Sophie Sonnenfeld photos
DeLauro accepting nomination at Monday evening's convention.
Ian Jackson: "Fight for her like she has been fighting for us."
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro has served in office for 31-year-old Ian Jackson’s entire life. Jackson doesn’t want that to change.
So Jackson said as he gave one of the nominating speeches Monday night at the Democratic Party’s Third Congressional District convention. DeLauro was unanimously tapped to run for a 17th two-year term.
One hundred and ninety-eight delegates and 41 proxies voted to nominate DeLauro for reelection.
The convention was held at the senior center on Wheeler Street on Shelton, which was one of the few Third District towns DeLauro lost in her successful race against Republican challenger Margaret Streicker in 2020.
DeLauro will now face off against Lesley DeNardis, who won the state Republican Third Congressional District convention nomination Thursday; Green Party candidate Justin Paglino; and the Independent Party’s Amy Chai.
Inside Shelton's senior center Monday night.
DeNardis argues that DeLauro has been in office too long and lost touch with her district. Supporters at DeLauro’s convention argued that her experience has helped her deliver for the district.
Jackson told the crowd that an internship program DeLauro supported enabled him to get on a career path at Sikorsky Aircraft, where he works today as a computer numerical control machinist.
“Let’s make sure we fight for her just like she has been fighting for us,” Jackson told the crowd.
Following the nomination vote, DeLauro took to the stage, shaking hands, high fiving, and hugging delegates as she danced along to Tina Turner singing “Proud Mary.”
DeLauro pledged to not shy away from battles against “the powerful” and to continue to push for fair wages, voting rights, abortion rights, and protections for working people and small businesses still struggling from pandemic setbacks.
“I take this not as a reward for past service but as an incentive to work harder, to get things done, and to help make a difference for hardworking families here in Connecticut and across our nation,” DeLauro said.
Citing the influence of her mother, the late Alder Luisa DeLauro, the Congresswoman spoke of the need of government to act to improve people’s lives. She cited her work to secure federal support for Ukraine, an expanded child tax credit, and more funding for police departments.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, people were already struggling to pay skyrocketing costs for housing, education, and healthcare, DeLauro said. “They were on the edge, and then they were in free fall.” Now the war in Ukraine and inflation have exacerbated challenges facing families.
DeLauro referenced the child tax credit legislation she pushed for 18 years to finally get passed and signed into law under the American Rescue Plan. The tax credit led to the largest decline in child poverty in US history before it expired after six months. DeLauro called this legislation “a lifeline to the middle class” and vowed to work to make the child tax credit permanent —or at least extended.
Other top priorities for DeLauro include advancing legislation to hold “big oil” accountable for price gouging, for lower gas prices at the pump, and for investments in the transition to “clean, low-cost energy.” She advocated instituting a minimum income tax on billionaires.
She called too for greater protections for abortion rights and voting rights. DeLauro called the expected Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade a “stunning setback for our nation.”
Lifelong Connecticut resident Karen Turman, who lives in Stratford, said she supports DeLauro especially because of her support for voting rights and abortion. “Rosa is very faithful, and she can focus on the most current and valuable issues,” Turman commented. “That’s why she’s been in that long. Because she’s relevant all the time.” Turman added that she has supported DeLauro in every election also because of her constituent service work.
Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola of New Haven at convention.
Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola stood up to officially nominate DeLauro during the convention.
He noted his and DeLauro’s shared Italian-American roots and values. DeCola highlighted her pushes to pass emergency pandemic relief funding, veterans benefits, affordable housing, and student financial aid. “She is a fighter, and we need her,” he said.
Former New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes.
Republican candidate DeNardis has made support for policing one her main campaign issues. Monday night’s convention was designed in part to respond to that issue. Former New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes, who now serves as the director of public safety at Quinnipiac University, seconded the nomination, calling DeLauro, “the embodiment of what it means to be a public servant.”
Reyes pointed to DeLauro’s support for police officers and first responders. He said her commitment to officers has “never wavered.”
He referred to DeLauro’s support for the Burns Police Fund, which helps police departments pay for community-oriented policing services and de-escalation training.
Also furthering DeLauro’s nomination at the convention, Lisa Moyles described DeLauro as “principled, no-nonsense, and tenacious.” Moyles credited DeLauro with saving her small Shelton-based intellectual property law firm by helping it apply for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan during the pandemic.
As a longtime customer of a national bank, Moyles said, she thought her firm would be perfectly placed to qualify for PPP funding. “But what I soon realized was that we were a very small fish in a very large pond.” Moyles never received a response to the firm’s initial application filed through the bank.
Moyles got no traction even after Congress decided to extend the program, until she reached out to DeLauro’s office, she said. Within weeks Moyles received a “business-saving” infusion of cash. Thanks to DeLauro, Moyles said, she did not have to cut any salaries or staff.
Myron Melnyk.
New Havener Myron Melnyk, who serves as the welfare officer for the Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV) Post 33, spoke at the convention about DeLauro’s support for Ukraine. He said since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, DeLauro has consistently advocated for defensive weapons for Ukraine. “But more importantly, the Congresswoman’s words have been supported by concrete actions,” Melnyk said.
Melnyk lauded DeLauro for acting quickly as chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee to secure $13.6 billion in emergency assistance to support Ukraine and for working to shepherd the $33 billion supplemental White House budget request for Ukraine through the House during Russia’s current invasion of his native country.
“Our community in New Haven is deeply appreciative of the Congresswoman’s steady and consistent help,” Melnyk concluded.