Connecticut: David X. Sullivan -- ‘I’m a Rule of Law Candidate’
Republican David X. Sullivan says he wants voters in the fifth district of Connecticut to know he sees a marked difference between peaceful protests and the rioting and killing happening in many cities across the nation as he challenges Joe Biden surrogate Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT).
“I’m a ‘rule of law’ candidate,” Sullivan told Breitbart News during an interview Wednesday.
“A lot of people have asked me about my position as a federal prosecutor, and I’ve been very concerned about the rioting, and the unrest,” he said. “Yes, I believe in the First Amendment and peaceful protest and assembly. But what we’re seeing right now with rioting, with the violence, with the killings, with the lack of civility, with people screaming in people’s faces as they’re trying to simply eat a meal. I’m concerned about that.”
“I’m a rule of law candidate, and my background is in law enforcement, and I’m very proud to serve and work with law enforcement,” he continued. “I think we all, whether from the left or from the right, or sitting in the middle, we have shared American values. We want safe and good schools for our children. We want to be safe in our homes and in our communities.”
In November, Sullivan will try to unseat Hayes, a former National Teacher of the Year, who is supported by the public sector unions, in Connecticut’s fifth congressional district in the northwestern part of the state.
Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Jahana Hayes appear on our #WomenShapingtheFuture cover. We talked to them about Trump, how women are changing Congress, the state of our country and more https://t.co/b2Wty5titbpic.twitter.com/6HLM75fn7b
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) February 27, 2019
A federal prosecutor for 30 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, Sullivan’s website bio states he served a 16-month assignment that ended in 2004 to the U.S. Department of Justice as the National Money Laundering/Asset Forfeiture coordinator for the nation’s 93 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.
He also teaches trial advocacy at Yale Law School and criminal law at Western Connecticut State University.
Hayes is following along with the agenda of the teachers’ unions, both in terms of opposing school choice and in keeping schools closed until safety from the coronavirus can be guaranteed.
Last week, the incumbent congresswoman stumped for Biden with actress Scarlett Johansson in a “Women for Biden” event.
Free tonight at 7pm???
Tune in for some Johansson and some Jahana!@Women4Bidenpic.twitter.com/M1tocUm8d6— Jahana Hayes (@JahanaHayesCT) September 3, 2020
— Jahana Hayes (@JahanaHayesCT) September 5, 2020
According to news outlet The 19th, Johansson discussed her fears about sending her daughter back to school for in-person learning, while Hayes claimed schools were reopening without safety plans.
“My teacher friends are scared,” Hayes said on the call. “They’re scared they’re going to have to stand in front of kids and make promises they cannot keep.”
But Sullivan is concerned about the widening achievement gap between urban and suburban children that has been made worse by school closures caused by the coronavirus. He supports the reopening of schools for in-person learning with sensible safety precautions.
The Republican candidate is also a firm believer in school choice. “I think students and families should have the choice,” he said. “I think the money needs to follow the student.”
On his campaign website, Sullivan explains further: “Giving parents and local communities, and not educational bureaucrats, the ultimate responsibility over education decisions must be the focus of how we improve our elementary and secondary schools.”
Sullivan says he “will oppose any coerced school regionalization plans and will support increasing school choice for parents. He also opposes initiatives that weaken the ability of schools to discipline students as all our children deserve a safe learning environment.”
Regarding the pandemic and government’s response to it, Sullivan is opposed to the extension of Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D) executive powers for another five months.
“I think we know a lot more about the virus,” Sullivan told Breitbart News. “And I don’t think that the governor can continue to circumvent the legislative process. I think that the state legislature has been rendered very powerless. And for a time that may have been necessary, but I don’t think that it needs to continue in the same way it did three or four months ago.”
Sullivan is a newcomer to politics but said he was motivated to enter this race because what has happened to Connecticut over the past several decades “is not an encouraging thing.”
“We have some of the highest taxes in the country,” he explained, noting as well that his district has a bipartisan history. “We were not enjoying any of the prosperity that so much of the country was having prior to the pandemic. And that was one of the reasons why I entered into this race. I think it’s very important that Connecticut goes in a different direction in this election and post-pandemic. I think we’ve got three Republican mayors in three of the largest cities in this district, but 48 out of the last 50 years in the State House have been controlled by Democrats.”
