Matt Bailey
Matt was born and raised in the Greater New Haven area. He is a former Republican and had worked for the Republican National Committee. He left the GOP after recognizing his differences with the party on social justice issues that were important to him because of his Catholic faith. He was a contributing Blogger to Dean Nation – the first blog devoted to a presidential candidate. He supports John DeStefano because of a strong belief that the leadership that the mayor brought to New Haven to help “turn the city around” is desperately needed state wide.
Frank Chi
Raised in New Haven, Frank Chi is a Government and Legal Studies major at Bowdoin College. Since finding out about the Mayor’s candidacy, Frank has been involved on many aspects of the campaign, focusing on blogging and house meetings. As someone who grew up in New Haven during the DeStefano era, Frank has lived and breathed the city’s revival. “John DeStefano has been New Haven’s Mayor since I was eight years old. To many in my generation, his name is engrained in our minds as one who embodies the tremendous progress the city has made.” Aside from working hard to get John DeStefano elected Governor, Frank is Co-President of the Bowdoin College Democrats and Communications Director of the College Democrats of Maine.
Ben Fielding
Ben Fielding was born in Boston, MA but grew up in Newtown, Connecticut. Ben graduated from UConn in 2002 having double majored in History and Economics and minored in political science. Ben went to Bowling Green State University (Ohio) to do graduate work in CSP (university administration). Ben came back to Connecticut and has worked on the DeStefano for Connecticut campaign since May 2004.
In his freshman year, Ben was in Storrs when UConn won its first National Championship in Men's Basketball. "It was exciting to know that we were number one, the best!" but Ben is disappointed that Connecticut doesn't expect that level of success or greatness in anything else. "We don't take pride in our state, we describe ourselves as more New York or more Boston. It's kind of distressing."
Ben supports John DeStefano because he believes in John's vision for Connecticut. "John believes in Connecticut, he wants to instill an expectation of excellence in Connecticut, and I say it's high time we all did!"
Ben moved to New Haven in January to reduce his commute. "It's a beautiful city and I'm very impressed. When I was a little kid my parents made sure I locked my door as we drove through the city, now I walk around the city at all hours without fear. Plus the night life and cultural possibilities are great...I just wish I had some more free time to enjoy them."
Shonu Gandhi
Shonu Gandhi is a Los Angeles native who lives in and loves New Haven. She attended Yale University where she worked on issues of homelessness, education and economic justice and wrote a weekly column about issues affecting New Haven and the state of Connecticut. She met John DeStefano at a debate about education, where she had expected to despise him as she despised so many politicians. But she found him to be intelligent, thoughtful, open-minded and, best of all, an aggressive and innovative doer. She worked on his 2001 mayoral campaign, managed his 2003 re-election campaign, worked in the Mayor's office on youth and energy policy issues for five months and left to work his campaign for Governor. She believes that government should help people have better lives and help them make their dreams come true.
Julio Gonzalez
Julio Gonzalez is a Texan by birth and a Democrat by choice. He drives a '93 Corolla with 166,533 miles on it and highly recommends the Educated Burgher's cheeseburger sub. While at Yale, he was a dishwasher in Calhoun College and a New Haven alderman. He worked as a campaign manager and mayoral aide for John DeStefano during 2001-2004. Presently, Julio is in the second year of his MBA studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Aldon Hynes
Website Vooweb.com provides the biggest collection of professional Web 2.0 Templates. Web 2.0 Templates - its a website templates which made by world-class designers. Buy our Web 2.0 Templates | A family cooking recipes with hundreds of healthy, whole-food cooking recipes for the home cook. Healthy Food cooking Recipes For Your Entire Family | List of Samui villas and houses for rent on Koh Samui. Koh Samui villas for rent and sale on a private Samui community on the southern tip of the island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand.
Aldon Hynes was born in Maine, grew up in Massachusetts, went to school in Ohio and worked in New York for many years before settling down in Connecticut. In New York, he worked as an IT Executive on Wall Street. In 2003, he became very active in Gov. Dean's presidential bid and worked with many groups on the state and national level. When Gov. Dean ended his bid, Aldon's wife decided to run for State Representative. She was one of the first Dean Dozen candidates and Aldon was her campaign manager. Aldon received credentials from the Democratic Party to cover the National Convention as a blogger. Aldon has a strong interest in returning politics to an open and honest dialog. He believes that John DeStefano will return openness and honesty to the governor's mansion and that Blog for Connecticut is an important start to this dialog.Roland Lemar
Roland Lemar, a former New Haven city planner and Director of Public Information, now works as a writer and contributing editor for a NYC-based television news and entertainment program.
A 1999 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Roland has worked on numerous social and political campaigns all across southern New England, (his first campaign job was actually working for a former Republican Governor of Massachusetts)and he is excited about the possibility of creating real, meanignful change for Connecticut while improving the quality of life for all of this State's families.
Roland grew up in Westerly, Rhode Island, and his family now all lives in Eastern Connecticut (Ledyard, Stonington, and Groton.)
Roland lives in New Haven with his 4-year old daughter, Caitlin, who will be entering Kindergarten this Fall.
Alyssa Rosenberg
Alyssa Rosenberg was born in West Hartford, and though her family moved on, she is glad to be back in Connecticut as a college student. She is a double major in humanities and history; when she pays attention to the present, her passions are Democratic politics, indie rock, and reading until she ruins her eyes. During her first year of college, Alyssa co-founded Project Orange, a group that worked to pass gay rights legislation in New Haven. She has since worked with the student wing of New Haven's labor movement, and as a local Democratic activst.