Robert Russo ’93, the newest addition to Connecticut’s state senate, says Choate was the “most challenging academic institution,” he ever went to. When he came, he had every intention of growing up to be a doctor. Then he took Mr. Goodyear’s Comparative Government class, and that, he says, is where he first fell in love with politics. After graduating in 1993, he went on to Georgetown, where he decided that medicine wasn’t for him, and that he wanted to become a politician. He graduated in 1997 with a major in American Government, and then attended to Fordham Law School, where he graduated in 2004. On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, after two campaigns in 2004 and 2006, he finally won a spot as a senator representing Trumbull, Monroe and Bridgeport with 61% of the vote. He described winning as a very emotional event for him and his family. “The look on my parents’ face was enough to crack you,” he recalled. It took nearly a week for reality to entirely set in for Russo.

The victory was particularly exciting for Russo, a Republican, because Bridgeport, the largest city in the district, is particularly Democratic. He says that his previous losses helped him change his campaign and appeal to voters of all backgrounds. The towns he represents vary distinctly in many ways, so coming up with common ground was a challenge. In the end, he built his campaign on a promise to lower property taxes and help ease the cost of living in Connecticut, which he says is “just too expensive.” He explained how this problem is taking its toll on seniors and children, two groups without significant income. Both need to use state money for issues that concern them: seniors in the form of retirement benefits, and children for the school system. Unfortunately, there is rarely enough money; this deficit results in important programs being cut because of lack of funding. Russo says he thinks that choices between good schools and quality benefits for seniors are unnecessary, and that more programs can be accommodated if unnecessary costs are trimmed from government spending. Russo compared this spending change to switching from an expensive phone company, to one with lower rates: both offer the same services, even through extreme differences in price. He reasons that government is the same way: if each town goes through their budget, they will find many things that could be provided at the same quality for much less money.

Before his position in the senate, Russo served several other government positions, including Director of the Fairfield County office under Governor M. Jodi Rell. Although senate has not been in session since Russo’s election, he has had the opportunity to attend committee hearings. Russo was elected in the middle of the term because Bill Finch, the previous senator, was elected mayor of Bridgeport in November. Russo said that Finch initially hoped to be both mayor and senator, but eventually realized the impracticalities of such a situation. Jumping into senate mid-session had challenges. The night before he began attending hearings, Russo had to read twenty-four bills in order to catch up with the Senate’s work from previous months. The senate will sit for the first time Wednesday April 2nd.

When asked if he had any words of advice for Choate students, Senator Russo said he’d like to see them more involved in politics, and suggested that students pursue political internships when they go to college. Russo wants to see people more involved in the world around them because, “there’s a lot to be learned in the community.”