Chris Peritore is the Independent Party candidate for State Representative in the 135^th district, cross-nominated by the Republican party. The 135^th district encompasses Weston, Redding, and part of Easton.

In an interview, Mr. Peritore said he decided to run for office after working as a clerk for the legislature’s Appropriations Committee and seeing “dozens of bills die” in the Insurance Committee because of disagreements on an agenda. Likening it to the national political divide, he said, “there’s no room for bipartisanship, and no effort for it.”

Mr. Peritore said he would bring to the table “a young face, a fresh perspective, new ideas, and a willingness to work with both sides.” He said his first priorities in office would be to work on utility rates and funding vocational education.

He said he would also focus on finding ways “to help small businesses grow” with tax breaks and other incentives. “Rising prices on goods aren’t just consumer problems,” he said, “they are also business problems.” Mr. Peritore works as a bartender, and said a serious problem for businesses is a shortage of workers.

Climate, choice, utilities

Regarding the climate, Mr. Peritore said he supports solar energy and tax breaks on electric vehicles, but not what he sees as EV mandates in climate legislation. (Bills recently proposed in Hartford would mirror California regulations requiring zero emissions from new light-duty vehicles sold in the state, effective in 2035.)

On reproductive rights, Mr. Peritore said he is resolutely pro choice. He is in favor of the proposed amendment to the State Constitution to allow no-excuse absentee voting, but faults the legislature for not establishing significant penalties for the type of ballot fraud that occurred last year in Bridgeport.

Mr. Peritore also rued what he said was the legislature’s “lack of foresight” on the increase of the public benefits portion of utility bills. The hike is due to a decision by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) allowing Eversource to recoup, over a period of only ten months, amounts unpaid during a shutoff moratorium.

The increase, he said, “hurt our older citizens and our younger residents who are just moving in to the area.” He said he believes the legislature should have used ARPA money or some of the state’s surplus rainy day funds to lessen the impact of the temporary rate hike.

Housing, gun safety

On housing, Mr. Peritore said he believes “8-30g is a flawed statute.” The statute, applicable to towns where less than ten percent of housing meets defined affordability criteria, gives developers an avenue to judicial relief if local zoning boards wrongly deny permits.

Mr. Peritore said a better approach to promote affordable housing would be to give tax incentives to residents of towns willing to build it and state financial support for construction of sewers, water supply, and other infrastructure.

On gun safety, Mr. Peritore said he was in sixth grade when news came of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. “The magnitude of how close that was and how scary it was hit like a wave. It was horrifying.” He said he is “pro 2^nd Amendment but also for safe storage and restrictions on ghost guns and high-capacity semiautomatic magazines. “I believe the legislature is doing the right things when it comes to guns,” he said.