by Paul Bass
New Haven State Rep. Al Paolillo Jr. confirmed Monday that he is running for a State Senate seat that’s opening up for the first time in 34 years.
Paolillo told the Independent he will seek the 11th Senate District seat, which covers eastern New Haven and part of Hamden.
Martin Looney, who has represented that seat since 1993, announced Saturday that he’s retiring at the end of this year.
“I definitely will be running,” Paolillo, 53, a Democrat, said. He said he plans to file official campaign paperwork this week.
New Haven legislators, from Looney to State Sen. Gary Winfield to State Rep. Pat Dillon, quickly endorsed Paolillo, whose bid (along with Looney’s retirement) had been expected for months.
Paolillo has represented the east side 97th state representative district for the past decade. Before that he served 15 years on the New Haven Board of Alders. In both jobs he shunned the spotlight, preferring to work alongside colleagues on legislation as a group — “more oriented to task than self-promotion,” as one veteran pol put it.
Indeed, when in an interview asked about his proudest accomplishments this session, Paolillo spoke of “working with the delegation” of New Haven state legislators on a deal that added $270 million to the newly passed state budget in municipal and public education. That deal includes a roughly $20 million boost for New Haven.
He also spoke of bills he and fellow Democrats are trying to pass in the legislative session’s final three days in response to concerns raised by New Haven government. One would enable cities like New Haven to regulate “juice bars” within adult bars, including limiting hours of operation and enforcing strict separation of under-21 areas. Last Halloween a shoot-out outside one such crammed establishment left one 18-year-old dead and injured three others between 18 and 21. Two other bills would require landlords to disclose when elevators are out of service and when repairs would be made (a problem that came to light at Bella Vista and at Fairmont Heights) and address abandoned vessels in waterways (like a recent one off Morris Cove).
Looney’s upcoming retirement has opened up a set of opportunities for generational advancement. New Haven State Sen. Gary Winfield, for instance, is running to fill a majority leader post that’s opening up because the current occupant, Norwalk Democrat Bon Duff, will seek to succeed Looney as Senate pro tem. And Paolillo’s state representative seat will open for the first time in a decade.
Asked if the Republicans have come up with a candidate to seek the Senate seat, Town Chair John Carlson replied, “Not yet.”
State Rep. Dillon, a fellow Democrat, said she’s endorsing Paolillo “wholeheartedly. He has demonstrated skill at the legislative process while at the same time has stayed grounded in the down-to-earth details of the priority and needs of his district.”
Another endorsement came from East Rock/Fair Haven Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith. State political columnist Mike Cerulli had suggested earlier Monday in his closely-watched weekly “Capitol Report” column that Tanbee Smith might “kick the tires on a run” for the Senate seat. Tanbee Smith told the Independent she is “excited to support Representative Paolillo in his run to continue to support and deliver for our beloved city.”