06/21/10 MEDIA ALERT: Rick Torres Press Release On Ballot Qualification

For Immediate Release

Torres for Congress: 203-923-1321

June 21, 2010

Contact: Victoria Smith

press@ricktorres2010.com

RICK TORRES' STATEMENT ON BALLOT QUALIFICATION

Rick Torres, who is running for the Republican nomination in Connecticut's 4^th District, the seat currently held by Jim Himes, has issued the following statement on the Secretary of State's announcement regarding ballot qualifiers today. Torres is excited to have his ideas aired alongside those of fellow Republicans Robert Merkle and Dan Dibecella.

"This is going to be an exciting race and, I believe, a definitive race for the nation. The voters of Connecticut's Fourth have clear choices between a candidate who has as his base, the Republican establishment and a candidate who has the support of some of the louder voices in the Tea Party movement. In me they have a third choice: a candidate who derives his support from regular folks across the District who just simply want to be left alone to raise their families and run their businesses."

"I have struggled and fought from the time that my family fled Cuba and have risen from the oppression of the public housing system to have my name on a ballot for United States Congress. It is really quite an honor and I am happy that the voters had the faith in me to sign my nomination papers"

"It is an interesting year to be in a race. So many want to hold on to their power and others are just swinging wildly because they are angry. We need a reasoned dialogue with the people because it is their lives and their freedoms that are at stake here. Insiders must put aside their allegiances and some in the debate must tone down their anger. We need to come up with real solutions to restore our nation to her place as a shining light for democracy around the globe."

Torres, who was born in Bridgeport, moved back to his family's native Cuba when he was a young boy. It took his father five years after Fidel Castro came to power to secure permission to return to America's shores. In 1967, Rick and his brother were brought back to Bridgeport—with not much more than the clothes on their backs. The family lived across from the PT Barnum Public Housing Project and Torres worked his way through college in a series of construction trades jobs. He eventually studied for a PhD in microbiology but, like many folks, had to quit graduate school in order to support his young family.

Torres and Michelle, his wife of 27 years, started a series of small businesses, working double shifts for years. Eventually, they bought Harborview Market: a once thriving neighborhood store which had fallen on desperate times. Harborview is once again a successful business and was the site of today's press conference.

In 2003, Rick ran for Mayor of Bridgeport on the Republican Ticket. Prior to his Mayoral run, Rick took an active role in a number of neighborhood and community organizations, and ran for several local government offices. Rick and Michele have five children: John, Alex, Michael, Kaitlyn, and Gabbi. They live in Bridgeport.

==============================

Please send us your comments, news tips and press releases

In 4th District Race, Grassroots Canidate Rick Torres Goes Against The Grain

The Fourth Congressional Race In Fairfield County Connecticut

Source: CT Post
Genevieve Reilly, Staff Writer
Published 09:44p.m., Saturday, April 24, 2010

BRIDGEPORT -- Rick Torres may be considered an anomaly by some. Not only is he a Republican in a city where Democrats outweigh the GOP faithful, he's a Latino Republican.

On a warm spring morning, Torres, 51, sits at a table outside the Harborview Market, the business he owns in the neighborhood where he lives, talking about the life experiences that shaped him into the staunch conservative he is today.

Torres is working hard to secure the Republican nomination -- there are six candidates -- to unseat Democrat U.S. Rep Jim Himes in the Fourth Congressional District.

It would be easier, especially in Bridgeport, to be a Democrat. Hispanics tend to vote Democrat. And, in fact, at one point Torres himself was a Democrat.

Not any more. Not after living across the street from the P.T. Barnum housing complex in Section 8 housing -- housing subsidized by the government -- after he father moved the family back to the U.S. from Cuba in 1967.

"I believe in me, I believe in you," Torres said.

"I don't believe in the government. The problem with the government is they don't get it right. I want to fix it and the only way to fix it is to get government out of it."

He wants, he said, to "liberate the people living in public housing ... It was intended to help, but it does the opposite. The children don't see anyone who's never been on welfare. Everyone's been on welfare so long, that's the norm for them."

Torres said he thinks there should be a homesteader plan--if you've lived in public housing for 10 years or more, it's yours.

"Get them off welfare, let them earn as much as they can, and keep as much as they can," he said.

"Open the doors of education. That's what you and I take for granted. That's foreign to them. That's just the way it is and there's no other way to say it better."

He admits that some of his stands are not always popular with his customers, but that doesn't bother him, Torres said, as he points to a man sitting inside.

"That guy, he's a Socialist." Going against the grain, the accepted way to do things, the easiest way, is not something new for Torres.

The GOP candidate for mayor in 2003, he was ousted in 2007 as chairman of the city's Republican Town Committee after he urged GOP members to switch to Democrat to vote in a primary for mayoral candidate Chris Caruso. Torres said it was the best way to get rid of an entrenched Democratic machine.

As a high school senior, he was offered full college scholarships, so long as he played football or basketball. At age 18, though, his shoulder was shot, his knees were shot, his back hurt. Torres just wanted an education.

He founded himself at the Milford Academy, and bartered the carpentry skills he'd acquired at Bullard -Havens Technical High School to pay his way at the post grad prep school rather than play football, which would have also gotten him a free ride.

Torres found himself the winner of the popularity polls at Bullards-Havens, where he captained the basketball team, played football and was elected as the prom king.

He's also found himself ostracized, and was ready to quite Milford Acemdy after two month when none of his fellow students, all much wealtheir than he was, would even speak to him.

He's had success in business-his Harborview Market received outpouring support from the Black Rock community when he needed zoning variances to stay open. He's also had disappointments-a deal that would have brought a car manufacturer to the city fell through.

Today, Torres said, he is comfortable speaking to any sort of group.

"It's really cool. I can give a talk at the highest level of corporate office," he said, "and then I can go into an inner-city black church and give it again and then I can go into a Hispanic church and give it in Spanish."

Torres said he'd talked to millionaires in Greenwich, and students at Housatonic Community College.

"I give the same talk about small government and free markets," he said. "It's really a decent message."

Until the last election, the district was held by Christopher Shays, who was defeated by Jim Himes.

"I'm not a Chris Shays style representative," Torres said. "I'm not a moderate. I'm a conservative through and through."

He knows that means the Republican organization in the district is leaning toward candidates like Rob Russo and state Rep. Dan Debicella, who follow the Shays ideology.

But, he's raised about $50,000 and said there are many people in Fairfield County who agree with him. "I've found a gold vein, so to speak," Torres said. "I think we're going to strike it rich."

His goal is to raise "at least" $300,000 for the primary.

And he has no doubt that not only will he win a Republican primary, he'll win back the seat for the party.

==================================

Please send your comments, news tips and press releases to DarienRoundup@gmail.com