Leland Moore felt “a little starstruck” on Thursday afternoon “to have my boss, A.G. Tong, here endorsing me.” Attorney General William Tong stood beside Moore, an assistant attorney general, not as a supervisor but as a supporter of Moore’s campaign for state representative. Tong a ppeared at a press conference outside Benjamin Jepson Magnet School to formally announce his endorsement of Moore. Moore, who is also a first-term Morris Cove alder, is running against New Haven Fair Rent Commission Executive Director Wildaliz Bermúdez in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary. They are vying to represent the 97th General Assembly District, which stretches along the east side of the city from Lighthouse Point Park to the North Haven border, including a few slivers of Fair Haven. Tong was joined by other supporters of Moore’s campaign, including the district’s current state representative, Al Paolillo Jr. — who is now running for state senate — as well as Annex Alder Sal Punzo, former Annex Alder Jody Ortiz, and a team of staffers with New Haven Rising and local UNITE HERE unions. (Moore has also received endorsements from the local Democratic Party, an array of alders, and labor unions including UNITE HERE Local 34, AFSCME Council 4, SEIU District 1199, and Connecticut AFL-CIO.) Paolillo, Moore, and Tong on Thursday. Credit: Laura Glesby Photo “I think Leland Moore is the best possible person to run for state representative in the 97th,” Tong said on Thursday. Tong attested to “how hard Leland works” in the attorney general’s office. “He’s an assistant attorney general doing some of the hardest work in the attorney general’s office. Some of it thankless, right?” Tong said. “You don’t get a lot of credit for the work that you do.” Reflecting on how his work as assistant attorney general has shaped his approach to politics, Moore said, “I was very fortunate to play a small part in A.G. Tong’s litigation against Meta,” the social media company that encompasses Instagram and Facebook. Tong has joined attorneys general from across the country in suing Meta for a “scheme to exploit young users for profit,” focusing on the impact of the social media platforms on children’s mental health. “We’re at an inflection point in society,” said Moore, “where you have some of the most powerful companies and some of the most powerful people, like Elon Musk, enriching themselves to the point that’s beyond what anyone has ever seen… And a lot of that is tied up in tech.” The Meta lawsuit is “an example of really pushing back against an entity that has amassed an immense amount of power,” a piece of litigation that “I’m really proud of.” “Difficult, Sometimes Gut-Wrenching Work” Tong also highlighted Moore’s work “in public safety.” “Which is hard,” Tong said. “It’s difficult, sometimes gut-wrenching work that has to be done to represent the state of Connecticut.” Moore has worked in the Public Safety Division of the attorney general’s office, frequently defending the Department of Correction or its commissioner in lawsuits over prison conditions, medical care access, and use of force incidents. Many of those lawsuits stemmed from legal complaints hand-written by incarcerated people and mailed to the U.S. District Court directly from prison. Previously in his career, Moore served as a legislative advisor for the Board of Pardons and Paroles and as a staff attorney for the Connecticut Sentencing Commission, an independent agency tasked with making recommendations for criminal justice reform. One point of pride from his career, said Moore, was his work on the Sentencing Commission, where he advocated for the 2015 passage of Public Act 15-84. The act established a mechanism to apply for parole for people who are under the age of 18 when they receive an effective life sentence. Moore has gained further perspective on the criminal justice system through his role as an alder for Morris Cove’s Ward 18 since the start of 2026. “One of the first things I did” while running for alder, he said, was ride along with a police officer stationed in District 9, the police district that generally aligns with the 97th legislative district. “I got to see firsthand that the officers that work in this district, they have a lot of compassion for people,” Moore said. “And they work really hard with very, very limited resources.” The police “need more resources,” he said, “because people rely on our police department for a lot more than what you think traditional policing is about. A lot of social services… That’s really an important function that they fulfill, that most people don’t think about until they need them.” Paolillo attested to Moore’s work on this front as an alder. Moore “has a great relationship with the community, but also a great relationship with our district manager, who oversees the policing in the district,” Paolillo said. “And so these relationships that develop on a daily basis lead to better service.” Punzo later concurred that Moore has built strong community connections so far as an alder. “The whole attitude of the management team is really receptive to him,” he said. “You get a feeling that everyone is coming together” under Moore’s leadership and collaboration with fellow alders. “The way he deals with people, they really relate to him. They feel comfortable talking to him,” Punzo said. Moore said his primary takeaway from his experiences with various facets of the criminal justice system is the importance of education. Educational opportunities and general “resources for youth” can help divert kids away from the justice system, he said — “not getting them into the pipeline.” Campaign Priorities: School Funding, Housing Affordability Tong and Paolillo were joined by Annex Alder Sal Punzo, former Annex Alder Jody Ortiz, and a team of staffers with New Haven Rising and local Unite Here unions in endorsing Moore. In general, increasing school funding is a key part of Moore’s campaign. He took a moment during the press conference to “highlight the fact that we are at a New Haven public school.” He noted that “we live in a city with one of the wealthiest institutions of education in the entire country. And our public schools are facing a funding crisis.” Insufficient school funding impacts both students and staff, he said, pointing to a neighbor of his who works as a teacher and has to purchase her own school supplies in order to keep her classroom adequately stocked. “Nobody in this country should be in that particular situation. Everybody should be able to afford a home. Everybody should be able to afford healthcare,” Moore said. “It’s unacceptable, and it’s the driving reason why I’m here today.” If elected state representative, Moore said he would advocate for more school funding through the state’s Education Cost Sharing formula. He would also advocate for more state funding for New Haven in general, including through the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) grant distributed by the state. He pointed to affordable housing as another priority. “We need to build more housing,” he said, “and we really need to put some checks and some safeguards on entities that are trying to profit through dwindling supply.” He said he is concerned that “a lot of properties are being bought up by LLCs” from out of state. “Having a Fair Rent Commission is a really good thing,” he added. “I know people are forming tenants unions. That’s a really good thing.” In general, he said, he supports “ways to really push back against inequities and entities that are trying to enrich themselves at the expense of everyday working people.” The post Tong Endorses Moore For State Rep appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less