State lawmaker announces he’ll run against Courtney
WASHINGTON — A conservative state representative and former member of the U.S. Navy will challenge Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney in 2022 in an uphill battle for his 2nd District seat.
Republican Mike France of Gales Ferry, a four-term state legislator who serves as ranking member on the state House’s budget committee, may be Courtney’s most serious challenger in years.
France, 58, said Tuesday he decided to launch his campaign after watching Congress fail to reach an agreement for more than six months to deliver more coronavirus relief.
Campaigning as a fiscal conservative, France said Congress’ relief bills have contained unnecessary spending and one of his top priorities is to rein in the ballooning deficit he thinks is imperiling the country.
France filed a lawsuit in September challenging Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency powers and arguing his public health executive orders hurt the state’s residents and businesses. That suit was dismissed by a Superior Court judge in December.
France’s conservative record could be his biggest hindrance in a district where Democrats outnumbered Republicans by roughly 40,000 in 2020, according to data from the Secretary of the State’s Office.
France introduced legislation
to restore the death penalty, backs a religious exemption for vaccinations of public school children and was one of eight lawmakers to vote against banning gay conversion therapy.
Unseating Courtney, 67, will be a Herculean task unless a major scandal shakes up the race dynamics. Courtney has received at least 58 percent of the vote in each of his past reelection campaigns.
He leads the sea-power subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, giving him broad oversight of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Academy — which both have presences in his district — and the influence to steer more business to submarinebuilder General Dynamics Electric Boat, the most significant employer in his district.
During his time in Congress, Courtney has secured contracts for Electric Boat to construct two submarines a year for the U.S. Navy, setting the manufacturer up to hire thousands more employees over the next few years.
France served 20 years in the U.S. Navy, including deployments to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, before he retired in 2005.
For 15 years, he has worked at Progeny Systems Corp., a Department of Defense contractor that produces electronic systems for submarines.
France said he understands the Navy from a “different perspective” than Courtney, but does not advocate for dramatically different sea-power policies from him.
“I don’t think there is a wedge to be driven there,” he said.
With his early campaign announcement and experience in elected office, France hopes he will succeed where others struggled.
“I think some of the challenges that were faced by the candidates of the past few cycles is they haven’t come early enough into the campaign and raised enough money to get a message out,” he said.
In 2020, the 2nd District Congressional race was marred by scandal after the Republican-endorsed candidate, Thomas Gilmer, was arrested on the eve of the primary on two felony domestic violence charges.
Police were tipped off to some evidence by the other Republican challenger, Justin Anderson, who went on to narrowly win the primary but lose in the general election by more than 75,000 votes.