Political newcomer Saunders seeks balance of views

He’s never held a political office, but Brendan Saunders said he was moved to drop his hat in the political arena this year in part because of a desire to bring back a balance of political views missing in Hartford.

The 47-year-old Republican from Clinton said the state has gotten too expensive under Democratic rule, and he seeks to unseat incumbent state Sen. Norm Needleman in the 33rd District.

“I can remember when the state was affordable,” Saunders said. “People came here because these sleepy towns offered a great education and a low cost of living. It’s now an expensive state to live in. Taxes, fees, regulations have increased ... and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. We need to get that balance back. This supermajority of one-party rule is not working for anybody.”

He may not have held office, but Saunders said he got a start in politics when he was 18 and working with the campaign of former U.S. Rep. Sam Gejdenson.

“Being a young guy with conservative views, I threw myself in,” Saunders recalls.

A calling to the ministry led Saunders to the church, first serving in a ministry in Maryland, and later, as an ordained minister, he founded Lighthouse Community Church in 2008 in Old Saybrook. It later moved to Westbrook, where he served as the lead pastor until 2017.

He is still a guest speaker at churches, conferences and camps but works full time as the director of sales and marketing at the Courtyard Marriott in Cromwell.

He created the Fusion podcast — conversations about life, faith and current events for young adults — after recognizing the steep decline in the number of young people attending church.

If elected, Saunders said one of his top priorities will be halting the rise in costs in the state through a harder look at budget expenses, taxes and regulations that he said unduly encumber businesses and residents alike.

Being in the hospitality industry, Saunders said he also has a passion for tourism and the arts, places where investment has proven returns to the state.

He said the state needs to take a hard look at its financial liabilities and he would champion a system in which new state employees at all levels would pay into their own retirement.

While Saunders said he supports accountability for police, he said the bill passed at a special session “went too far.”

“I believe everybody, police and police unions, want to make sure they have a system in place to get rid of bad apples. Nobody is more upset with a bad police officer than a good police officer. But we need a concrete system to remove the bad apples. That’s not what we got.”

Saunders said the police accountability bill was an overreach and opens municipalities up to financial burdens through lawsuits bacause of the “qualified immunity” portion of the bill.

“It was reactive rather than proactive. As a Black man who understands how important the topic is, I am insulted you would push something for the purpose of just pushing it through,” he said.

Saunders said he agrees with the idea of the Black Lives Matter movement and how it can bring awareness to injustices. The national movement, however, has gotten away from the core message and led to riots and calls for defunding police, something he said he cannot support.

“I find that locally they’re doing good stuff. That’s to be supported. One of the things I am always going to push for is peaceful community discussions,” he said.

Saunders has identified himself as a “Reagan Republican,” a term he said is synonymous with self-resilience and hard work, “the fact that you can make it in this country if you work hard” and stop the government bureaucracy from hindering progress.

Saunders says faith informs his views and his decision making and guides my life. His value system, Saunders said, is not something he pushes on others but leads him to treat everyone with respect and equality, and that also applies to the LGBTQ community.

Saunders said he is not against renewable energy “but what I don’t agree with is reckless policies and a push to renewable energy when it’s done on the backs of consumers.”

He said the state needs to tread carefully with its commitments to renewable energy sources until technology has caught up and can ensure some of the highest utility rates in the country don’t get worse.

Saunders, born and raised in Westbrook, has been married to wife Mary for more than 20 years and has a 15- year- old daughter, Jorden.

The 33rd District spans the towns of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland and Westbrook.