Former Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson is running for Congress, challenging U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, she announced Sunday on the “This Week in CT” television interview program.
“Jim has been in Washington for 14 years, and our lives are getting worse rather than getting better,” Stevenson, a Republican, said, referring to the Democratic incumbent. “He is in lockstep with the Biden administration with every one of their policies, and the lives of families and businesses are worse off than when he went to Congress. That’s why I’m running.”
Image from WTNH-TV video
Jayme Stevenson announcing her election bid on “This Week in CT”
“America is in peril,” Stevenson told Dennis House, host of the WTNH-TV program on Channel 8. “Everywhere we look, we have chaos around us. Chaos at our borders, unsafe streets, kids that are falling further and further behind in school, exacerbated by COVID policies that really had consequences that no one could understand, and it’s time that we send leaders to Washington that are sane and serious an can rise to the moment of these great challenges for our country and for the 4th Congressional District.”
Darienite.com has asked Himes’ office for a response.
[UPDATE, 5:07 p.m,: Himes said: “I am focused 24/7 on the battle against tyranny in Ukraine, finally ending the COVID nightmare and improving the economy for working people in Connecticut. There will come a time for campaigning. This is not that time.”]
“First and foremost, the thing that I’m looking forward to addressing is the economically precarious position that we have right now,” Stevenson said. “Inflation running at 7 1/2 percent — anybody that enjoyed a wage increase over the past couple of years, that’s been wiped out by unchecked inflation. And they’re having trouble putting food on the table.”
She said politics at the national level is “unbalanced.” “Our nation was founded on the principle of bringing balanced ideas to policy making. Here in Connecticut and in Washington, we don’t have that balance any more.”
Jayme Stevenson being interviewed by Dennis House on “This Week in CT”
Over the past several years, she said, “Connecticut is in worse shape. If you pull off the veil of the federal bailout money, people talk about the windfalls we have in the state budget. But if you strip away that free money that came from the federal government, our pensions are still in a very precarious position, our infrastructure is crumbling and we really need serious leaders in Washington that are going to take the problems of Connecticut and help come up with those solutions.”
Stevenson was Darien’s first selectman for a decade. State Rep. Terrie Wood recently announced that she’s running for the Republican nomination for secretary of the state.
Michael Goldstein of Greenwich recently announced his bid for the GOP nomination for the seat, which Himes has held for 14 years. Without mentioning Stevenson by name, Goldstein said in a news release that he welcomes competition for the nomination: “A challenger strengthens my resolve to seek the nomination for the 4th Congressional District and defeat Jim Himes this fall.”