Primary Election Date: 08/14/2012
General Election Date: 11/06/2012

Who Am I?

I’m a mom, an attorney, and a community advocate—not a career politician. I was raised in a middle class family and taught to work hard. With the help of scholarships, I was able to go to college and then law school.

Like a lot of folks, I’ve juggled work and shuttling children to hockey rinks and soccer fields, while volunteering for the PTA, the local library, and the United Way, and while helping causes I care deeply about, like Planned Parenthood and efforts to clean up pollution in Connecticut’s rivers.

I never thought I’d get into politics. But with 3 children in the public schools, I grew frustrated about the budget decisions that were being made in my town. About 6 years ago I was reading the local paper, complaining about the town council’s decisions. My daughter Sarah pointed out that I could sit around and complain about it – or I could actually do something to fix it. Either run for the town council or stop complaining.

So I ran. And Sarah, who was 15 at the time, ran my campaign. We worked hard, went door to door, listened, and helped flip the Town Council to a Democratic majority for only the 2nd time ever.

Too often members of Congress and the legislature lose touch with the people they represent. Not at the local level. When I voted to set our town’s tax rate, I had to answer to my neighbors at the store, the veteran down the street, the prison guard at the gym, my son’s coach at the soccer field, and the friend who volunteers at the food pantry.

Our town faced a virtual war over the school budget, pitting parents against seniors. I worked to find common ground, pushing through generous property tax credit programs to help seniors stay in their homes while supporting the local schools. At a time when state spending and borrowing were ballooning, we paid down the debt, paid cash for capital projects, and established a formal rainy day fund. As a result, our town was named one of Money Magazine’s 100 best towns in America. Our success showed that you can fix problems if you listen to everyone and build on common interests – while never losing sight of what’s important.

I then served a term as a state Representative in a Republican-leaning district, where I pushed for an honest, fiscally responsible budget to ensure education and town funding, as well as needed safety nets, while addressing short-term deficits and long-term commitments. I stood up to the powers at the capitol as they simply kicked the can down the road (creating the painful choices that are now having to be made several years later).

What I know from my life experience – whether it’s serving on the PTA, as an elected representative, or as a mom – is that when we use common sense and work together, we can get real results that move us forward.

Why Am I Running?

When you look at Washington today, you see bickering and finger pointing instead of accountability. You see corporate lobbyists writing the laws and stacking the deck against the middle class instead of creating opportunity. You see a lot of yelling, but you don’t see much getting done.

It's less than 300 miles from Connecticut to the U.S. Capitol, but it might as well be the distance from here to Mars. It's so close, but our government seems so far away. They’ve stopped listening to us.

After the 2008 election, the Republicans didn’t listen to our voices when we urged them to work with President Obama to fix the economy and help people get back to work. After the 2010 election, the Republicans ignored us again. When we urged them to focus on creating jobs, they embarked on right-wing vendettas—from trying to destroy unions in Wisconsin to leading an assault on Planned Parenthood and women’s health across America.

Is it any wonder that the average American — regardless of party — feels ignored, disrespected, and most of all, without help?

Instead of stacking the deck against the middle class, Congress needs to focus on creating good, middle class jobs.

We should build on our manufacturing and innovation base in Connecticut. It’s time to get back to making things in America. We need to make sure our schools are preparing our children for 21st century jobs. We should bring back apprenticeships, and tie our excellent vocational schools to community colleges. We must empower our small businesses to succeed and develop a new energy economy that prepares us for the 21st Century.

Instead of trying to eliminate Medicare and make seniors pay more for healthcare, we should be saving the program and putting it on sound financial footing for the future.

Instead of unending military conflicts that spread us too thin, we need to bring our troops home as soon as we reasonably can while ensuring our strength and security.

Finally, we need to fix our political system where the only people who seem to come out on top are career politicians and lobbyists.

Public service shouldn’t be about perks and pay for politicians, but about getting things done for people. That’s why I returned 10% of my pay in the state legislature to help balance the budget and why I think we must cut the pay of Congress and block any pay-raises until they balance the budget.

I've spent my lifetime listening — from being on the PTA, to being a member of our local Town Council, to serving in the legislature. But I not only had to be a good listener, I had to get something done. That took a commitment to bringing people together, a some common sense, and a lot of hard work - the same qualities and experiences I'll bring to Washington.

Hold Me Accountable!

1) Stop the Madness
I will stand up to the Republican assaults on Social Security and Medicare, a woman’s right to choose and reproductive health, their rollback of environmental protections and their war on science. We can win back the House in 2012. We can move forward with a progressive agenda that makes real the promise of the American Dream for everyone. But to do so—we must win in Connecticut’s 5th District.

We have to make good on the promise that if you work hard and play by the rules, next year will be better than this year. Your kids can move out of the basement and get a good job, you can retire at a reasonable age and in good health, you have a safety net there if you need it, and your parents can continue to live independently. The American dream is not too much for someone to ask for, but it is quickly growing out of reach for too many Americans.

