Workers union backs Officer Gennaro in 100th

MIDDLETOWN — Council 4 AFSCME, a union representing 30,000 workers in state and local government and the private sector, has endorsed Middletown Police Officer Tony Gennaro in the Republican primary for the 100th House District in Middletown.

Gennaro, a detective in the Special Investigations Unit of the Middletown Police Department and member of AFSCME Local 1361, was among a group of candidates approved for endorsement by Council 4’s Delegate Assembly July 12, according to a press release.

“I’m proud to receive the AFSCME union endorsement. It shows the union will put person over party,” Gennaro said in a prepared statement. He has worked the last five years as a school resource officer at Middletown High School and has been involved in the Youth Services Bureau, Juvenile Review Board, and Youth Services Advisory Board.

Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees represents 30,000 workers in the public and private sector in Connecticut.

“I’ve been a union member for a long time and I want to do what’s right for working families in the district. I’ll need the support of AFSCME union members to win the primary,” he said in the release.

“We are excited to endorse Tony because he is one of our own — a union member and public servant who cares deeply about his community and the wellbeing of all workers,” Council 4 Executive Director Jody Barr said in the release.

“Tony is a lifelong Middletown resident who is deeply respected in the community,” Council 4 Executive Board member Derek Puorro, a sergeant with the Middletown Police Department, said in the statement.

Puorro chairs Council 4’s Public Safety Committee, which represents about 2,000 officers throughout the state.

Gennaro