A political promotion: Frey lands post on Republican National Committee

RIDGEFIELD — State Rep. John Frey, R-Ridgefield, has been elected to the Republican National Committee.

Frey succeeds Greenwich investment banker Charles Glazer, who stepped down after being named ambassador to El Salvador by President Bush.

“The last couple of days since (last) Tuesday people have been calling and e-mailing me, congratulating me and asking if I ever thought I’d be on the Republican National Committee,” said Frey, who grew up in Ridgefield. “I have to say I never thought I would when I look back on my life.”

Frey, 44, campaigned for his position on the RNC after learning Glazer was stepping down. He won the support of Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

“John has great legislative experience. He’s known of as one of the most respected members of the assembly,” said Rell’s spokesman, Chris Cooper. “He understands the issues that are facing Connecticut very well. He has terrific background for this position.”

Frey will be joined on the Republican National Committee by Patricia Longo of Wilton and Republican State Chairman Chris Healy of Glastonbury.

The Republican National Committee recruits candidates for political offices at all levels and supports them through their campaigns. It sets policy for the party. The committee is the management team for the party, acting like a board of directors.

A Ridgefield resident since 1965, Frey is in his fifth term in the state House of Representatives. He was recently appointed minority whip and serves on the Legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, Insurance and Real Estate Committee and the Banks Committee. He also represents the House Republican caucus on the Transportation Bonding Subcommittee.

Before winning election to the state House of Representatives, Frey was appointed chairman of the Connecticut Real Estate Commission in 1995. He was the commission’s youngest chairman in state history.

While Frey succeeds Glazer, he does not see his position on the Republican National Committee as leading to a higher, national office.

“I’m at a nice stage in my life,” Frey said. “I like representing Ridgefield in the Legislature, enjoy my business here and, more importantly, I like living in Ridgefield.”

Frey is principal and co-owner of Century 21 Landmark Properties, with offices in Ridgefield, Redding and Wilton.

As Frey steps into a national arena, he reflected on the elections and Republicans becoming the minority party in both the House and Senate.

“I don’t think we lost because voters rejected Republican ideas,” Frey said. “The message in November wasn’t about those ideas. It was that the people see us as a party of scandals, earmarks, too much government and not enough humility. We were in the majority but seemed to have forgotten why.”

Frey said the committee and the party can bring about changes to strengthen party support by citizens.

“We have to return to our core principals,” Frey said.

Those include keeping taxes low, limiting the size and scope of government, supporting reforms that return the power to the American people instead of government, and restoring the integrity of the party, he said.

“There are corrupt people in both parties but recently, there have been more Republicans,” Frey said, citing former Connecticut governor John Rowland, Tom DeLay and California Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham.

“Unfortunately, that gives all politicians a bad rap,” Frey said, “and residually, it makes it hard to recruit good people for both parties.”

Frey has already helped form party platforms on a national level when he served as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in election years 1996 and 2004, serving both times on the platform committee.

In 2004, he called for language that would make the recognition of American Indian tribes more stringent, bringing an issue that was close to home in Ridgefield with the proposed Schaghticoke casino on the town’s border, to the national level.

“In the next session of Congress, they started to take steps to give more transparency to the recognition of Indian tribes,” Frey said. “Was I responsible for that? I doubt it. But I like to think that the fact that I raised that on the party platform at the Republican National Convention had some effect.”