State Representative Peter Tercyak (D-26) spoke about his father’s and his legacy, and his hopes and concerns about the future in the country, as he announced that he will retire at the end of his current term of office.
Tercyak, who succeeded his father, Rep. Anthony J Tercyak, in representing New Britain’s 26th Assembly District, said his father was, “the last really liberal pro labor Republican in New England.” Peter Tercyak said his father asked him before he passed away to run for his seat. Dr. Anthony Tercyak represented the district from 1994 to 2003 and was the first Republican to be elected to the to the state House of Representative from New Britain.
When he ran for the legislative seat in a 2003 special election, Rep Tercyak remembers that running was, not easy, at first. He said that, “it was ugly when I started the elections. I wasn’t everybody’s favorite person, but I was (the) favorite person for more people than the others.”
Tercyak won the three way special election overwhelmingly.
Tercyak sees his legacy as supporting workers’ rights, wages and benefits, saying, “I’m particularly proud of stuff I’ve been able to do for workers’ rights. [I’m proud to have] started a retirement plan for workers who don’t have one. I’m proud we’ve really increased protections for workers [and] we’ve raised [the] minimum wage.” Tercyak recounted how he battled with Republicans and won increases in the minimum wage, and how the fight is over for the minimum wage to keep up with inflation, as minimum wages go up automatically.
Rep Tercyak also said he is proud of graduating from Capital Community College and working as a nurse while representing his district. His nursing background influenced him to fight for improving healthcare in Connecticut and for promoting women’s rights.
“I fought forever and sometimes, then, listened to on things about healthcare, access and cost,” Tercyak said, adding that, “I’m particularly proud of standing up for women’s rights.”
As he reflected on his legacy and the challenges ahead, he said that believes that currently America is becoming more and more divided. He said that there is much more work to do to serve children and seniors. “It’s shaping up to have two Americas,” he said. “We have to do everything it takes to work to organize, to make sure that if there’s two Americas, we’re in the good one….That’s part of why we have a retirement plan. We need to do more for kids in school and for seniors.”
Given the current polarized political climate, Tercyak called for reaching out to those on the other side and creating alliances to achieve common interests, saying, “I just want to remind folks. I consider myself a good Catholic. And I couldn’t be firmer in this belief. We have to make sure that we find our allies where they are… [even if] they disagree with you.”
Tercyak ended with thanking the Democratic Town Committee members for supporting him throughout his 21 years of service, and urged others to continue struggling and never giving up. “I’m very proud of the struggles that we have worked so hard [on],” Rep Tercyak said, “the organizing we have done and every time… we’ve just been not listening when they said it couldn’t work [and] we could never get it, and we got it.”
Editor’s note: The cover image is by respected local photographer, Dr. Frank Gerratana.
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