By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Perennial political opponents Pam Staneski and James Maroney alternated between compliments and barbs as they squared off Sept. 17 at the First United Church of Christ in downtown Milford in a debate over who should be elected to the open 14th district state Senate seat.
The debate was sponsored by the Plymouth Men’s Club, an adult fellowship group at the church. Club member Arthur Stowe served as moderator, taking questions written on cards by the audience.
The two took the stage in a packed hall that appeared to be nearly evenly divided in its applause for each candidate’s positions. Their race is one of the more competitive in Connecticut. State Senator Gayle Slossberg, a moderate Democrat who held the seat for 14 years, announced earlier this year she would not seek reelection.
This isn’t Staneski’s and Maroney’s first go-around. They ran against each other for the 119th House district in 2012 and 2014. Maroney, a Democrat, won in 2012, while Staneski, a Republican, beat Maroney in 2014 and currently occupies that seat. In both cases, the margin of victory came down to a few hundred votes.
The conversation immediately turned to guns, with Staneski defending her opposition of a bipartisan bill that passed the state legislature in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting banning bump stocks, devices that cause semiautomatic weapons to fire similarly to automatic weapons.
“This bill did nothing to make our state safer. It did have some unintended consequences,” she said, pointing out that paintball enthusiasts and veterans who engaged in sports shooting weren’t exempted. “They are now felons starting October 1,” she said.
Maroney agreed with Staneski that the legislature needed to be careful about unintended consequences. But he also faulted Staneski for opposing another bill to remove guns from people under a temporary restraining order. That bill, he noted, was prompted by a death in the state, referring to the murder in 2014 of Lori Jackson by her husband, Scott Gellatly, after Jackson had taken out a temporary restraining order on him.
“I think to many it seems like you go up against any gun legislation,” Maroney said.
They traded barbs again over a question about solving the state’s looming budget woes. Staneski touted the Republican budget that had been put forward in the previous session, then slammed Maroney for his budget votes during his tenure in the legislature.
“You actually increased spending roughly 10 percent over the course of your two years there, so I’m glad to hear that you are saying that you need to go up there and advocate for spending cuts,” she said.
Maroney pointed out in response that the Republican budget, while not outright raising taxes, contained plenty of hikes to revenue through increasing fees by hundreds of millions of dollars, including on background checks and home sales.
“We need to be truthful and acknowledge that if you’re going to call a fee a tax when I vote for a fee, a fee is a tax when you vote for a fee.”
Despite their occasional sharp words, the candidates agreed more often than not. A question about women’s rights to medical care took up almost no time, as both candidates simply said they did not support any restrictions.
At times throughout the evening, they even seemed almost friendly toward each other. On the subject of the opioid crisis, for instance, Maroney heaped praise on Staneski for her work as a cofounder and past president of the Milford Prevention Council, an organization dedicated to reducing substance abuse.
James Maroney speaks during the Sept. 17 debate at First United Church of Christ in Milford. Photo by Brandon T. Bisceglia.
Pam Staneski speaks during the Sept. 17 debate at First United Church of Christ in Milford. Photo by Brandon T. Bisceglia.