Christopher Peak, Markeshia Ricks Photos
Darryl Brackeen and Pat Dillon.
New Haven’s longest-serving state representative is facing a likely challenge from a fellow Democrat who claims he can help bring home more bacon from Hartford.
Darryl Brackeen, Jr., a three-term city alder from Upper Westville, told the Independent he’s “strongly considering” a primary challenge against fellow Democrat Patricia Dillon, a 17-term state representative from the 92nd General Assembly District. He’s expected to file his paperwork to run as soon as in coming days, according to people familiar with his plans.
In a district that encompasses both the Westville and West River neighborhoods, both are positioning themselves as the candidate who’s best able to reel in state dollars that could generate much-needed economic opportunity in New Haven.
Brackeen, 29, often seen sporting a bow tie, said he’s been hearing discontent from his Upper Westville constituents about the state’s gridlock. He said he possesses the skill set to advocate for New Haven up in Hartford.
“With the economy of the state as it stands today, what has the representative done to get us out of the hole that we’re in? With 32 years to do it?” Brackeen asked. “I’m strongly considering a primary in order to ensure that the issues of the 92nd District are raised and advocated for in a manner in which we can actually see deliverables and not just talking points.”
Mayor Toni Harp, who worked with Dillon in the legislature for two decades and lives in Brackeen’s ward, said that she needs more information before choosing whom to endorse. “I know how effective [Dillon] is, so I just want to know why some folks think we need a change,” Harp said.
“It’s A Small Town”
Tom Breen Photo
Dillon, at a 2016 Deltas forum.
Dillon, once the director of a battered women’s shelter, defeated a popular Republican incumbent in 1984 to first win her seat in Connecticut’s House of Representatives, despite a red wave that year. Four years behind Sen. Martin Looney’s arrival in Hartford (who was then a state rep), she’s still New Haven’s senior lawmaker in the lower chamber. Dillon serves as the assistant majority whip, though she said she doesn’t “put much stock in titles.” She also sits on the Appropriations, Environment and Judiciary Committees, which she said come with “very heavy workloads.”
During her tenure in the House, she passed laws requiring hospitals to collect gun violence data for researchers and set up a voucher program for pregnant women and seniors to buy produce. Most recently, she convinced state budget makers to provide $4 million in bond money to shore up sinking homes. In the next term, Dillon said she’s planning to push legislation to tax Bitcoin trades and pressure the Department of Transportation to clear a multi-use trail along West River.
Dillon, who last faced, and defeated, a Democratic primary opponent in 2010, said she was prepared to take on another competitor this year. But she hadn’t predicted Brackeen would be her opponent.
“It’s a surprise coming from someone I worked with very closely,” she said. “Having a challenger is, you know, part of the process. The reasons for it would matter, and it will certainly be disruptive of relationships. It’s a small town.”
She argued that now’s not the right time for Brackeen to make a bid, as the New Haven delegation needs to present a unified front to win limited funds for the city in what’s proven to be a tough budget cycle.
“Its difficult for any incumbent in a year like this because of what’s going on at the Capitol,” Dillon said, citing a tied State Senate and closely-divided state House as well as fiscal constraints being impediments to getting legislation passed. “I think that unity is important. New Haven has many voices, and we squander our authority at the Capitol if we don’t come up with a common agenda.”
Brackeen disagreed, saying a competitive race will produce “a stronger democracy and a stronger party to address the issues of her district.” If he proceeds with plans for the primary, he promised to make adjustments for the “21st-century realities that require a reassessment of progressive ideas.”
Define “Newcomer”
Paul Bass Photo
Brackeen, at a 2016 rally backing “sanctuary” for immigrants.
Brackeen, a Hillhouse High grad who currently works as outreach director for the advocacy group Educators 4 Excellence, called himself “a strong team player” who has developed a “reputation as a fierce advocate” for New Haven’s middle-class families during his four years on the Board of Alders. He said he mobilized his constituents against raising property taxes, steered the installation of speed bumps and traffic-calming measures throughout his ward (with bond funding that Dillon helped secure), and advocated for full funding of the state’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) in Hartford.
Dillon objected to the narrative that Brackeen’s entrance to the race would offer a choice between a veteran’s experience and a newcomer’s energy.
“I don’t expect voters to defer to experience, but I don’t know that turning on people because they’re incumbents makes sense either. You do it on the facts of the case,” she said. “I’m a known quantity; I know what I’m doing.”
She added that Brackeen isn’t necessarily a newcomer to politics. “I don’t know if he’s fresh. He’s been around quite a bit,” she said. “Fresh to the Capitol? Well, I suppose, but not to public life.”
Dillon said she worried about running for reelection as an older woman, citing attacks on Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, who she regularly saw drawn as wrinkled “hags” in cartoons. “I was just astonished over the venom against Hillary Clinton,” she said. “Maybe I should have anticipated it, but I’m bracing for it.”
She described herself as “younger than Trump, younger than Hillary and older than Darryl.” (She’s 69.)
Brackeen said he won’t be running to diminish women’s leadership in politics.
“It’s just kind of far-fetched,” he said. “This is not about labels, this is about results.” He said that he’d been shaped by powerful women throughout his life. “I grew up in a single-parent home with a mother who was a strong, intelligent banker. [I] married a brilliant, wonderful woman who’s a social worker and fathered two daughters who I believe could reach the highest pinnacle and break the glass ceiling, as Pat Dillon has done,” he said. “I honor her for her work and what she’s done for women, there’s no question.”
Brackeen said he hasn’t submitted any campaign filings yet; Dillon said she signed her reelection papers on Tuesday.