2) Help small businesses create good jobs in our community
I am very excited about the 5th Congressional District’s future. We have new opportunities for small business and manufacturing, in education, in sustainable energy and environmental programs. But we need someone in Washington with the long-term vision and the eagerness to work with our government officials, our businesses, our educators, families, and workers to bring it all together. That’s going to take more than one year but we have to get started somewhere.

We start by getting money into the hands of our small businesses so they can create jobs, grow, and thrive. These are women-owned businesses, minority owned businesses, family owned business – and right now the American entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. They just can’t get the financing they need to hire a new employee or develop a new project or service. They are committed to their community, a quality product, and a strong future for our country – we must show the same commitment in return.

It’s ridiculous that small business owners are hiring attorneys at $20,000 to apply for a SBA Loan. Let’s simplify the process, standardize the forms, and cut down on the paperwork – so our small business owners can put that money back into their business. It seems like a small thing, but it is a practical solution to a real problem that is hindering job growth. It’s time to get money in the hands of our small business – the backbone of innovation and entrepreneurship in America.

My DFA values:

Nothing takes the place of knocking on a neighbor’s door, sitting with them in their living room, and finding out what’s happening in their lives (though conversations at the grocery store, at church, and at the kids’ soccer games, do come in a close second). As a mom, an elected representative, and member of my community, I know that the decisions made in our nation’s capitol, our state capitol, and in the town hall have a real and significant impact on people’s lives.

When we talk about Medicare or Social Security, we’re talking about how to ensure that people have the financial security they earned – we’re talking about the retired manufacturer who is passing the family business down to his daughter or the small business owner who serves cancer patients. I am committed to strengthening Medicare and Social Security by ensuring that results-driven and common sense reforms lead to long-term stability of these programs. I am committed to it because they earned it.

Job creation isn’t just about an unemployment number. It’s about my neighbor down the street, family members, the little league coach - real people, facing real struggles.

We need to close corporate tax loopholes that allow companies to ship jobs overseas and enforce our trade laws. We need to create a level playing field so small businesses like the family-owned precision manufacturing company in my hometown can compete and thrive.
Restoring our manufacturing tradition means creating good jobs with good benefits so people in our communities can build a life here. Providing support for small businesses not only creates jobs, it creates partners who are invested in the long-term success of our communities.

Quality education in all our public schools – where our schools, our businesses, and our communities work together to educate our young people – is not just about our kids getting ahead but the health and economic vitality of our communities. We have to equip our young people with the knowledge and the skills our employers need so they can grow and stay ahead. We need to make opportunity real for all children.

We can’t do any of this by kicking the can down the road. We have to end the Bush Tax cuts for millionaires, end wasteful corporate tax loopholes for big business, and make good on the promise of making health care more affordable. We have to break the addiction to oil and make an honest commitment to sustainable energy solutions. Failure to act puts our economic and national security at ever greater risk.

Whether as an elected official, a community advocate, or a mom, I’ve always been guided by the belief that we need to build common ground and fight for shared values. By bringing people into the process we can create long-term solutions because everyone is invested in making things work. I owe it to the people of my community – the people I talk to everyday, the people who help us raise our kids, who help us make a home, who help us care for our family, who help us earn a living – to include them in the decisions that impact their lives. The changes discussed in Washington have real and lasting effects on the people in my community and in my district. Washington has lost sight of that. Democracy is not about insiders, lobbyists, and career-politicians making decisions in their own self interest. True democracy is about all of us. It can be messy and it takes a lot of hard work but when people are engaged in the process of making our democracy work – we’re all the better for it.

My Campaign is People-Powered!

I first ran for office because my 15-year-old daughter used my own words against me – either be part of the solution or stop complaining. A good idea at the time, it never would have been realized if not for the amazing work of volunteers – the high school students who worked out of my kitchen after school, my next door neighbor who made phone calls in between classes and work, my daughter who cut her teeth managing my first race. I appreciate what people give up – time with their families, time at work, leisure time – so we can improve our community together.

I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, talked with my neighbors about their lives, participated in community events, and volunteered my time because I care about my community. I see no other way of going to Washington and representing my community than through the help of my friends and neighbors.

My daughter also taught me the amazing ability of our young people and the energy and enthusiasm they bring to the political process. Young people want to be involved – but they need to be engaged and they need to be heard.

That’s why we are committed to a robust internship program, giving students hands-on experience in campaigns and serving their community. Every campaign I’ve run has worked to bring in young people, to train them, to mentor them. More than a hundred high school students have made up the self proclaimed “Elizabeth’s Army.” At its height, our team of interns was the largest and most diverse after-school club in our hometown and the largest High School Young Democrats organization in the state. We not only provided them with training they took with them to other local, state, and national races, we also provided them with a safe place and a community they were proud to be a part of.

It’s not just our job to get someone elected to office but to lift and teach as we build a grassroots campaign. We all have an obligation to mentor and to equip young people with the skills they need to lead others. My relationship with our high school volunteers and interns extended far beyond the campaigns through mentoring, college and job advice, and a little life counseling long after the elections.