Second Time Around, Kennedy Campaigns on Record

In the 2014 election, which marked state Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr.’s first run for elected office, Kennedy’s campaign focused on introducing him to voters and familiarizing them with his ideas. Now, he says, ​“It’s not just talk; it’s actually what I’ve done.”

As the November election draws near, Kennedy, who represents the 12th senate district, which includes Branford, Durham, Guilford, Killingworth, Madison and North Branford, says he is running on his record. He is also running on bi-partisanship, he says, specifically his commitment to working with Republicans across the aisle to get bills passed into law.

In 2014, Kennedy beat Republican opponent Bruce H. Wilson,Jr. of Madison by 57.1% to 42.8%. This election, he will be running against Wilson once again, but now as the incumbent.

This difference in approach was evident when the Eagle followed Kennedy and his campaign manager, Rob Blanchard, through a series of recent visits to the senator’s constituents at separate meetings of the Shoreline League of Democratic Women, the Friends of Hammonasset, and the North Branford Economic Development Commission. The evening’s itinerary took Kennedy on a tour of towns both in and outside his jurisdiction: from Clinton, to Madison’s Meigs Point, to North Branford’s Augur Farm.

As he spoke to constituents, Kennedy made no mention of getting out the vote in his public remarks. However, both speeches placed a strong emphasis on the work that the senator had done to advance the interests of those in the audience, as well as his desire to collaborate in the pursuit of future solutions.

Kennedy is co-chairman of the General Assembly’s Environment Committee, a position he has held since he arrived in Hartford two years ago. In 2015, ​“a contentious session,” he said, his committee passed 24 bills in bi-partisan fashion, he said on the Legal Eagle radio show in February. So far, his website states, in 2016, the majority of all bills voted out of the Environment Committee passed unanimously.

Earlier this month Kennedy and the state Department of Agriculture announced a program designed to attract new shellfish farmers to the oyster and clam industry. Many are former lobstermen. ​“This innovative economic development program will offer small plots of prime, near-shore historically-productive shellfish beds to new entrants into the oyster and clam industry,” he said.

Kennedy, a longtime health care lawyer, also wants the state to reduce out-of-control pharmacy costs by drug companies. He said the legislature could implement a cost transparency law that requires drug companies to account for ​“drug development, marketing, advertising and other costs.” The legislature could also authorize and direct the state Attorney General to investigate the legality of excessive price increases under Connecticut consumer laws.

As chair of the environment committee, Kennedy has pushed to get companies like Amazon to reduce the box packaging implosion generated by online shopping. He has pressed to find new ways to end reliance on plastic shopping bags and he has worked to figure out how best to discard batteries and recycle tires. Outside of the environmental committee, he has also worked to increase seniors’ access to in-home care.

He is now seeking ways to find new sources of revenue to fund the state’s public parks, whose funds have been seriously cut back.

Hammonasset Issues

At the Friends of Hammonasset stop, Kennedy emphasized the need to find sustainable financing mechanisms for the region’s state parks in the aftermath of the state’s drastic budget cuts. This issue has been particularly salient for the Friends of Hammonasset, whose brand new nature center was at risk of closing if they could not afford to staff it.

“We can’t be in a situation where we build a beautiful nature center and then we’re wondering how we’re going to staff that center,” said the senator last month. By this he was referring to the park’s brand new building, the Meigs Point Nature Center, an environmental education facility that offers many free programs to children and adults of all ages.

Currently, Kennedy is working with the friends groups of various state parks to find ways to expand the parks’ concessions and services, a change that could help them produce more of their own revenue. He also hopes to expand the states’ bottle return policy, provided that the extra revenue goes toward funding the parks.

According to Kennedy, investment in state parks is an investment in the state’s economy. ​“These are not cost centers, they are potential economic drivers,” he said, as the car pulled out of the Hammonasset parking lot. ​“Our environmental assets are one of the strong selling points of the state.”

Recently, The Friends of Hammonasset announced a program where they will volunteer their time to keep the Nature Center open during regularly scheduled hours.

“I have said that we need to find creative solutions to ensure that our state parks stay open, and in particular this great, new nature center that is attracting thousands of Connecticut students,” Kennedy said in an interview this week. ​“When it came time to ask hard questions about future staffing of the Nature Center, I knew the Friends of Hammonasset would be the first people we needed speak with. I commend them for their dedication to the park and for standing up in its support during this time of need.”

