A longtime state lawmaker has apologized to his November opponent for what he called a distraction and flippant social media post.  Newtown Representative Mitch Bolinsky's Facebook page featured a post over the weekend that said seniors didn’t need a “pretty face and promises” but “a man of action” to represent them in Hartford. 

The 4-term Republican is being challenged by Democrat Rebekah Harriman-Stites, who narrowly lost the 2018 match up. 

Bolinsky blamed the message on an agency piece making an old-fashioned John Wayne reference and told The Newstimes it the wrong thing to say.  He also pulled a similarly worded campaign flyer and said from now on he would approve everything done by the campaign agency, which he did not name. 

Harriman-Stites is a Board of Education member and is a small business owner.