Secretary of the State
Dominic Rapini
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Party: Republican
CEP Status: participating
Website: www.dominicforct.us
Age: 61
Marital Status: M
Current Residence: Branford
Current Job: Senior Account Manager
Previous Job: VP Product Marketing
Previous Job: Self Employed /
Education: Trinity, BS Degree
Under the purview of your office, what action(s) will you take to reduce out-of-pocket drug costs and reduce the impact of the cost of prescription drugs on taxpayers and insurance premiums?
N/AIn these inflationary times, what will you do to help ensure that Connecticut’s middle-income retirees on fixed incomes are able to keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets?
N/AUnder the purview of your office, how do you plan to address the growing long-term care workforce crisis in the state?
N/AGas prices are higher than ever, which is difficult for older adults on fixed incomes. Yet, alternatives to cars in Connecticut are limited. What will you do, within the purview of your office, to help older adults access other forms of transportation?
N/AWhat are the most important issues facing Connecticut that your office can address directly, and which of those is your number one priority?
The Connecticut election infrastructure is severely out of date and in need of refresh. Day one may priority is to conduct a Technology review of CTs election tabulators and effect a replacement strategy to be executed for the 2023 Municipal cycle.What is your position on whether Connecticut should open its election primaries to unaffiliated voters?
Primaries are the responsibility of the major political parties. I would urge unaffiliated to engage in the process of determining major party candidates by joining a party that best matches their values and the priorities of their families.Tens of thousands of voters used absentee ballots in the recent primary and many voters say they strongly prefer this convenience. In an effort to increase voter participation, do you support continuing the use of any or all of the following: no-excuse absentee ballots, early voting, and/or making Election Day a holiday?
1) Early Voting - When considering Early Voting the citizens of Connecticut must understand the lack of infrastructure for this program as opposed to Early Voting states, the unfunded nature of this mandate, and the historical lack of success Early Voting has showed in actually turning out more voters compared to Connecticut which has one of the highest levels of voter turnout in the United States. Early voting is not right for Connecticut and is a solution looking for a problem. 2) Almost every Election Day problem in Connecticut involves mail in voting. Missing ballots, voter fraud and forgery, and overtaxed town clerk offices ill equipped to manage 8x increases in mail in voting. Again, CT lacks the infrastructure to manage expanded AB voting and we remind voters that CT has one of the highest voter turn out rates in the Country without Early Voting and no-excuse mail in voting. Our strength is in the decentralized voting system that has worked for over 200 years. While I encourage CT businesses to give leave to employees for voting, an Election Day holiday would essentially be a mandate and carry an undue costs to our business community. Our citizens can find time to vote in a 14 hour day, if not, we have prescribed reasons to vote AB in our ConstitutionWhat other steps can be taken to increase voter participation?
Most importantly, we need good candidates to inspire voters. Under my control, finding ways to improve the Election Day process and voter experience. Electronic Poll books can facilitate voter processing at the polls and provide tools to political parties to get out the vote by identifying voters who hadn't yet voted before the polls close, I will implement election online registration for ABs which eliminates the need for printers, not often available in CT homes, and simplify the process of applying for ABs. Finally, I will promote Curbside voting for voters who cannot easily enter a polling station while preferring to vote in person.Is the state's current method of reporting election results on the Secretary of the State's website adequate to the task in today's technological environment? If not, what would you propose?
Registrar of voters in our towns constantly complain about the instability of the platform and the difficult user interface. The EMS system needs to be replaced with a more modern platform based on standards for usability, stability, and security.What can your office do to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs, and is that preferable to the ongoing shortage of workers in many industries?
