Democrats Battle For Seat
Beloin-Saavedra On GOP Ticket Vs. Lopes In New Britain
NEW BRITAIN — In the city’s most closely watched election race this season, two Democrats are running against each other — with one of them on the GOP ticket.
State Rep. Rick Lopes, who has represented the 24th District for the past seven years, is being challenged by former school board President Sharon Beloin-Saavedra.
The candidates are both longtime registered Democrats, but BeloinSaavedra — who has been at odds with local party leadership for years — is on the ballot’s Republican line.
“I’m not running as red or blue, I’m the purple candidate,” she said after getting the GOP endorsement in the spring.
New Britain voters will also be deciding three other House races and a Senate race in November, but veterans from both parties view the 24th District as the closest.
Lopes has solid progressive credentials: He’s got the endorsement of the Working Families Party as well as the American Federation of Teachers, and has long been a core member of the Democratic Town Committee.
Beloin-Saavedra spent years as a top vote-getter among Democratic officials, but she had a falling out with local Democratic leaders eight years ago.
The rift has only widened since then: Beloin-Saavedra lost a 2016 primary challenge to state Sen. Theresa Gerratana, one of the party’s most popular incumbents. Beloin-Saavedra then pursued an unsuccessful petitioning campaign against Gerratana.
Lopes, a former alderman and state legislative aide, has represented the 24th District since he won the 2011 special election.
He wants Connecticut’s minimum wage tied to the cost-of-living index, and said he’d support tolls as an alternative to raising the state’s gas tax.
“I would be open to other revenue generators, but believe tolls are the lesser of two evils when compared to the gas tax,” he said, but emphasized that any revenues must be locked into a dedicated transportation fund.
Lopes serves on the transportation, education and finance committees.
When asked what specific state expenses he’d be willing to reduce, Lopes cited salaries of administrative, nonteaching staff in higher education.
“There are many of these positions and they pay far more than the positions that actually teach students,” he said.
Lopes, who previously worked in the state’s administrative services office, also favors moving all state operations out of rented offices.
“The state owns enough property and buildings to not have to rent office space,” he said. “We have made efforts to correct this problem, but there are still many long-term leases that we need to eliminate once they end.”
Lopes said during his seven years in office, bipartisanship has been achievable.
“I have never had difficulty working with members of different parties,” he said. “At the end of the day, the welfare of the state is the most important goal, not what political party we are in.”
Beloin-Saavedra enthusiastically supports one of the GOP ticket’s issues: Requiring lawmakers to approve or reject all proposed state labor agreements.
“The General Assembly should be required to vote on state union contracts and have a place at the table during negotiations,” she said. “As a former member of the New Britain Board of Education, we had representation during the negotiating process which I found vital to developing mutual understanding.”
But she doesn’t follow the GOP’s hard line against state highway tolls.
“As long as tolls will not jeopardize federal highway grants, I think they should be seriously discussed,” she said. “I traveled to Maine in September; along the way, we passed through three states and paid a toll in each of them. Tolls for Connecticut travelers going out of state is a way of life.”
Beloin-Saavedra also stressed that lawmakers should be held accountable once they assure taxpayers that toll monies would go solely toward roads and bridges.