Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Williams searching for his niche in crowded 5th CD

  • by Caitlin Emma
  • July 22, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Mike Williams lacks the financial resources of his youngest competitor and the political experience of two others, but an open seat in the 5th Congressional District has drawn the political newcomer and foreign policy expert into a four-way race for the Democratic nomination.

“A lot of people say ‘you’ve got a snowball’s chance in hell,’ but I’m still working hard,” said Williams, 31, a visiting assistant professor of government at Wesleyan University. “If I don’t win, I don’t win, but I’ll still be here.”

Mike Williams

Democratic candidate Mike Williams

He doesn’t have the resources of 29-year-old Dan Roberti or the name recognition of House Speaker Christopher Donovan or even former Rep. Elizabeth Esty, but Williams said he’s dedicated to meeting as many people as possible on the campaign trail.

“Everyone likes to say they’re running a grassroots campaign,” he said. “Every day we’re out there doing something.”

Williams decided to run when Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy announced his bid for U.S. Senate. Murphy was a longshot when he ran, but he was a state senator who also had served in the state House.

“I think a political newcomer has a little more startup work, but I’m not afraid of work, so that’s okay,” he said.

Williams was born in New Haven and raised in Southington. He attended Holy Cross School in New Britain and he graduated from Southington High School.

After graduation from the University of Delaware, he moved to Europe, where he received his masters from Humboldt University in Berlin and a Ph.D from the London School of Economics.

His background focuses mostly on foreign policy research. He worked as head of the Transatlantic Security Program at London’s Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank that advises the U.S. Department of State and NATO.

From 2008 to 2010, he worked as the lead researcher for the Carnegie Project at the think tank Research Partnership on Post-War State Building. The project dealt with researching sustainable government and security solutions for areas like Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.

Williams also said a member of President Barack Obama’s Campaign Iraq Policy Expert Group contacted him for advice regarding international security policy during the 2008 presidential campaign.

“I think I have a good track record of working with people from very different backgrounds,” he said. “This office interests me because it’s both local and global. It suits my background the best.”

His early campaigning included an effort to save The Bake Shoppe, a Torrington business for 73 years that recently faced the possibility of closure after many of its wholesale buyers went out of business. Williams said he tried to organize a press event for the bakery to help keep it afloat.

John Parent, The Bake Shoppe’s owner, said he appreciated the press, but he felt that Williams’ listening skills surprised him the most.

“What really impressed me with him, and I don’t easily get impressed, is that I made eye contact with him, and we talked and he didn’t flinch,” Parent said.

Williams said he wants to meet as many people as he can and provide a louder voice for the 5th District.

“My goal is to be as loud and noisy an advocate for the 5th District as possible,” he said. “I think some people hoped Murphy would be a little louder.”

As with most candidates today, the economy tops his list of concerns. He emphasizes investing in green technologies and simplifying the tax code to create jobs.

“We’re losing out to overseas competition and we need someone who gets that,” he said.

He believes in preserving funding for areas like education, Medicare and environmental protection while reducing tax breaks for the wealthy. He also said that he values a strong military, but the U.S. can afford cuts to defense spending. On social issues, he supports abortion and gay marriage rights.

Williams is last in the fundraising race with $101,410, about $90,000 of which comes from individual donors. He also has loaned his campaign almost $11,000.

“Money does not win elections,” Williams said. “If it did, we’d have Senator McMahon and not Senator Blumenthal.”

Richard Blumenthal did win, despite being outspent by Linda McMahon, $50 million to $8.7 million. But Blumenthal entered the race after 20 years as attorney general, with some of the highest name-recognition and job-approval numbers ever seen in Connecticut politics.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caitlin Emma

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Pandemic eases, and complicates, legislating
by Mark Pazniokas

The legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee co-chairs skipped the masks, but they were very socially distant.

Health issues carried weight on the campaign trail.
by Victoria Knight | Kaiser Health News

Even with the Democrats’ newfound Senate majority, differences in health policy between the party’s moderate and progressive wings will persist.

Trump’s pardons included health care execs behind massive fraud
by Fred Schulte | Kaiser Health News

At the last minute, President Donald Trump granted pardons to several individuals convicted in huge Medicare swindles that prosecutors alleged often harmed or endangered elderly and infirm patients while fleecing taxpayers. “These aren’t just technical financial crimes. These were major, major crimes,” said Louis Saccoccio, chief executive officer of the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, […]

‘It’s a nightmare:’ A growing number of seniors are unable to book vaccine appointments as problems mount
by Dave Altimari and Jenna Carlesso

The state acknowledged Friday in an email to local health workers that some residents are waiting days for a callback.

Panel recommends small, inflationary pay hike for state officials
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut's part-time legislature hasn't received a pay hike since 2001. The annual base-pay for senators and representatives is $28,000.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Miguel Cardona, who are you?
by Ann Policelli Cronin

When I ask Connecticut teachers about Miguel Cardona, those who know him or have worked with him say that he is really nice guy who knows what the challenges in our classrooms are, knows how to help teachers to improve their teaching, and respects public schools. All good. But what is his vision for teaching and learning that he will bring to the U.S. Department of Education?

Opinion Connecticut needs a strong two-party system, this Democrat says
by Edward Marcus

J.R. Romano’s recent resignation as the state’s Republican Party chair has brought into focus the need for a viable opposition party in Connecticut. It is not healthy politics when everything is totally controlled by one party:  the legislature, the governorship, and most of the major municipalities in our state.

Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO