Green party fields Hartford candidate to challenge Larson

HARTFORD — A capital city political activist who worked on the Cliff Thornton campaign for governor in 2006 has thrown his hat into the ring as the Green party, anti-war candidate for Congress.

Ken Krayeske, who graduated from the University of Connecticut Law School this year, officially announced his candidacy Wednesday night at Hartford’s Red Rock Tavern for the 1st District seat held by Democrat John Larson.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Krayeske said he intends to get important issues on the table that he believes Larson is not addressing.

“The number one Democrat in the country, President Barack Obama, told the nation tonight that we’ve ended combat operations in Iraq. I’ve heard that before,� he said, referring to President Obama’s Oval Office speech Tuesday. “My bet is in the next two years we’re going to see another surge — an escalation. As long as we are in Iraq, we are an occupying army, and nobody talks about it.�

Krayeske criticized the incumbent Democrat’s representation of the 1st district, which includes Winsted, saying Larson has spent too much time raising money for the Democratic National Committee and not enough time at home with his constituents. “We need our congressmen here in Connecticut, not in Indiana and Ohio raising money for other congressmen,� he said.

Larson has appeared at numerous events across the country in recent weeks to support Democrats in key races in this November’s election, but his campaign manager released a statement this week saying Connecticut is still the congressman’s first priority.

Facing a huge uphill battle in which he expects to raise about $15,000 against Larson’s $1 million-plus in campaign funds, Krayeske didn’t spend much time talking about the odds of winning. His campaign will be easily outspent by Larson and by Republican challenger Ann Brickley, who won the GOP’s nomination in the state primary Aug. 10. Krayeske will most likely end up dividing the remaining crumbs with Socialist candidate Chris Hutchinson.

But Krayeske did say he wants people to see that you “don’t need to be a millionaire to run for congress� and that he intends to engage the other candidates in debate. “I would like Congressman Larson to come take a bicycle ride with me around my neighborhood,� he said. “I bet Ann Brickley would do it, and I bet Chris Hutchinson would do it too. I can’t compete with money but I can compete with word of mouth. I’m not afraid to stand up to power.�

Krayeske made national news headlines during Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s 2007 inaugural parade when he allegedly got too close to the governor and was arrested for disturbing the peace. It was subsequently revealed that police had circulated Krayeske’s photo prior to the event and the charges were dropped.

Last year, while studying law at UConn, Krayeske questioned basketball coach Jim Calhoun’s salary of more than $1.6 million per year during a press conference, drawing heat from the coach and earning more headlines. As a former newspaper reporter, editor and regular blogger, he has written about many political issues and events in Connecticut and around the world.

Now working a day job as a law clerk in Meriden, Krayeske said he will spend his weekends and nights working on this campaign and raising issues. “I want to show that you don’t need to be an entrenched part of the system to have a voice,� he said. “Fifty-million-dollar campaigns aren’t what we need in order to be a country that determines its own destination. I’m hoping that the reputation I’ve built allows me to compete with Congressman Larson.�

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