Candelora, Vincent J.

District towns: East Haven, North Branford, Wallingford

Official web site

Sponsored bills

Election history: Candelora won an open seat by just 124 votes in 2006, succeeding the Republican minority leader, Robert M. Ward.

2008 general election

*Unopposed

Public financing: Candelora did not seek public financing for his campaign.

Background: Candelora is living proof that all politics is local. Democrats seemed poised to make a run for this Republican seat in 2008, a presidential year that helped Democrats pick up seven seats in the House. But Ashley Clow Joiner, the Democrat who opposed Ward in 2004 and nearly beat Candelora in 2006, had enough. Democrats could not find another candidate.

Candelora is a former three-term member of the North Branford Town Council.

He resides with his wife and three children in North Branford.

Committees: Finance (ranking member), Planning and Development, Program Review, Regulations Review.

Education: B.A., Connecticut College; J.D., Dickinson School of Law at Pennsylvania State University

Occupation: Owner, Connecticut Sportsplex

2008 Financial Disclosure: Candelora is affiliated with two family businesses, the Connecticut Sportsplex and Salvatore A. Candelora Enterprises, which does business as Taconic Wire. He and his wife, Carolyn Candelora, own their home and a second property in North Branford.

They own stock in AT&T.

Candelora filed a confidential addendum listing any debts exceeding $10,000. He declined to release the addendum, as is his choice under the law.

A note on financial disclosure: Every spring, officials are required to disclose the ownership of real estate, the source of any income exceeding $1,000 in the previous calendar year and securities worth more than $5,000. They also are required to file an addendum in which they report any debt of more than $10,000; this may by law be kept confidential.