Reduce all barriers to entry. Simply the onboarding of new businesses and provide a concierge model to facilitate the questions and issues for entrepreneurs. Self reliant, independent business people are a growth engine for the economy.Douglas Lary
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Party: Green Party
CEP Status: nonparticipating
Website:
Age:
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Current Residence: Willimantic
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Harold S. Harris
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Party: Libertarian Party
CEP Status:
Website: HaroldforCT.com
Age: 74
Marital Status: M
Current Residence: Glastonbury
Current Job: Chief Engineed
Previous Job: Coustomer Service Manager
Previous Job:
Education: MS Mechanical Engineer
Cynthia Jennings
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Party: Independent Party
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Current Residence: Hartford
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Education:
Stephanie Thomas
1 CTNewsJunkie Reader Endorsements
Party: Democrat
CEP Status: participating
Website: https://votestephaniethomas.com/
Age: 53
Marital Status: Married
Current Residence: Norwalk
Current Job: Small business owner - fundraising consultant for nonprofits and Connecticut state representative, 143rd District (Norwalk, Wilton, Westport)
Previous Job: President, Susan Ulin Associates
Previous Job: Grant writer for nonprofits
Education: BA from NYU; MS in Nonprofit Management from New School University
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Under the purview of your office, what action(s) will you take to reduce out-of-pocket drug costs and reduce the impact of the cost of prescription drugs on taxpayers and insurance premiums?
In these inflationary times, what will you do to help ensure that Connecticut’s middle-income retirees on fixed incomes are able to keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets?
Under the purview of your office, how do you plan to address the growing long-term care workforce crisis in the state?
Gas prices are higher than ever, which is difficult for older adults on fixed incomes. Yet, alternatives to cars in Connecticut are limited. What will you do, within the purview of your office, to help older adults access other forms of transportation?
What are the most important issues facing Connecticut that your office can address directly, and which of those is your number one priority?
Those who are working to undermine faith in our elections are one of the most important issues facing Connecticut and the country. The Secretary of the State is uniquely positioned to restore faith and fight against misinformation. As Secretary, I will work closely with organizations such as Homeland Security and the National Association of Secretaries of State to ensure that Connecticut is up to date with regard to cybersecurity best practices; ensure that all poll workers, from checkers to registrars, have the training and support they need; will invest resources into civic education and engagement for young people and adults; and will position the website as the place to go for facts to fight misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.What is your position on whether Connecticut should open its election primaries to unaffiliated voters?
Although I am aware of the concerns regarding “spoiler” voters, I have spoken with voters who decline to declare a party for many reasons such as fear of reprisal in the workplace, to keep the peace at home, or simply because they don’t like to be pigeonholed and will always vote for a candidate, not a party. With unaffiliated voters outnumbering either major party, I believe it is time to have this conversation if the unaffiliated voter is interested.Tens of thousands of voters used absentee ballots in the recent primary and many voters say they strongly prefer this convenience. In an effort to increase voter participation, do you support continuing the use of any or all of the following: no-excuse absentee ballots, early voting, and/or making Election Day a holiday?
I support all of the above and as Vice Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, was pleased to co-sponsor and play a role in moving these initiatives through the chamber. With the early voting amendment on the ballot this November and no-excuse absentee voting expected to appear on the 2024 ballot, an Election Day holiday would be less of a priority to ensure ballot convenience.What other steps can be taken to increase voter participation?
As Secretary of the State, I plan to set a culture from the top down to foster a greater understanding of how to engage with the government. Although our civic responsibility is often explained as casting a ballot on Election Day, democracy only works when we are engaged the other 364 days of the year. By building a culture of civic understanding, I hope to increase voter participation. I also will work to hasten the timeline for the adoption of automatic voter registration which was passed in the legislature in 2021.Is the state's current method of reporting election results on the Secretary of the State's website adequate to the task in today's technological environment? If not, what would you propose?
When people visit the Secretary of the State website, they expect the information to be timely and accurate. This cannot always be achieved quickly on election night for various reasons such as a faulty machine or a close race necessitating a hand count. I believe that the Election Center portal with its prominently displayed header of “unofficial results” is suitable for posting an immediate tally to keep up with what residents can find on television or in a campaign office, with the understanding that official results will come later.What can your office do to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs, and is that preferable to the ongoing shortage of workers in many industries?
As a small business owner myself, I believe it is important to build a skilled workforce AND encourage entrepreneurship. As Secretary, I will work to ensure business owners have the tools and resources to thrive. There are many grants, programs, and training that are made available, but it can be difficult to find and access the information. I will also convene industry-related meetings to help build connections for the betterment of all.