Ray and his wife Sandi have three children, Steven, Carrie, and Cliff. The kids are all married, and Steven, and Carrie both have daughters, so Ray is a proud grandfather. The Kalinowski household also contains four Labrador Retrievers that have puppies that are raised to be guide dogs for the blind and service dogs for the handicapped.

When their oldest son, Steven, was in Strong Middle School he was struggling building a boat from scrap lumber. A friend asked why he didn't quit, and Steven replied "because Kalinowski's NEVER quit". Sandi observed: "We had not heard the kids use this slogan that they had created. But it rung true. Persistence, perseverance were words that really meant something in our home."

Ray took down two barns, a tobacco shed, and a chicken coop and together, as a family, we built our home in Durham. The kids helped as their ages permitted. Each of them straightened nails by the fireplace in the wintertime to use in building our home. This building project took over 5 years. The lessons learned by doing have been passed on to our children. Ray and Sandi went to this extraordinary effort to have a home they could afford. Ray believes that the best way for government to help taxpayers, is to nurture a strong economy and stop raising taxes.

Ray's children attended District # 13 schools from kindergarten to graduation. Ray believes that they received an excellent education and strongly supports the right that every child deserves the opportunity to receive a quality education. Two of his children are teachers. Steven is a professor of environmental science at Montana State University, and Carrie is a National Board Certified high school English teacher.

Ray served four years in the U.S. Air Force, was a Special Agent assigned to the White House with the U.S. Secret Service, and later was a supervisory investigator with the Defense Security Service. He appreciates the legacy that we have as Americans, and takes every opportunity to support veterans. His patriotism is not something he brings out on Memorial Day or Veterans Day but a core value that he lives daily.

 

 

In 2002 Ray promised: "I'll be there for you." He is your full time legislator, working and representing you in Hartford.

 

THE FACTS

• Ray Kalinowski, 66, retired from the federal government in 1996 after a 28 year career as a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service and Defense Security Service.
• He was assigned to the White House Presidential Security Detail during the Watergate era and served in the New Haven, Connecticut field office as a criminal investigator.
• He later transferred to the Defense Security Service at Hartford, Connecticut and was Supervisory Investigator for 19 years. The DSS performs a counterintelligence and personnel security function for the U.S. Department of Defense.
• Representative Kalinowski was elected First Selectman of Durham, CT in 1997 and served two terms.
• He was elected to the General Assembly in November 2002 He is the ranking member on the Public Safety and Security Committee, and serves as a member of the Environment Committee, and the Select Committee on Veteran's Affairs.
• In January 2004 he was appointed to serve on the historic Select Committee of Inquiry. The committee was charged with the responsibility to determine whether sufficient grounds existed to impeach Governor John Rowland.
• He has a BA in Law Enforcement Administration from San Jose State University.
• He is a U.S. Air Force veteran.
• Ray was born in Middletown, and he grew up in Rockfall, CT .
• He attended school at St Mary's School, and Middletown High School.
• After college, Ray and his wife Sandi returned to Connecticut. Together they built their home themselves, raised 3 children and have lived in Durham for the past 35 years.