Kennedy cited a UCONN state parks study that found that every $1 invested in state parks generated $38 in economic activity.

Kennedy ended his talk by inviting his audience to reach out to him with any ideas or concerns. ​“If there’s ever anything I can do for you, you know where to reach me.”

In the 2015 legislative session, the General Assembly managed to restore all but $100,000 of a $2 million cut that the governor proposed for the parks’ $13 million budget. ​“We didn’t even have a budget for toilet paper at our state parks” before the money was restored, Kennedy said back then.

Kennedy was recently named a ​“2016 Environmental Champions” by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. Kennedy is also a graduate of the Yale School of Forestry.

In giving Kennedy a 100 percent voting record from its point of view, the CTLV cited two critical issues. The first cited the rapid die-off of bees, creating a major environmental crisis and the second cited Kennedy’s efforts to reduce packaging waste, which cost towns and taxpayers millions of dollars in increased disposal costs. 

North Branford Economic Development Meeting

At the North Branford Economic Development meeting, Kennedy spoke about the need for government and business to collaborate more effectively in the midst of the state’s current economic troubles.

As he had done at the Friends of Hammonasset meeting, Kennedy urged the representatives present to reach out to him with any ideas. ​“My door is always open,” he said several times.

He also brought up the economic summit that he had organized in April, which drew more than 150 business leaders from around the region to discuss strategies for boosting economic development on the shoreline.

After Kennedy spoke, he was followed by a representative from the state Office of Tourism who spoke about the importance of Connecticut’s tourism industry, which generates about $1.6 billion in revenue each year.

Advancing Social Media

At every event he attended, Kennedy made sure to have a photograph taken of him so that he could post it to Facebook and Twitter.

He was particularly interested in being photographed at the fairgrounds of the imminent North Branford Potato and Corn festival — so much so, in fact, that he re-positioned one of the festival’s signs so that he could get the Ferris wheel in the background of the shot.

He beckoned to one of the meeting’s other attendees, Liz Caplan, to ask her to get in the picture. ​“It’s more fun if we do one together!” he exclaimed.

As Blanchard and Caplan laughed and shook their heads at the senator’s stubborn determination (“you need more light!” he declared, after he saw the first take), Kennedy deflected their jibes with a simple explanation:“I’m promoting my district everywhere I go!” he said, sweeping his hand around the horizon.

Due to time constraints, Kennedy did not have the opportunity to speak to the Shoreline League of Democratic Women at their Clinton event.

However, leaders of the organization made it clear that he would have their support in the upcoming election, and Kennedy left the meeting with the impression that they would be focusing their efforts on the senate race.

Outlook for the upcoming election

Kennedy is participating in the state’s public financing program, which allows candidates to compete in a legislative race without relying on outside special interest funding. Those participating must raise a specific amount of money in small donations in order to receive a substantial grant from the Citizens Election Program (CEP). 

Two years ago he also participated in CEP but not without reaction. A month before the 2014 election, a campaign manager for Wilson filed a complaint with the State Election Enforcement Commission (SEEC), accusing Kennedy of skirting public campaign finance laws when Kennedy’s family and colleagues donated roughly $40,000 to the Democrat State Central Committee, which in turn funneled a similar amount of funds back into Kennedy’s state Senate campaign for staff wages, the hiring of consultants and other costs.

Nearly two years later, that complaint is still pending. 

Though five out of the six towns that Kennedy represents are run by Republicans, the senator feels that he will be able to appeal to voters across party lines as someone who is willing to collaborate with others.

“People want someone who will listen to them — someone who is fair-minded, and will really weigh all the points of view before making a decision, and that’s something I’ve really tried to work hard at,” he added, also noting that about half the district’s voters are unaffiliated.

Some have speculated that Kennedy might run for the position of governor if Governor Dannel P. Malloy were to decide not to seek office again.

Said Kennedy, ​“If there are other opportunities to serve, I’ll have to look at those, but that’s not really what I’m doing now.”

“I feel I can make a big difference being in the state senate, he added. ​“Plus, we have a governor.”

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