Laura Glesby File Photo
Winter with canine campaign aide Toly on the trail.
State representative candidate Steve Winter has qualified for public financing, his campaign announced Monday.
The candidate for the open 94th General Assembly District seat received certification from the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) that he has qualified for the Citizens’ Election Program (CEP), which provides public grants to qualifying campaigns. The SEEC voted to approve Winter at its June 20 meeting, then formally informed Winter’s campaign the following week.
Winter said his campaign raised $7,952.50 from 216 individual donors, including 194 who live in Hamden and New Haven (where the 94th District sits).
To qualify for a grant from the CEP, state representative campaigns must raise at least $5,800 and collect donations from 150 people who live in the municipalities that include their district.
“Grant funding through the Citizens’ Election Program helps reduce the influence of money and politics and will help our campaign focus on what really matters: engaging voters and hearing their concerns,” Winter wrote in an email message to supporters.
State rep primary candidates can obtain grants of up to $36,500 from the CEP. Participation in the program is voluntary; candidates agree to limit contiriubtions to $320.
Winter, New Haven’s climate czar and a former alder, is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 94th District seat, from which the current incumbent, Robyn Porter, is retiring. Hamden Council member Abdul Osmanu is seeking the nomination as well. He told the Independent Monday that his campaign has raised enough money to qualify as well for the CEP. The campaign is “finishing up a buffer” before submitting the paperwork to the state. The Democratic Party and state AFL-CIO have endorsed Winter; the Democratic Socialists of America and Working Families Party have backed Osmanu, as has Rep. Porter.
Local pastor and school resource coordinator Tarolyn Moore has filed to seek the party nomination as well. She did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published.
The 94th District includes portions of southern Hamden and New Haven’s Dixwell, Newhallville, and Prospect Hill neighborhoods.