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GREENWICH — Dr. Michael T. Goldstein, an ophthalmologist and attorney, has announced he will run for the Republican nomination for U.S. Representative of the 4th district, a seat held by Democrat Jim Himes since 2009.
Goldstein said he was running because he wants to solve the problems U.S. citizens are facing.
“I’m here because I want to fight for the people of Connecticut. I want to fight for the people of the United States. And I want to make sure that this country remains the greatest country in the world and essentially keep us prosperous and safe,” he told CT Examiner.
So far his competitors for the Republican nomination are Jayme Stevenson, former first selectman of Darien and Ethan Book, of Bridgeport, who ran and lost against state Rep. Christopher Rosario, D-Bridgeport, in each election from 2014 to 2020.
If he is not chosen as the candidate at the Republican convention in May, Goldstein told CT Examiner will take his candidacy to the primary.
Goldstein, 72, runs a private medical practice in New York City and has lived in Greenwich for more than 30 years.
He said the main points of his platform include three categories: Prosperity, liberty and security.
“I want prosperity for Americans to ease their pain at the pump, their heating bills, grocery shelves and the hardware store. This is achieved through energy independence and a sensible transition to green energy through nuclear and clean natural gas rather than a painful transition,” he wrote in an email to CT Examiner.
Goldstein said he had extensive experience in healthcare finances and a keen understanding of healthcare policy that could transition across a wide range of industries.
“We need intelligent deregulation which does not impact patient care and reduces costs, incentives for independent practitioners and reduced prescription costs to make our healthcare affordable which is in name only under the current Affordable Care Act,” he said.
Regarding liberty, Goldstein said he believes in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and in the protections of inalienable rights they provide, which he said should not be eliminated one by one.
“This includes freedom of speech, rights of parents to advocate for their children’s education and the elimination of cancel culture. I also believe in the second amendment,” he wrote in an email.
“I think that everyone in this country has the right to speak their mind and people should never be fired or terminated or persecuted for expressing their opinion,” he said.
Goldstein said he was an opponent of critical race theory because it is divisive.
“I think we I think we should aspire to a society that lives up to the principles that everybody is created equal, whether race, religion, sexual, sexual preferences, gender, I think that this is really what we should be,” he said.
He said he advocated for security and protection of the U.S. borders and would support restoring “more sensible” immigration policies that existed under the prior administration.
“Americans come first and it is inappropriate that citizens and disabled veterans that live at or below the poverty line receive less benefits than those who come here illegally, which further encourages such illegal behavior,” he said in an email.
For conflicts overseas, Goldstein said that force is necessary when justified but the first option is to exhaust economic and political sanctions and leverage the allies of the U.S.
Goldstein said he supported the restoration of qualified immunity for police while “encouraging new community building policies in combating the rise in crime that has resulted from these policies.”
He said there should be a partnership between state elected officials and federal elected officials to help bring the state of Connecticut up to its potential.
“We need to develop industries and bring industries to the state… Connecticut is one of the top five in terms of education, in terms of longevity — we have healthy, educated people, we should be booming,” he said. “We need to do what we need to do to make that happen, and that’s federal and state government officials working together.
He has served on the legislative committee of the Medical Society of the State of New York doing advocacy work in the state legislature. He also served as a board member, president, trustee and chairman of the board of trustees of the New York County Medical Society. In Greenwich, he held a six-year term as a board member of Temple Sholom and has been active in his alumni associations at SUNY Downstate Medical and Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
“I have significant Board experience and understand budgets. I also do not believe that the only qualified candidate is that of a career politician. Growing up, I was taught that industry professionals that bring their experience to Washington benefit more than career politicians with no industry experience,” he said.
Goldstein said that the irregularities may have existed in the 2020 election — and that all elections have them — but they would not have changed the outcome of the election.
“As far as Joe Biden, I always support the office of the President of the United States of America, but I may not always support Joe Biden,” he said in an email.
Goldstein said that if former President Donald Trump were to endorse his campaign, he would need to weigh the decision carefully.
“I would have to seriously consider his endorsement as his actions are unpopular to the voter base needed to defeat Jim Himes. I do agree with many of [Trump’s] policies but disagree with his approach,” Goldstein said.
He said that Himes was a “rubber stamp” of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Biden.
“I think [Himes] has shifted too far to the left and I think those policies are harmful to the country. I think we need to shift back into a more conservative point of view,” he said. “I think that if we want to change the mindset of the people of this country, we need to change the leadership and we need to change what’s going on in Washington.”