Tony Hwang Hangs on to the 134th District

Update, Nov. 7, 12 a.m.

Tony Hwang claimed a third term in the 134th district of the State House of Representatives after his challenger, Heather Dean of Fairfield, conceded just before 9 p.m.

Hwang, a realtor from Fairfield who was born in China and moved to the United States before he was 10, said his service record propelled him to victory.

"We won soundly in Fairfield. We won every one of the quadrants. We're thrilled and we're humbled. I think we got 68 percent of the vote in Fairfield," Hwang said.

"It's an affirmation of our approach [that] we are committed to our community," he added. "I'm proud of the record that we've built."

Hwang said he was "exhausted but elated at the same time," and that "the job has just begun."

The tally between Trumbull and Fairfield split 7,371 votes for Hwang, 3,860 votes for Dean:

The economy and helping small businesses are two items he will be tackling. "I'm gearing myself up for the really hard work ahead," he said.

Dean said she does not regret running for office. She held office in Fairfield and will return to running her business,  the Bright Future Child Care Learning Center in Fairfield.

"I knew this was going to be an uphill battle," she said, and praised her campaign team and her parents.

"I'm very proud of what everyone did," she said.

Original Post

After his 2008 victory in the 134th District of the State House of Representatives, Republican Tony Hwang is not letting go.

He knocked off his challenger in 2010, but will businessowner and Democrat Heather Dean of Fairfield be the one to unseat him?

Hwang has been an advocate for Operation Hope for homelessness and the Center for Women & Families related to domestic violence, according to his Website.  He serves on the Environment and Appropriations (budget writing) committees and has taken a leadership role on the Government Administration & Elections committee.

His philosophy is “that those of us that are able to give have a responsibility to support and help those less fortunate. Government should ensure that those that are most vulnerable – especially our youth, disabled and elderly.  We need to protect the idea that everyone deserves an opportunity to live with dignity and a sense of belonging in our community.”

Heather Dean

Dean told the Fairfield Citizen News that she would address several key issues if elected:

• "Make responsible cuts to the state budget that will ease the tax burden on families and small businesses;"
• "Support initiatives to help small business owners create new jobs and help grow their businesses;"
• "Support education reforms, including applying evaluations to administrators as well as teachers, and ensuring that all teacher and administrator evaluations are fair and balanced;"
• "Stabilize and improve our infrastructure. We learned, following the back-to-back storms last year, that our utilities need to get up and running again as quickly as possible after an outage. Small businesses and families suffered financial losses after losing power and water for several days at a time;"
• "Support initiatives to improve our commuter rail system to include heavy and light rail, along with expanding our bus service."