Cassano, 80, has represented the 4th District in the Senate since 2011 and spent 26 years leading town government in Manchester.
Steve Cassano
Posted inPolitics
Control of the CT Senate at stake in battleground districts
If the GOP can gain four seats, it will turn a 21-15 Democratic advantage into a 19-17 Republican majority, giving them control of the chamber for the first time in 20 years.
Posted inPolitics
Bill to allow fewer polling places in primaries back after 4 years
Connecticut’s cities and towns could see small cost savings in future election cycles if lawmakers approve a bill that would allow town registrars to reduce the number of polling places in primaries. It has substantial support, but not everyone thinks it’s a good idea.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Senate moves to rebuke Gray, stop Meriden campus closure
The Senate moved swiftly Wednesday to stop a surprise plan to close a community college satellite campus in a district represented by the co-chair of the legislature’s committee on higher education. On a unanimous vote, the Senate stripped administrators of the right to close any campus without legislative approval.
Posted inPolitics
Campaign finance reform left for high-level negotiations
The Senate Democratic majority’s leadership yielded Monday to a toothless compromise on the question of capping the unlimited expenditures the state parties now can make on General Assembly races in Connecticut. The compromise: a $250,000 cap that wouldn’t have meant a difference in any campaign last year.
Posted inPolitics
Sharkey and GOP vs. Senate Democrats on campaign reform
The Senate Democratic majority is blocking House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, and minority Republicans from closing what critics say is major loophole in Connecticut’s system of publicly financing campaigns — the parties ability to direct special-interest money to taxpayer-funded candidates.
Posted inPolitics
Secretary of the State Merrill: CT must overhaul elections system
A countdown began Wednesday toward a debate over scrapping Connecticut’s unique system of relying on locally elected registrars of voters, one for each major party, to carry out elections in all 169 cities and towns.
Posted inEducation
New higher ed chairman wants to reduce public colleges’ autonomy
If the new chairman of the legislature’s Higher Education Committee gets his way, the independence that the state’s public colleges have enjoyed for years will be reined in more under lawmakers control. “I have a simple philosophy: over the years the legislature has ceded too much autonomy to the universities,” Sen. Steve Cassano, D-Manchester, said in a news release announcing his appointment this week.