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Lesley DeNardis: Looking to return seat to Republicans since her father last held it 40 years ago.
A familiar name is poised to reappear on this fall’s Third Congressional District ballot: DeNardis.
That will happen if Lesley DeNardis wins the Republican nomination for the seat, which represents New Haven and Hamden, among other communities.
DeNardis, a former political science prof at Sacred Heart University who lives in Hamden, announced her candidacy for the seat in a release issued Tuesday.
DeNardis is the daughter of Larry DeNardis, who won the Third Congressional seat in the Ronald Reagan wave election of 1980. Democrat Bruce Morrison unseated him two years later. Larry DeNardis is the only Republican to have served the district since Democrat Robert Giaimo defeated Republican Albert Cretella in 1958.
In her announcement release, Lesley DeNardis tapped issues that Republicans statewide and nationwide are predicting will propel another wave election in 2022: inflation, crime/policing, parental rights, immigration.
“Between soaring prices for gas and food, rising crime in our communities and oppressive mandates, all of us feel a sense of loss of control over our lives, our pocketbooks and our children’s education,” DeNardis stated.
“If elected I will restore a commonsense approach to government, stop mindless spending and borrowing, secure our borders, support law enforcement, support parents’ rights to have a say in their children’s education and most of all restore the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution.”
She is taking on Democrat Rosa DeLauro, who has represented the district since 1991 and has risen to the position of chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
In the release, DeNardis decried DeLauro for being a “career politician” whose “lock-step support for the Biden agenda is out of step with what residents want.”
No other Republicans are known to be running at this point. An endorsement will come during a May convention. “We are happy to hear about the DeNardis campaign. Rosa forgot her roots long ago and has not represented New Haven, nor Connecticut, well in years. It’s time for Connecticut to elect people that stand for us, not themselves and their own interests as Rosa has done,” said New Haven Republican Town Committee Chair John Carlson.
DeLauro is running for reelection.
“Former Congressman Larry DeNardis gave me one of my first jobs. I will always be grateful for that,” DeLauro said in a statement released by her office.
“This week, I am leading negotiations on legislation to support President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine. With that, I am also negotiating a [Fiscal Year 2022] funding package that helps working families with the cost of living, creates American jobs, helps small businesses, and makes health care more affordable.” That reflected an argument DeLauro has made in each election when challenged on being a “career politician”: that experience and seniority enable a member of Congress to have more influence and deliver more for constituents back home.
Click here, here, here, here and here to read stories about events DeLauro has held in town to highlight federal dollars that have flowed to the district over the past year.