{news} Courant reports on Robert Pandolfo's stealth campaign

[bedell_98]

For further details on Robert, see his candidate statement at
http://ctgreens.org/candidates/robert_pandolfo_statement.htm

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-1sen1102.artnov02,0,6827336.story
Fonfara Faces Quiet Opposition
Green Party Challenger Keeping A Low Profile

By JEFFREY B. COHEN
Courant Staff Writer

November 2 2006

Five-time incumbent John Fonfara didn't know he had a challenger for
his state Senate seat until he heard the name Robert Pandolfo during
an interview Monday.

"Mr. Who?" Fonfara asked. "Who is it? I have not heard about him. I've
been told all along I have no opponent."

But perhaps the Hartford Democrat's surprise could be forgiven, given
that Pandolfo - the Green Party candidate on the ballot - is keeping a
low profile.

"For reasons that I'd rather not get into," Pandolfo said in a
voicemail, "I'm really not interested in being interviewed."

Hmm.

Green Party Co-Chairman Mike DeRosa - who has run against Fonfara
three times himself - says that Fonfara doesn't know he has a
challenger because he always expects to run without one. Enter
Pandolfo, DeRosa's silent Green candidate.

"We want to give people a choice," DeRosa said, explaining that if
Pandolfo gets 1 percent of the vote, the Greens will maintain their
line on the ballot in 2008. "The idea of having it as, `You can vote
for John Fonfara, John Fonfara or John Fonfara,' it reminds me of the
old Soviet elections."

Fonfara, though, said he did not know he had an opponent because
there's been no evidence of a race. "Everything that I've known what
to do to confirm whether or not I had an opponent, I did, and I've
been told that I didn't," he said.

Dan Tapper, a spokesman for Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz,
said that the state does not notify incumbents of their challengers.

"Usually, the opponents take care of that themselves," Tapper said.

As for the race itself, Fonfara says it's one thing to choose between
two legitimate candidates. It's another to choose between a 10-year
veteran and a guy who is running just to run.

"You can probably put Bugs Bunny on a line somewhere and they're going
to get X percent of the vote," he said. "Does that say that this is
somehow reflective that I'm not going my job? I think I'm making my
point."

Fonfara, 50, a Hartford native, a product of Rice Heights, a resident
of the South End, a father of a 15-year-old, and an outdoor
advertising businessman, says he will continue to stress property tax
reform, although he's not optimistic that there will be support.

As chairman of the legislature's energy and technology committee,
Fonfara says he wants to dedicate much of the next session to passing
energy reform that would emphasize new fuels such as ethanol and
biodiesel.

On the Green Party website, Pandolfo says he wants to increase taxes
on corporations, the wealthy and non-cigarette tobacco products. He
says he has an economics degree from the University of Connecticut, is
working toward a master's degree at Trinity College, works for UPS and
is a union member who has previously served on the city's Advisory
Commission on the Environment. He lives in the city's South Green
neighborhood and, according to city records, is 36 years old.

DeRosa isn't counting on a Green victory, he said; he thinks a good
showing would be taking 5 percent from Fonfara. "I don't think the
probability [of an upset] is very high," DeRosa said. "But I don't
think that Rob would turn the job down if he won."

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@ courant.com.

Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant