Dan Roberti (D-CT-5)

Dan Roberti Congressional Candidate Connecticut District 5

Dan Roberti Biography from Dan Roberti for Congress

Biography of Dan Roberti

Dan Roberti is a Connecticut Democrat who grew up the son of a public school teacher and a state representative. Inspired by their example, Dan decided early on to dedicate his life to public service. And he has stayed true to that ideal.

After working his way through college, Dan joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps where he spent a year of his life working in a homeless shelter in Spokane, Washington. Dan ran the day-to-day operations of the shelter’s social services program, mental health and doctor clinics, as well as the emergency winter sleep program for 300 men and women.

Dan then moved to New Orleans to get a graduate degree in pastoral studies, arriving ten days before Hurricane Katrina. Like many in Louisiana, the direction of Dan’s life was changed by the hurricane, and he took a temporary detour and spent the next year working with activist James Carville on hurricane relief for New Orleans, as well as other progressive causes across the country.

After finishing his master’s degree, Dan was preparing to enter law school when his life took another unexpected turn – his mother was diagnosed with stage four melanoma. Giving up his dream of studying public interest law, Dan returned home to care for his mother and help her navigate the healthcare system. Through her ongoing – now four-year – struggle, Dan has experienced, first-hand, the complexities of the medical and insurance systems, and has seen how they hinder quality care and demoralize families.

While caring for his mother, Dan also began working closely with filmmaker Ken Burns and Public Television to raise awareness of America’s national parks and the challenges facing America’s crumbling infrastructure, including the need to develop high speed and light rail for the future. Dan also worked with veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and with Mercy Corps to launch the Action Center to End World Hunger.

Throughout all of these experiences, Dan has seen the realities of a country where you don’t have to be homeless, a hurricane survivor, a cancer patient or an injured war veteran to feel left out. Dan believes that there is nothing more important than restoring America to its place of economic leadership, strengthening its middle class and ensuring that government reflects the moral values of our people. To do that will require a new generation of leaders armed with cutting-edge ideas, rather than partisan politics.

Whether its investing in the new innovation economy, helping start-up businesses create sustainable jobs that can’t be outsourced, protecting Social Security and Medicare while living within our means, or finishing the difficult job of creating a health care system that works, Dan Roberti believes that the people of Connecticut’s Fifth District deserve a representative in Congress who fights for them.

Do you know where you still on the political spectrum? See “Political Beliefs, Where Are You” to find out where you stand.