Popular mayor of Ansonia David Cassetti announces bid for House. Will face embattled incumbent Rochelle.

Republican David Cassetti, serving his sixth term as mayor of Ansonia, will try to unseat Democratic incumbent Democrat Kara Rochelle in the 104th House District. Cassetti announced his candidacy Monday morning.

Cassetti won re-election in November with 73% of the vote. Rochelle was elected to her third term in the House in 2022. Her victory came a few weeks before details of her affair with disgraced former West Haven state Representative Michael DiMassa came to light in the corruption trial of DiMassa’s co-defendant. DiMassa testified about his relationship with Rochelle, who was paid $5,000 from federal pandemic funds for firehouse consulting services, in a co-conspirator’s trial

DiMassa, who admitted stealing more than $1.2 million from West Haven, pled guilty on November 1st last year to three conspiracy counts in the scandal.

Exactly what Rochelle was to do for West Haven has remained unclear. City records say she was paid for a Covid study of a firehouse. Rochelle claimed “through a spokesman that she was hired to act as project manager in a city push to build a new firehouse,” according to a Hartford Courant report. “The job would require, among other things, community outreach to win popular support for the project, while navigating potential jealousies between the existing city fire precincts.” This year’s campaign will provide many opportunities for Rochelle to clarify what she was paid to do.

Cassetti and Rochelle have clashed before.

Published March 20, 2024.