Sullivan is a supporter of President Donald Trump’s tax reform legislation.
“Joe Biden stated he plans on raising taxes by $4 trillion,” he said. “He claims that he’s not going to raise taxes on the middle class, which is patently untrue. By repealing the tax cuts, the rates go up, and the middle class suffers, and the economy will suffer. And as a result, we’ll be paying more taxes. We’ll have a very, very slow economy under a Biden administration.”
Sullivan’s website stresses the candidate supports the “entire Bill of Rights.”
With the town of Newtown, site of the horrific school shooting in 2012, in the fifth congressional district, Sullivan elaborates on his position on Second Amendment rights on his website.
“Our nation’s freedom was achieved by responsible gun owners and their rights remain as a pillar of our Constitution,” he says.
He “supports the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act and would oppose its repeal. He believes that it is a misuse of the litigation system to use lawsuits to prevent law abiding individuals from buying a lawful product.”
Sullivan adds that gun violence by criminals and the mentally ill “must be reduced” but asserts the “demonization of lawful gun owners” by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Hayes “does nothing to protect the safety of our citizens.”
11) @RepJahanaHayes represents the Newtown community that has been impacted by the Sandy Hook tragedy. She cosponsored the assault weapons ban bill & 5 other priority bills. She condemned Sec. Devos for making a recommendation to use fed funds to arm teachers. #VoteGunSafety2020pic.twitter.com/NkU2IxtVY1
— Newtown Action (@NewtownAction) August 31, 2020
Regarding the issue of life, Sullivan told Breitbart News that while Roe v. Wade is “the established law,” he is “certainly not a supporter of partial-birth abortion.”
His website elaborates further on the issue that Connecticut’s statutes would allow the “right” to abortion to continue should Roe be overturned:
The role of a congressperson on the issue of life is greatly constrained by the Supreme Court’s precedent in Roe v. Wade, which extended constitutional protection to abortion. Even were a future Supreme Court to overrule Roe, both Connecticut state statutes and state court precedent would continue the right of women in our state to seek abortions.
Nevertheless, Sullivan believes that “to the extent that the Supreme Court permits regulation of abortion … such regulations should be adopted.”
He states on his website that he would co-sponsor and vote for legislation “to outlaw the morally offensive practice of partial-birth abortion and to guarantee that the life of a live infant is protected by law.”
Sullivan states he is also in favor of legislation that would “create a waiting period prior to an abortion, and would oppose any effort to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds for abortion except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of incest or rape.”
The congressional candidate also supports states’ rights to establish health and safety laws for abortion clinics.
“The current incumbent, Jahana Hayes, is one of the most zealous pro-abortion members of Congress,” he asserts, adding he “would respect the views of voters in Connecticut who believe strongly in the right to life.”
Of special interest in Connecticut is the plight of women athletes who have filed a lawsuit against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which changed its policies to allow male athletes to compete as girls.
“I support Title IX, and I have been talking to high school female athletes who want to compete against other biological girls,” Sullivan told Breitbart News.
“This is a free country, this is America,” he continued, “but a biological boy will always have the opportunity to compete against other biological boys. I’m concerned about biological girls having the opportunity to compete meaningfully with other biological girls. As a father of four daughters and a brother to four sisters, I certainly want my daughters and my sisters and all women to be afforded all the same opportunities that have been afforded male athletes.”
Sullivan shared his hopes for his district and state.
“I want to see a Connecticut district where we have a strong economy and where our children can graduate from college, and come home to Connecticut and find a job, which I’m not sure is the case right now,” he explained. “And people who have lived and worked here their entire lives are concerned whether or not they can actually retire in their homes, and in their community. You don’t hear people say, ‘when I retire I’m moving to Connecticut.’ I want to change the culture. I want to bring that prosperity, that we enjoyed in the country prior to the pandemic, to Connecticut.”
Sullivan is married and has four daughters and a son.
He said the future of his children and the country, in general, is in a dire situation.
“I said, 14 months ago, that it was a campaign against the enemies, and it was a war against socialism, and I’ve had to admit that a couple of times, it’s also a war against Marxism,” he continued. “And I believe that the future of the Republic, really, is in the hands of the American voters on November 3.”