There is a widely held belief that all reporters are secretly liberal Democrats. One of our guests this weekend on Face the State helps shatter that myth.
Grant Stinchfield is a familiar face to some Connecticut television viewers as an award winning investigative reporter for WVIT at the beginning of this century. From Hartford, he moved on to the NBC station in Dallas, and earlier this year left the television business to open his own business, and run for Congress (TX-24,) as a conservative Republican.
Grant is an old friend, whom I know from covering the same stories, attending charity events, and frequenting the Newport summer scene, so I invited him to come on Face the State when he was back in town for a visit. His wife, former Miss Connecticut Amy Vanderoef, is a Bristol native who is now a host of Good Morning Texas on the ABC station in Dallas. Here they are with their son, Wyatt.
During our taping, Grant talked about why he decided to give up television for politics, and about the difficulty he faced being a conservative in an industry often tagged “the liberal media.” We talked about the bias so many media organizations are accused of having, and I can tell you his former employers will not like what he has to say Sunday morning.
I also asked Grant what he believes are the reasons the Texas economy is so much more robust than the Connecticut economy. Why is their state growing, and ours remaining stagnant? His answer: unions. “Texas is a right to work state so our job market is much more competitive. Employers can make a deal with who they want to hire and you come to an agreement together instead of a union totally tying a company’s arm behind its back.”
In the small world department, Grant may have picked up a vote as he walked through our newsroom. He met Channel 3’s Tina Martin, whose brother happens to live in the district Grant hopes to represent in Washington.
You can watch the entire interview with Grant Stinchfield this Sunday morning on Face the State with Dennis House, only on Channel 3.
The Hartford St. Patrick’s Day parade, 2001
Categories: Famous people from Connecticut
Dennis House blog 
Can’t wait to see!!! I have a few pictures of you guys from our Newport days!!!
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Grant Stinchfield a great guy!!!! Other than news reporting, he is an avid sports fan!!! And he loves debating politics! Was that first picture at the coliseum at UCLA Bruins Rose Bowl football stadium?
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“A union totally tying a company’s arm behind its back” Right to work and compete for… minimum wage, state subsidized health benefits (Walmart) or no health insurance, no job protections as college costs rise, medical costs rise, energy costs rise…etc, etc. Any major medical issue could break a family financially, consequently leading to federal subsidized benefits (SSI, etc).
Yet let’s shrink the cost of government and the cost of doing business for employers. Perhaps, so The Hartford can shift more jobs to India as the compensation for top management increases to a number that that no middle class worker can ever relate to. Or perhaps Walmart to match donations to the Salvation Army this Christmas season rather than pay for health insurance and a living wage for their employees. Which of these options provides an advantage to the company? to the employee? Please, throw away lines….. How about a real debate? The difference between East Providence and Newport…
think about it, if government shrinks and the cost of doing business shrinks (taxes, predominantly costs related to employees) where does this ultimately leave the middle class.
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what ever happen too shelly sindland i realy enjoyed her
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Shelly will actually be on Better Connecticut next week. Tune in to Channel 3 Monday, January 2, at 3PM
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The guy’s not too bright. Connecticut is a right to work (legal term: At-Will) also. But unlike Texas we don’t have rich reserves of fossil fuels. Yeah, the guy sounds like a typical Republican. Not too bright.
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Over the past 40 years, taxes have been lowered, markedly, on the wealthy. The wealthy has had huge gains in compensation. Dispite gains in productivity, the middle class has stood still, at best. The wealthy has been able to take advantage of deregulation. The argument was made if the wealthy had an opportunity to keep more of their money, coupled with deregulation, jobs would be created. How many livable wage jobs have been actually created from this theory? I think letting the wealthy keep more of their money, coupled with deregulation, is grossly overrated.
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