CT Patch Candidate Profile: Mitch Bolinsky For State Rep

NEWTOWN, CT — Election Day on Nov. 5 is fast approaching, and there are a number of key races on the ballot.

Patch reached out to candidates for office to get more information on their campaigns and the issues that are facing the towns, cities and state.

Candidate’s Name: Representative Mitch Bolinsky

What office are you seeking? State Representative / Incumbent

District: 106

Campaign website

What city or town do you live in? Newtown

Party affiliation: Republican

Education: Bachelor of Business Administration / Marketing

Occupation: State Representative, Retired Marketing Executive

Family: Luisa and I have been married 39 years. We have two young-adult children, both of whom attended and graduated from Newtown Public Schools. Rachel is a UConn grad with a Masters from UHart, and is a practicing mental-health provider, licensed by the State of CT. She is married to Adam. They live in Oakville, CT. Matthew is a PITT graduate, who earned his Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude from GWU School of Law, is a member of the DC and New York Bar Associations, and is a practicing monetary-policy attorney in New York City.

Luisa and I are incredibly proud of the fine people our children have grown to be.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Previous public office, appointive or elective:

• State Representative, District 106 Serving Newtown/Sandy Hook (2012-present)

• Newtown Justice of the Peace (2010-present)

• Town of Newtown Legislative Council District 3 (2011-2012), - Legislative Council Ordinance Subcommittee, Vice Chair, - Legislative Council Finance & Administration Subcommittee

• Economic Development Commission (2008-2011)

• Board of Ethics (2006-2009)

Age: 66

Why are you seeking this office?

I'm seeking re-election to continue being Newtown's "Voice of Reason in Hartford". We raised our family in this lovely community and, every step of the way, since the day we arrived on September 1, 2000, I have served friends, friends-to-be, and neighbors in a variety of volunteer, appointed, and elected roles - with integrity, dedication, and an open mind. As a 30-year Marketing person, my orientation is that of a solutions-creator... finding the better, more humane mousetrap, removing complexity from people's daily lives, finding ways to save time, eliminate waste and make things run more smoothly because, there's always room for improvement. When I first entered elected public service, I was shocked by how frequently our government answered inquiries in terms of what it could not, or would not do, if it answered the phone or your emails at all! I made up my mind that you and I deserve better. Questioning the status quo is what I do. Finding solutions, one constituent at a time is my passion. I represent you, deliver results, and am accountable to you, never to the special interests that pull the strings of career politicians in Hartford. I'm asking again for your vote. Return me to Hartford to do your work.

What do you believe is the No. 1 issue facing Connecticut, and how do you plan to address it?

Affordability and the rising cost of living in Connecticut. I've never voted to raise your taxes, impose tolls, or slam you with fees that are nothing more than another way to tax you. I never will. Balanced budgets, accountability, and a government that works for the good of all its taxpayers, not just a privileged few, matters deeply to me. I've proposed multiple, vetted, balanced no-tax-increase budgets that fully fund education, human services & infrastructure. Government mandates and poorly-conceived policy, like those now dominating the exploding Public Benefits charges on our electric bills, are a new way the majority party has found to tax us, while claiming they didn't - mandating new costs without public hearings or a budget vote by the legislature, like they did in May, 2024 was what hit our utility bills in August. My colleagues and I are the firewall to stop that nonsense.

There have been an alarming number of deaths on Connecticut's roadways. Is there anything from a legislative standpoint that can be done to address that?

The record number of fatalities on Connecticut's roads is indeed alarming. It's also a result of many factors that largely stem from the non-enforcement of our existing state laws, and a dramatic increase in impaired and aggressive driving, much of which resulting from legalization of recreational cannabis having fewer law enforcement officers patrolling our roadways for even the most basic of motor vehicle equipment, safety and impaired driving laws. We did not need new laws, only to enforce the ones already in statute.

My opponent cites my "Nay" vote on HB-5330 as somehow connected to the carnage on our roadways, but that is far from the cause, nor did that bill's passage improve upon enforcement to deter impaired, aggressive, distracted, and wrong-way driving fatalities, or aggressive, and distracted driving, which continue unchecked and unenforced.

HB-5330 was nothing more than a bill to enact, with serious limitations, electronic enforcement of traffic safety laws, doing nothing to restore qualified immunity in traffic stops, the cause of a precipitous decline in enforcement, resulting from an increased rate of prosecution & decertification of LEO's by the Police Accountability Law's Office of the State Inspector General.

I had proposed legislation to correct this problem, including "Open Container Laws", already in effect in nearly every other state, and rejected in CT, despite my bringing expert testimony to speak in committee, with DOT, and on the floor of the House.

My vote of dissent was a principled one, and came as no surprise because HB-5330 did nothing to restore the 30% workforce shortage and morale issues among State Police Officers, yet spent millions in taxpayer dollars on ineffective electronic "wrong-way detection systems" that do not deter impaired drivers.

