Race for the state House includes open seats in Simsbury, Farmington, Plainville, Southington and six other communities

In this election cycle, six state House races in central Connecticut are for open seats, giving voters in 10 communities a choice between newcomer candidates.

Political analysts generally consider an open race more of a toss-up than one in which a challenger must overcome the advantages held by an incumbent.

This year, representatives in districts 16, 22, 78, 79, 81 and 83 are leaving when their terms end.

All else being equal, that would signal an opportunity for Republicans to gain ground in November: The retiring incumbents include three Republicans and three Democrats. But the GOP is guaranteed at least one win because Democrats in the 78th District didn’t choose a candidate.

There are plenty of variables in the other five races, so the outcome won’t be clear until after Election Day ballots are counted. The races are:

In District 16, longtime conservative Democratic Rep. John Hampton is leaving. The district covers Simsbury.

Mike Paine is trying to flip the seat into the GOP column. Paine, a former selectman and planning commission chairman, is the president of Paine’s Recycling and Rubbish Removal.

Paine has endorsed the GOP’s “Contract With Connecticut” platform to reduce the state income tax on the middle class, add two parents to the state board of education, and liberalize the definition of affordable housing that qualifies under the state’s formula. That formula determines whether individual communities achieve the state’s target of having 10% or more of their housing designated as affordable.

Paine also has said he’d vote to eliminate the state tax on meals, lower Connecticut’s diesel fuel tax, and raise the property tax credit on cars and homes.

Democrat Melissa Osborne, an attorney with a family law practice in Avon, contends that Simsbury needs a legislator committed to protecting open space, improving gun safety and creating a more sustainable approach to the environment. She is endorsed by CT Against Gun Violence.

Osborne, who has served on the town’s charter revision commission and clean energy task force, has promised to work toward eliminating the state income tax on Social Security and pension income. She also contends that state government needs to do more to encourage affordable housing, saying on her campaign website that “middle class families, seniors, teachers, first responders, and young people starting out are being priced out of our town.”

In District 22, Republican Rep. William Petit’s retirement has created a particularly lively race for the seat that represents Plainville along with parts of Southington and Farmington. The district was once reliably Democratic under the late longtime Rep. Betty Boukus, but edged more conservative and now has added suburban territory while losing part of heavily Democratic New Britain.

Plainville Democratic Town Committee Chairwoman Rebecca Martinez has said she’s running on her experience as a school board member and longtime nurse. She is endorsed by the Working Families Party as well as the Independent Party, and has the backing of numerous state labor unions.

Martinez has said her top issues in Hartford would include capping prescription drug costs and protecting her towns’ education aid from the state. She has the support of Planned Parenthood Votes, and has pledged to protect women’s health and reproductive rights at the state level.

On the Republican side, Francis Rexford Cooley of Plainville has the endorsement of the state Fraternal Order of Police and is running on what he calls a “commonsense” platform of getting tougher on crime, giving parents more control of local education, and cutting business taxes and state regulations.

Cooley, a former history instructor and dean at the Paier College of Art, serves on the board of the American Clock and Watch Museum as well as the board of the Plainville Library. He has been endorsed by the Connecticut Association of Realtors.

In District 78, which covers Plymouth and part of Bristol, Republicans might have been at risk because of the retirement of popular incumbent Whit Betts, who easily turned back challengers in the past several elections. But Democrats are fielding no candidate, so Republican newcomer Joe Hoxha will win.

In District 79, Rep. Chris Ziogas is the only remaining Democratic state legislator in once-blue Bristol. But he is leaving this year.

The GOP hopes to pick up the seat with Jennifer Van Gorder, a real estate agent who is running with the tagline “Just a mom who cares.”

Van Gorder was an outspoken critic of mask mandates during the worst of the pandemic, and supports the conservative Take Back CT, Families for Freedom, CT Residents Against Medical Mandates, and Families for Freedom groups. She wants parents to be able to decide whether their children study critical race theory or LGBTQ topics.

Former city council member Mary Fortier, an attorney, is trying to keep the 79th Democratic. Fortier, who supports organized labor and state jobs training programs, generally gave the Lamont administration high marks for its handling of the COVID-19 crisis. She has pledged to protect abortion rights, and has been endorsed by the Independent Party and the Working Families Party.

In District 81, with Republican Rep. John Fusco’s retirement, Southington voters will choose between Democrat Chris Poulos and Republican Tony Morrison.

Both candidates say they support protecting local control over zoning, a significant issue in communities that are divided over the state’s drive to expand affordable housing.

Poulos, a former town council member, teaches high school Spanish in Redding. He is running heavily on a theme of being able to work toward bipartisan goals, and in a YouTube message on public safety issues stressed that he didn’t follow the majority of the Democratic party. In 2020, he signed onto a letter urging the state slow down the police accountability bill because, he said, officers and chiefs weren’t consulted.

“In March of 2021, I was the sole Democrat to cross party lines and vote with with Republicans on Southington’s car theft resolution. It took a lot of courage to stand up to my party,” he said. “I also supported adding officers to Southington’s force to deal with these crimes.”

Poulos has said he would protect abortion rights at the state level.

Morrison, a finance board member, is running on a platform of fiscal conservatism, saying that Southington’s Republican-majority finance board played a large role in keeping the town strong with minimum tax increases. Morrison also supports traditional GOP themes such as reducing business taxes and regulation, as well as the newer Republican issue of giving parents more control over local education.

On his website, Morrison blames Democratic legislators for “handcuffing police” and “crashing” the economy. He vows that he would oppose any new state budget expenses, writing “No tax or energy increases for any reason. No budget increases in government spending beyond the current budget.”

Morrison has the endorsement of the Independent Party.

In District 83, Democratic Rep. Catherine Abercrombie is leaving after eight terms. The district covers sections of Berlin, Cheshire and Meriden.

Vying for the seat are Republican Lou Arata and Democrat Jonathan Fazzino.

Arata has the Independent Party endorsement, along with the backing of the state Fraternal Order of Police and the state Realtors Association. He is vice chair of Meriden’s public utilities commission. His campaigns for the 83rd District seat in 2018 and 2020 were unsuccessful.

He has pledged to be a fiscal conservative in the General Assembly and eliminate gift and estate taxes. Arata opposes the police accountability bill, and contends that business taxes and over-regulation are hurting the state’s economy.

Arata has attacked national Democratic leaders for what he called “unAmerican policies” supporting open borders and defunded police departments, and claimed Connecticut’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly follows that national lead.

Fazzino, an attorney and Berlin Town Council member, said senior citizens are often overlooked in discussions about affordable housing. He has vowed to support state projects aimed at increasing those options.

Fazzino, who has the Working Families Party endorsement, has said his record on Berlin’s town council shows what he would do in Hartford.

“I have worked closely with the Berlin Economic Development Commission on planning and providing affordable and market-rate housing for seniors who want to downsize and live at a lower cost to them,” he wrote on his website. “In the fiscal year 2023 budget, I supported a meaningful increase in the Berlin Police Department budget.”

Don Stacom can be reached at dstacom@courant.com.