Paul Bass photo
Michael Pace with Republican Town Committee Chair Andrew Tammaro.
Republican Michael Pace raised over $7,000 from more than 200 individual donors in less than two months to qualify for a $33,175 public-financing boost that could assist his quest to unseat incumbent Democratic State Rep. Josh Elliott, one of the state legislature’s leading progressives.
Pace, a professional chiropractor who runs his own practice, Hamden Chiropractic and Acupuncture, is seeking the 88th state General Assembly District seat, which covers Hamden’s Mount Carmel and Spring Glen neighborhoods, on a platform emphasizing cutting crime and taxes. Click here to read a previous story about his campaign and platform.
Elliott is running for a fourth two-year term.
According to a campaign filing, Pace’s campaign took in $7,270 from 224 donors, including 154 in-district contributors, between June 27 and Aug. 9. See who donated, and how much, here.
That filing was made to qualify for the state Citizens’ Election Program, which gives the $33,175 grants to state representative candidates who demonstrate enough fundraising support. The State Elections Enforcement Commission verified the donations and voted Wednesday morning to approve Pace’s grant.
In order to qualify, Pace, 51, had to raise at least $5,800 in small donations, or contributions between $5 and $290, from a minimum of 150 Hamden residents.
“I am incredibly encouraged by the amount of organic and bipartisan support that we have received so quickly,” Pace was quoted as saying in a press release distributed Wednesday by the Hamden Republican Town Committee. “It has become so clear that people in Hamden are discontent with their representation at the State Capitol and are looking for a change. I am truly inspired and humbled that so many people want me to take on this role.”
“I hear from my neighbors in Hamden everyday about the problems facing our community. Folks feel that their quality of life is under threat.”
Josh Elliott, meanwhile, told the Independent he has met those minimums, too, but has yet to apply for state grant money. Read more about Elliott, who has helped successful quests to give people in prisons access to free phone calls and advocated for equitable legalization of recreational cannabis, here.
Nora Grace-Flood’s reporting is supported in part by a grant from Report for America.