The 2019 "Police Accountability Law", and stripping "Qualified Immunity" from Law Enforcement Officers ("LEOs") by our state sent the law enforcement community a clear message that CT no longer had their backs. Restricting their ability to stop and search stopped vehicles for reasonable suspicion when a driver is operating aggressively, threatening, evading, or impaired has resulted in several high-profile cases where officers were prosecuted, and assumed guilty. All brought to you by the legislative majority.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I bring 30-years of successful, collaborative private-sector business experience with real results to the table. This, and being raised in a family setting of kindness, integrity and respect for others, followed by 12-years of distinguished service as Newtown's State Rep, and as Assistant Republican Leader, serving on the legislature’s powerful Appropriations Committee, Education Committee and Aging Committee as its "Ranking Member", cannot be matched by a freshman, status quo member of the majority party.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

As opponents have pondered all the things they'd like to do, or list all the positions they've held without accomplishment, I've built a 12 year portfolio of bipartisan policy-making through positive, award-winning legislation for Newtown & Connecticut.

Two examples include:

1. 2023-2024 Session: With bipartisan partners in the House, Senate & Governor's office, passed Landmark Medicare reform legislation to cover Aging-in-Place in CT, w/presumptive eligibility for skilled, family & companion in-home care (PA 24-141), new consumer protections, accountability & oversight in Nursing Home care (PA 24-39).

• Cosponsor of originating legislation to phase-out state income tax on Pension & Social Security.

• Cosponsor: Disabled Vets Property tax exemption.

• Supported unanimous passage of PA 23-161, An Act Concerning Financial Exploitation of Senior Citizens.

2. 2019-2020 Session: Set standard for constituent Pandemic Response, pivoting to 100% constituent service, all the time. Kept food on tables & roofs over heads of hundreds of impacted families, at a time of closed state agencies & unanswered phones, by adapting private-sector-modeled customer service practices.

Honors: (mitchfornewtown.com/honors-awards)

• 2023 AARP Legislative Achievement Award for Long-Term Care Leadership

• 2023 Legislator of the Year, CT Association for Healthcare at Home

• 2023 Decoding Dyslexia Honor for roll creating CT State Office of Dyslexia & Reading

• 2022 Amer. Legion Community Amercanism Award

• 2019 CT Special Ed. Alliance Spirit of SEPTO Award

• 2017 CT Institute for Communities Leadership Award.

• 2016 Decoding Dyslexia Certificate of Appreciation.

• 2016 Newtown Board of Ed Cert. of Partnership.

• 2015 AARP “Capitol Caregiver” Award for passage of Connecticut's 'Care Act'.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Some of the of the most visible quality of life issues we now grapple with revolve around Connecticut's, and Newtown's increasing lack of affordability. This reality has only grown worse over the past four years.

Under one party rule, the majority in Hartford votes as a bloc, regularly hiding its policy-mandates in large "omnibus" bills or as costly fees, levied without a vote. Make no mistake, these are Hidden Taxes, and they're being tucked into your electric bill, car registration, groceries, clothing, tires, trash disposal, and dozens of other state mandated fees on products and services you can't do without.

I am your firewall. When we vote on large, complex, multi-faceted bills, I am always a "Nay", outspoken about why, and I always explain my dissenting votes verbally, and document them in writing, often publishing these "rats" publicly in my newsletters to you. When public process is avoided by the majority, it is avoided for a reason. You and I pay for that reason. It's why I fight like heck to expose "rats", and I often succeed in killing, or softening the blow. That's what firewalls do.

Freshmen members of the majority party do not choose how they vote on "rats". If they vote "Nay" on caucus "omnibus" packages, they don't return for a second term. They become the "Status Quo". They have no voice.

On the other hand, Newtown is currently represented by yours truly, a 12-year Assistant Minority Leader, whom no one tells how to vote. My colleagues understand that I vote "my town", Newtown. ALL of Newtown. I am your voice of bipartisan reason.

Those who stay abreast of my work, subscribe to my newsletters, and read my in-session mailers, know that hurtful policy can live in otherwise innocuous bills, orders, and PURA rulings. I am your firewall.

My opponent has taken to misrepresenting my "Nay" votes without understanding how the legislative process works in a partisan, one-party environment.

If you're concerned about how much the cost of everything has affected you and your family over the past four years, please remember, I am your firewall.

No other candidate in this race can look you in the eye and say: "I HAVE NEVER VOTED TO RAISE YOUR TAXES, HIDE THEM IN FEES, OR IN TOLLS. I NEVER WILL." I also do not believe in costly mandates, or picking winners & losers in administering state policy. Those are my "Nays".

I've respectfully fought 12-years for your right to a Connecticut that's more affordable, and on an upward trajectory. Years of failed policy and the influence of special-interests has created something of a "Government Class" - career politicians who believe your earnings are theirs to spend; who can take from you, and give to those they choose, fiddle with local zoning choice, and dictate our children's' educations in ways that do not always align with your family values. None of this improves your life. I know we can do better and I have a well-thought-out plan to do just that. I work for and fight for you - not special-interests.