Cara Pavalock-D'Amato

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Cara Pavalock-D'Amato
Image of Cara Pavalock-D'Amato
Connecticut House of Representatives District 77
Tenure

2015 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

10

Compensation

Base salary

$40,000/year

Per diem

$No per diem is paid.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Personal
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Cara Pavalock-D'Amato (Republican Party) is a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing District 77. She assumed office on January 7, 2015. Her current term ends on January 6, 2027.

Pavalock-D'Amato (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Connecticut House of Representatives to represent District 77. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Representative Pavalock-D'Amato attended St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol and obtained her bachelor’s degree from Providence College. She then earned her law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami. After graduation, Pavaock-D'Amato moved to Washington D.C. to attend Georgetown University Law Center where she received a Master’s of Law degree (LLM) in Taxation. After her time in D.C., she returned to Bristol and became a solo practitioner in family law, bankruptcy, and foreclosure defense.

Representative Pavalock-D'Amato was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 2014, representing District 77. She was re-elected in 2016 and 2018. In the 2019 session she was appointed to serve as Ranking Member of the Insurance Committee, and served as a member of the Appropriations Committee, the Education Committee, and the Screening Committee.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Pavalock-D'Amato was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Pavalock-D'Amato was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Pavalock-D'Amato was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Connecticut committee assignments, 2017
Education
Environment
Insurance and Real Estate

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Pavalock served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77

Incumbent Cara Pavalock-D'Amato defeated Mary Rydingsward in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Cara Pavalock-D'Amato
Cara Pavalock-D'Amato (R)
 
69.2
 
6,669
Mary Rydingsward (Working Families Party / Independent Party)
 
30.8
 
2,966

Total votes: 9,635
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Cara Pavalock-D'Amato advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Pavalock-D'Amato in this election.

2022

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77

Incumbent Cara Pavalock-D'Amato defeated Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Cara Pavalock-D'Amato
Cara Pavalock-D'Amato (R / Independent Party)
 
50.5
 
5,015
Image of Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller
Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller (D / Working Families Party) Candidate Connection
 
49.5
 
4,916

Total votes: 9,931
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Cara Pavalock-D'Amato advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77.

2020

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77

Incumbent Cara Pavalock-D'Amato defeated Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Cara Pavalock-D'Amato
Cara Pavalock-D'Amato (R / Independent Party)
 
52.9
 
6,509
Image of Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller
Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller (D) Candidate Connection
 
47.1
 
5,788

Total votes: 12,297
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Cara Pavalock-D'Amato advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77.

2018

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2018

In addition to running as a Republican Party candidate, Pavalock-D'Amato cross-filed to also run with the Independent Party in 2018.[2]

General election

General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77

Incumbent Cara Pavalock-D'Amato defeated Kevin Fuller in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 77 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Cara Pavalock-D'Amato
Cara Pavalock-D'Amato (R)
 
52.7
 
4,901
Kevin Fuller (D)
 
47.3
 
4,396

Total votes: 9,297
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Connecticut House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 7, 2016.

Incumbent Cara Christine Pavalock defeated Laura Bartok in the Connecticut House of Representatives District 77 general election.[3]

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 77 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Cara Christine Pavalock Incumbent 52.80% 5,782
     Democratic Laura Bartok 47.20% 5,169
Total Votes 10,951
Source: Connecticut Secretary of the State


Laura Bartok defeated Christy Matthews in the Connecticut House of Representatives District 77 Democratic primary.[4][5]

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 77 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Laura Bartok 81.77% 704
     Democratic Christy Matthews 18.23% 157
Total Votes 861


Incumbent Cara Christine Pavalock ran unopposed in the Connecticut House of Representatives District 77 Republican primary.

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 77 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Cara Christine Pavalock Incumbent (unopposed)

2014

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Connecticut House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on August 12, 2014, and a general election on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 10, 2014. Incumbent Christopher A. Wright was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Cara Christine Pavalock was unopposed in the Republican primary. Pavalock defeated Wright in the general election.[6][7]

Connecticut House of Representatives District 77, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngCara Christine Pavalock 48.3% 3,778
     Democratic Christopher A. Wright 47.9% 3,747
     Independent Green check mark transparent.pngCara Christine Pavalock 3.9% 305
Total Votes 7,830

2012

See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2012

Pavalock ran in the 2012 election for Florida House of Representatives District 98. Pavalock ran unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012, and was defeated by Katie Edwards (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[8]

Florida House of Representatives, District 98, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngKatie Edwards 67.1% 45,300
     Republican Cara Christine Pavalock 32.9% 22,240
Total Votes 67,540

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Cara Pavalock-D'Amato did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Cara Pavalock-D'Amato did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Cara Pavalock-D'Amato did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2014

Pavalock's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[9]

Spending

  • Excerpt: "The next generation will be saddled with massive debt and a diminished future unless we change our course in Hartford. As your Representative I will restore fiscal responsibility to our government and stop runaway spending by helping to create more jobs."

Unfunded State Mandates

  • Excerpt: "I know it’s hard to understand how this issue affects our everyday lives. Essentially an Unfunded State Mandate occurs when the state government passes a law that requires our town to do something and doesn’t pay for it. The cost is passed onto the city and its taxpayers."

Liberties & Freedoms

  • Excerpt: "I want to promote common sense laws that protect our right to bear arms, educate our children and empower us to make our own decisions regarding our lives."

Transportation

  • Excerpt: "The Governor claims to have a surplus despite having pothole ridden roads. As your Representative I want to increase public transportation through rail – No more buses to nowhere!"

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Cara Pavalock-D'Amato campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Connecticut House of Representatives District 77Won general$11,650 $397
2022Connecticut House of Representatives District 77Won general$38,975 $38,975
2020Connecticut House of Representatives District 77Won general$22,428 N/A**
2016Connecticut House of Representatives, District 77Won $31,631 N/A**
2014Connecticut State House, District 68Won $33,185 N/A**
2012Connecticut State House, District 68Lost $9,461 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Connecticut

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Connecticut scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015



See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Connecticut House of Representatives District 77
2015-Present
Succeeded by
-


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Majority Leader:Jason Rojas
Minority Leader:Vincent Candelora
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