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I'm Mark Sudall. Welcome back to Power and Politics. I'm joined now by Jack Pavia, Democratic candidate for state representative in the 142nd district. Welcome to the show. It's great to be on. Thanks so much for having me. Yes, so now this seat, uh, has become available now because Lucy Daythan is gonna be a state senator. She's running for state senate. Uh, so let me get this right now. So you are 21 years old. That's right. You're gonna be graduating next week from American University. I mean, when a lot of kids are like, you know, maybe playing video games, how did you decide that you wanted to run for political office? Well, look, this is the community that raised me, you know, Norwalk, I, I went through Norwalk Public schools, wait in Elementary, wrote in Middle, Brian McMahon High School, you know, it shaped who I am, um, and so, you know, this is a really tough political time. A lot of people are feeling, feeling very cynical about the direction that our politics is going in. Um, and I really felt that, you know, there was a chance to, uh, to give back, right, you know, to get involved and say, you know, there's a lot of money that could come from the state, a lot of help that can come from the state in terms of dealing with affordability, res, you know, regulations when it comes to dealing with ICE, um, and I think that, you know, I could bring a unique perspective as, as a young person, someone who was, who spent his formative years during COVID, um, who has a firsthand view of a lot of issues around technology, um, in particularly in the classroom, um, I think there's a lot of work that. Can be done there and I'd love to be a part of that work. I mean, look, you've certainly done your homework, but what do you think it takes to be a successful candidate? I think it takes building relationships. You have to be someone who does not, does not have to agree with someone 100% of the time, doesn't even have to share a lot of, you know, personality traits necessarily. You just have to be flexible because, you know, if, if, if, you know, bridge burns on, on I-95 or, you know, there's any number of issues that could happen in the district, you need to make sure that the person who's gonna help you. With that issue, the person who's going to help you secure money, bring it back to the district, the person that's gonna, you know, you know, you know who to call, you're on good terms with them, that you know, you know, you have a good relationship, um, because otherwise you're not going to be effective, right? So what do you think are the issues of this Norwalk New Canaan district? Yeah, I think number one is education, um, and I was very encouraged by the governor sending, you know, 10 $270 million in response to a lot of what a lot of people in the legislature and a lot of mic. leaders were saying about the need for increased, uh, you know, help on a local level with a lot of property taxes going up. I think it really takes more money from the state, you know, these infusions are great. I think in addition we need consistent revenue streams to bring back to municipalities because the reality is that we're more reliant on the property tax in Connecticut than most other states in the country, and I think that has a lot of really tough effects. It's in a lot of cases a regressive tax. So as a young guy getting in the game here, what are you doing about fundraising? Yeah, so I finished fundraising in 4 days. Um, so I'm really excited about that. I think, uh, you know, we, we hit that threshold $6700 was the threshold for total donations and then 150 individuals from Norwalk and New Canaan, um, and so these are a lot of people, you know, my former teachers, my family, my friends, people I grew up with, so it was really an encouraging sign. That is amazing. Now look, we know that being a state legislator, uh, is a part-time job with full-time work. That's right, right. So, uh, what are you going to be doing for a full-time job in the meantime? Yes, so I'm going to be working for Norwalk Transit District, um, so you know, keep that involvement in the community. Um, I think it's, you know, I'm lucky because my, uh, my boss at Norwalk Transit says if you want to scale back to part-time, you know, that's all good. So, you know, the first. First responsibility would be to my constituents if I'm lucky enough to be elected, um, but yeah, no, it's, it's, it's tough, and I, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna bring the energy to, to this, uh, campaign and, and, and to the job, and if it means I'm working 90 hours a week, then, then damn it, I'm gonna do it. So, so you're 21. I'm just trying to picture this. You're 21, you're sitting around, uh, the table with your friends, whatever. Um, what do they think about all this? My gosh, uh, you know, they're excited and, um, I think it was, it was particularly exciting because, you know, my roommates at American University, they kind of have, they're going into different fields, so one of them's a political science major. OK, ask a question about policy. One's a film, you know, a, a, a filmmaker, you know, say, uh. You know, hey, can you film my opening video? My, uh, my girlfriend's a graphic design major. Hey, you mind, uh, doing my graphics? So we got a whole, you know, range of, um, you know, responsibilities based on the major. So it's great. It's really, really great. And you said one of your friends, uh, helped you with a video too, right, for your campaign. I mean, hey, we're building a political coalition here. I mean that, that is amazing. Yeah. So, um, we are seeing this trend, I think, of more younger candidates getting involved in politics. Why do you think that is? I think it's important to have all perspectives at the table, you know, I'll be one of 151 if I'm, if I end up getting in there, and, um, you know, we have different people who are different business professionals, right? Accountants, lawyers, um, we have people who are from different religious backgrounds, different ethnic backgrounds, different life experiences, and I think another important thing to have covered is different age brackets. I mean, we have, you know, some of the older folks, we have some of the folks in the middle, and, and then we have some younger folks, you know, some folk. In their later 20s early 30s, um, but I really, you know, I'd be the youngest legislator and I think that is important in terms of perspective. What were your formative life experiences, um, what makes an effective legislature is incorporating every perspective because, you know, we have 151 representatives, we have 36 senators, um, it's important to just make sure that all life experiences because all constituents have different life experiences based on their ages and, and backgrounds, uh, just make sure all of that is covered. So right now, uh, for 142, there's no Republican in the race. It's you and Tina, is that right? That is correct, Tina Duria, um, as the two Democrats. So, uh, you're, this will go to a primary. My assumption is that we'll go to a primary, yeah, yeah. Um, and then what, what, what do you know about, uh, your opponent Tina at this point? Well, what I know is that you know she's also someone involved. I know she's a friend. Um, she's someone who I have a lot of respect for, um, but I just want to make sure I'm focused on the issues. I want to make sure, you know, education, transportation is another huge one. I think, you know, as someone, as someone who knows about a lot of the. Traffic that goes around around here I'm sure you're familiar we need to make sure we're investing in options, um, you know, whether it be taking the taking the bus, taking the train, walking, biking in addition to the large amount of driving that we see, which is the predominant way everyone gets around, um, and so, you know, um, I think she's gonna be focused on the issues. I, I'm gonna be focused on the issues and I'm looking forward to kind of having that debate. Jack, thank you so much for the time and good luck. Thank you very much. All right, next, looking for a tax cut, you might be out of luck with the new state budget.

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RTCTPowerPolitics05022026CBlock_2026-05-02-15-04-42

State Sen. James Maroney and Democratic candidate for State Representative in the 142nd District Jack Pavia join the show.

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