Dem Support Snowballs For Winter

Two mayors, dozens of state and local legislators, and a man who once ran against him for alder were among a crowd of New Haveners and Hamdenites who gathered on Monday to endorse Steve Winter for a rare open seat in the state legislature.

Winter, a former alder for Ward 21 in Newhallville who is now the city’s director of climate and sustainability, is running to represent the 94th General Assembly District in the Connecticut House of Representatives on a platform focused on educational equity, affordable housing, and climate change. 

About 50 people in total attended Winter’s campaign launch on Monday evening, which took place at the Learning Corridor along the Farmington Canal Trail where Hazel Street, Shelton Avenue, and Starr Street intersect. 

Winter received the Democratic Party’s endorsement after ten-year incumbent State Rep. Robyn Porter did not show up to a party nominating convention, and later confirmed that she would not be running again.

Also competing in the Democratic Primary are Abdul Osmanu, a Hamden legislative council member who’s received an endorsement from Porter herself as well as the Working Families Party and the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America, and local pastor and school resource coordinator Tarolyn Moore. The primary election will take place on Aug. 16.

“My guiding light is serving my neighbors,” said Winter in a speech to supporters.

He pledged to ​“push for a fair tax structure”; ​“loosen zoning restrictions and push resources into housing development”; establish ​“more safe spaces” for kids and teens; invest in more funding for schools, higher education, and vocational education; promote electrification and reduce air pollution; and address rising cost-of-living expenses. 

Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers recalled how she and Winter occasionally disagreed on the Board of Alders, but became congenial collaborators and eventually friends. 

“He knows how to bring people together,” she said. ​“Just look around.”

At Winter’s campaign launch on Monday was a strong showing of Democratic Party stalwarts (such as party chair Vin Mauro) and Unite Here union allies (such as New Haven Rising’s Scott Marks), as well as a few advocates known for their dissenting voices (such as former Newhallville alder candidate Addie Kimbrough). Attendees included a host of politicians: state legislators Sen. Gary Winfield, Sen. Martin Looney, Rep. Roland Lemar, and Rep. Josh Elliott; Mayors Justin Elicker and Lauren Garrett; Hamden Legislative Council President Dominique Baez; and about half of New Haven’s Board of Alders.

Claudine Wilkins-Chambers, a paraprofessional in New Haven Public Schools who’s lived in Newhallville since 1958, said she’s supporting Winter because ​“he seems to be very dedicated to Newhallville,” even though she’s not the biggest fan of the speed humps he advocated for on Shelton Avenue. She said she hopes to see a resurgence of commercial activity in Newhallville, and especially of Black-owned businesses, which she recalled as having thrived earlier in her life.

Eddie Camp, a Unite Here organizer, said he’d known Winter since he won the alderman seat in 2017. ​“He has a proven track record in the neighborhood and supporting working people,” Camp said. Camp specifically cited Winter’s support of the 2020 worker’s recall law that protected hotel workers from Covid-induced layoffs.

Rodney Williams, who ran and lost against Winter in 2017 to serve as Ward 21’s alder, was also present to support Winter.

He said he considers Winter ​“a good guy,” someone who will listen to constituents’ concerns and take them seriously. ​“I know that he cares,” he said.

Inequality Invoked In Canvassing Convos

By 6:30 p.m., once the crowd had dispersed, Winter set off to begin canvassing.

“Hey, Mr. Winter,” one Shelton Avenue resident (who asked not to be named or photographed) said when she answered the door. 

“I’m running for state representative…. Representative Porter decided not to run again,” Winter explained. 

The resident immediately brought up the housing market as an issue she was most concerned about. She wants to buy a house, she said, but can’t afford anything in New Haven. 

“So much of our city is owned by the Mandys, the Oceans,” said Winter. He said he hopes to create opportunities to build homes on vacant lots in the area, and more broadly, to build ​“a lot more housing to bring those prices down.”

The conversation shifted to the immense resource inequality between New Haven and nearby suburbs. The CT Mirror recently reported that Connecticut is one of the wealthiest states in the country as well as one of the states with the most income inequality. 

The Shelton Avenue resident said she’s a cheerleading coach in New Haven and has a son who plays on local sports teams, both of which bring her to schools in other parts of the state for games and competitions.

“When I go to Guilford, we get to the gym, and I’m like, ​‘Is this a school?’” she said. ​“At Cross, the gym is freezing, the lights in the parking lot don’t turn on.” 

Winter responded that he would advocate for more state resources to go toward New Haven Public Schools, as well as raising taxes for the state’s wealthiest residents.

“As long as you can address those, you got me,” the Shelton Avenue resident promised, accepting a flyer.

Next, on Bassett Street, Winter met Pamela Stewart.

Upon answering the door, Stewart launched into a steady stream of opinions on what she’d like to see happen in the state and across the country: from an emergency fund for food stamp recipients who have been scammed, to ​“fixing up old houses” for unhoused people, to an expansion of abortion rights (even if she wouldn’t personally get an abortion), to health care access for immigrants (“preventative care is the best care”). 

“We are one of the richest countries,” said Stewart. 

Winter took down notes on his cell phone. 

“I can tell you’re a deep, deep thinker,” he said. ​“That’s the approach I want to take.”

Arthur Delot-Vilain contributed to this report.