CT state lawmaker fails to show up at nominating convention; new candidate chosen

The Connecticut lawmaker increasingly had been at odds, or at least distant, from leaders and members of the House Democratic caucus in recent years.

A Connecticut state lawmaker who had neither filed papers creating a reelection committee, nor announced an intention to retire, was a no-show this week at her district nominating convention.

Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven was not present as Democrats in the 94th House District of New Haven and Hamden endorsed Steve Winter, a former city alder and longtime political activist, for the Democratic nomination without opposition.

The assumption is Porter is retiring, though not giving notice.

Aware that she had yet to file for reelection, House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, said he tried without success to reach Porter prior to the convention to inquire about her plans.

She did not return calls or texts to Rojas, House Speaker Matt Ritter or others, nor she did return calls or a text from The Connecticut Mirror.

Winter, 35, who lives in the same Newhallville neighborhood as Porter, said he expressed interest in running if Porter was retiring, but he arrived at the convention unsure if he would be a candidate or observer.

“I did not know what the outcome of the convention would be, or who would be there,” said Winter, who is the executive director of Climate and Sustainability for the city of New Haven.

Winter offered only praise for Porter, a House member for 10 years.

“I would just say I have immense respect for Rep. Porter for all the great advocacy she has led and been a part of in Hartford, not just for the city of New Haven, but for so many issues that affected the whole state,” Winter said.

Porter increasingly had been at odds, or at least distant, from leaders and members of the House Democratic caucus in recent years. She gave up her position as co-chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee before the current two-year term.

On the labor committee, she was an advocate for a higher minimum wage and other pro-labor measures. She was a featured speaker when Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law a $15 minimum wage law that Porter had shepherded to passage in 2019.

“What a day, what a moment,” said Porter, who spoke passionately at the time about single mothers cobbling together minimum-wage jobs to run a household. “I have been that mom, that single mom, raising two kids with three jobs.”

In the final days of the annual session that ended last week, she declined to tell colleagues if she was running, and several sources said Wednesday they knew of no one in New Haven politics who knew whether she would be a candidate.

“I supposed there was speculation, since she hadn’t filed, but it was still a surprise,” Rojas said.

Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, who lives across the street from Porter and encouraged her to run for his open House seat when he was elected to the Senate, had not been apprised of her plans.

After five years on the Board of Alders, Winter resigned in December 2022 to take the climate job at city hall in the administration of Mayor Justin Elicker.

Winter has been active in New Haven and state politics since at least the summer before his senior year at Yale University. He was hired by Ned Lamont’s first campaign for governor as a tracker assigned to shadow Dannel P. Malloy, the eventual winner of the Democratic primary in 2010.

In 2018, Winter successfully lobbied for passage of a bill that directed Connecticut to join an interstate compact committing its seven electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

The compact will not take effect until states representing 270 electoral votes — the magic number to elect a U.S. president — sign onto a compact that would undo a 200-year-old element of the Constitution without amending it.

In the summer of 2010, Winter made a favorable impression on Malloy, even if he was in Lamont’s camp.

The only Lamont worker that Malloy tried to hire for the general election was Winter. He declined, despite having become an admirer of Malloy’s passion and work ethic.

“I had to go back and finish school,” Winter said. “That was quite a grueling and intense campaign. Malloy would go to a festival and shake 200 or 300 hands.”

Winter recalled he was required to wear a suit as he shadowed and recorded Malloy.

“It was a long, hot summer, and it was my only suit,” Winter said. “I still have only one suit.”

Mark Pazniokas is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/ ). Copyright 2024 © The Connecticut Mirror.