue is getting the [income] tax on upper levels to support our schools. That [an increased statewide progressive income tax] would drop our property taxes around 40 percent. That’s the way to support our state and school system,” he declared.
In a conversation after the convention, Morrison said D’Agostino’s dropping out was his motivation to throw his hat in the ring. And a former governor was his inspiration for his tax-education plan.
“My basic thing is that there’s been a war on low income earners,” he said, ever since Gov. Lowell Weicker instituted a 4 percent flat income tax in the early 1990s. The richest have benefited, he said.
“My basic thing is [to] use the progressive income tax to fund 100 percent of the school system [statewide]. This will cut your property tax 40 or 50 percent. In Hamden. If you have a quarter million dollar house, you pay $6,000 [in taxes], and state is paying only 27 percent of school expenses.”
Lemar had previously spoken making education a statewide priority, with full funding of the Education Cost Sharing formula. By placing the progressive income tax front and center as the driver of those new funds, Morrison clearly sparked a fresh campaign debate Tuesday night.
“I’ve been talking about [a progressive income tax] for a long time,” responded Lemar, when asked about the proposal, essentially agreeing with the upstart. They both argued that the state has an obligation to spend more on the schools.
Property owners in New Haven and Hamden “should not have to choose between losing their homes or losing their school,” Lemar argued.
Hauser, when asked about Morrison’s position, responded “I’d like to think about it.”
She said she is concerned with business development in the state. “Rather than raising taxes, we should expand the revenue base,” she said.
She did, however, suggest that an immediate alternate pot of money for social services and relief to property tax owners could come from a very modest increase in the sales tax.
Lemar called that regressive and, unlike the progressive income tax, a burden on lower earners.
(Hauser later contacted the Independent to add that she also supports a small increase in taxes for people making over $500,000 a year as well as unspecified budget cuts.)
Morrison might have been a fresh face to some New Haveners gathered at the convention, but not to the Hamden folks with whom he’s long been involved in civic and political affairs.
By training a teacher and research historian on English history, most recently at Yale, Morrison (pictured) has been vice chairman of the Hamden Democratic Town Committee.
He lives on Whitney Avenue and is involved with the Spring Glen Civic Association.
Lemar delegate and former New Haven Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale predicted that in the Aug. 10 primary Morrison might split some of the Hamden vote with Deb Hauser, who, in her view, had been angling for it. Advantage, Lemar?
Morrison said he intends to run a real campaign.
Next round: Candidates are scheduled to debate on June 3, at 8 p.m., on the cable public access program “21st Century Conversations” moderated by N’Zinga Shani and produced by OneWorld Progressive Institute.