Perone enlists Geake as treasurer

NORWALK, Conn. – State Rep. Chris Perone (D-Norwalk 137) has appointed Mary Geake to be the treasurer in his re-election campaign.

“I’ve known Mary for a long time, she’s a good person,” Perone said.

Perone’s Jan. 10 campaign filing with the state shows no fundraising was done in the last quarter of 2013. The candidate had raised $45 prior to that and finished the quarter with $21.50. A possible opponent, Common Councilman David Watts (D-District A), has raised more than $5,000 for an exploratory committee at the state level.

Watts last week said Democratic Registrar Stuart Wells had moved the district line so Perone could be in District A instead of District D. Wells said the district lines had been scrutinized as part of the redrawing of the legislative districts, which had established that Perone was in A instead of D.

Perone, who served two years as a District D Common Councilman before getting elected to the legislature 10 years ago, called that a “weird revelation.”

“From a political standpoint I don’t really see an advantage one way or another,” he said. “I found out from Stuart after a decision had been made. It was a weird revelation for me to say the least.”

His constituents as a state representative live in either District A or D, he said, so it doesn’t matter from that standpoint. But last summer he was a little confused about where he should go to vote.

Mary Geake is married to former Councilman Michael Geake, whose unsuccessful re-election campaign last fall featured robo calls that offended his opponents, Travis Simms and Phaedrel “Faye” Bowman.

Michael Geake described the robocalls as “very caustic” when he told the story on Election Day.

Asked if Michael Geake would be involved in his campaign, Perone said, “Mary is the one who – basically, to me it’s Mary. I see Mary being the treasurer.”

Time to get to work on getting re-elected, he said.

“Now that’s been settled, it’s a little easier to concentrate on fundraising,” he said. “I haven’t actually started it.”