With anticipation drawing for the election, only 27 days away, Fairfield University is hosting local candidates to share their messages to students and community members in the Dogwood Room of the Barone Campus Center on Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m..
Candidates present at the event who represent Fairfield students are current GOP Senator Tony Hwang who will face off against Democratic candidate Robert Blanchard. Also in attendance, current Democratic State Representative District 132 Jennifer Leeper who is being challenged by Republican Alexis Harrison. The forum welcomes Fairfield community members, students and faculty to engage with candidates about their platforms and voice their concerns.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to bring student voices,” Blanchard said, a current member of Fairfiel’s Representative Town Meeting. “We want to ensure their voices are being heard.”
For the last several weeks, these campaigns have made it into student’s group texts and social media sites like Fizz. Those posts discussed how these candidates would address a major student issue like hosting parties on the beach. However, The Mirror inquired into these candidates’ responsibilities and discovered none of these candidates have a direct say on this local issue.
Running as the youngest Fairfield candidate, Blanchard claims he heavily sympathizes with what college students and recent graduates are going through—still having active college loans himself. What he deems as important is collaborating with these groups to better understand how they wish for policies to be enacted.
The Mirror reached out to Senator Hwang multiple times for an interview, but he did not respond in time for publication. Based on his campaign website, his primary missions are “rooted in the values of hard work and the pursuit of the American dream.” His website continues that a vast portion of his leadership focuses on educational access and success for all students as well as a commitment to his community.
Blanchard graduated from Syracuse University, a private institution with “less control over tuition,” he said. He praises the Jesuit practices of the university and its dedication to social justice, which he claims is similar to his concentration on amplifying the voices of others.
When Blanchard launched his campaign in January, he raised a substantial amount of money by going door-to-door and hearing stories from seniors, young families and students alike. He also admitted his efforts to connect with groups on social media such as Instagram and TikTok, trying to find a way to communicate with people and encourage conversation.
“My inbox is always available,” he said.
Hwang graduated from Cornell University and, explained on his website, “dedicated himself fully to public service.” He was elected in 2008 to the Connecticut General Assembly and, in 2014, became Fairfield’s first Asian-Pacific American State Senator.
“As Chief Deputy Senate Republican Leader, he has consistently demonstrated a commitment to working across the aisle to create policies that protect the most vulnerable and promote opportunities for all communities. Tony has been a steadfast advocate for fiscal responsibility, ensuring that Connecticut’s resources are managed wisely while fighting to preserve funding for essential services,” it reads.
When it comes to differentiating from their opponents, something that will be covered during Fairfield University’s Candidate Forum, Blanched believes some of the biggest issues setting apart himself and Hwang is gun safety. He noted that, in the past, Hwang has opted to weaken gun laws.
Blanchard continued that in 2022, in a period of pandemic recession, Hwang voted against “historic tax cuts.” Issues important to Blanchard are ensuring paid family medical leave and investing in higher education.
In the State Representative election, both Leeper and Harrison are running to represent the 132rd district. This area covers Fairfield Beach Road to Stillson Road, as well as Southport Village. The 28th Senate District is comprised of four towns—Bethel, Easton, Newtown and Fairfield.
Leeper entered the political sphere when she believed that Connecticut needed “good people who care about policy.” Furthermore, according to the current representative, making meaningful progress through things like data and active community listening is a vast part of her political platform.
GOP candidate Alexis Harrison considers Fairfield very “special” and looks forward to attending the Forum. She began volunteering on different town boards when she was 25 years old, and twenty years later, she says that “giving back and public service” is still a big part of who she is.
She hopes to gather student concerns and learn “what they want to see in a leader, what they want in representation.” She believes students are “the future of our country” and is hoping to gather students’ concerns and ideas.
“I want them to know that their viewpoints matter to me, and I will be listening,” Harrison says.
For Representative Leeper, clearing up misinformation remains a top priority of hers. “It’s really hard to know about your state legislature,” she said, which is a firewall from what she described as the chaos off in Washington D.C. to the small town of Fairfield. With this forum, she hopes to showcase what her party and platform can accomplish.
Harrison prioritizes affordability, describing it as a “number one issue” for her. She was inspired to run for town representative when she saw “the current legislation not really advocating for our community in terms of affordability.”
“I want all people to be able to stay [in Fairfield] if they wish,” Harrison says. She disagrees with the “reckless spending” coming from Hartford and seeks to lower tax burdens.
Harrison also shares that diversity of housing is “absolutely a priority” for her. She aims to do this in a way that focuses on the stakeholders of the community, rather than directly coming from Hartford.
Leeper has also been active in “substantive reforms” to the 80-30g housing law and emphasized her continuous work towards developing and modernizing the Fairfield area, a commitment she claims her opponent lacks.
“My opponent is a single-issue, anti-development extremist,” Leeper said.
Harrison thinks it is important to have a representative who is deeply connected with the community. Harrison is a Fairfield native. Her parents and sister also live here. “I have felt the pains of losing a job during economic turmoil … and I think that is relatable to people. I want people to know that I have their voice, I have their best interest and that’s why I am running.”
The three candidates who spoke with The Mirror encouraged students to attend the forum and voice their concerns, especially if these students plan to stay in Fairfield post-graduation.
Election Day is Nov. 5, but students can begin voting on campus in the Fairfield University Media Center starting Monday, Oct. 21 until Sunday, Nov. 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (with extended hours on Oct. 29 and Oct. 31 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.).
Editor’s Note:
The Mirror is a student-run newspaper and not intended to reflect the views of faculty, staff, and administrators of Fairfield University. In last week’s issue, we failed to include both sides of the political spectrum in an article on the upcoming election. We regret this error and have since made some changes.
Our Instagram post on the election story tagged all four candidates, and two accepted the tag. This was not an effort to endorse them. The tags were meant to enhance distribution of the story. The tags have since been removed.
As stated in past coverage, one of our editors is an intern working for candidate Jennifer Leeper. However, that student editor has not read, edited, or had any part in creating any election articles. We now understand that even the appearance of a conflict of interest is unethical and that student editor is now on leave.
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