Dean Pagani

 In 2021 the city of Boston was on the brink of making history, one way or another.

Two women were running for mayor, which meant for the first time in the city’s history, Boston would be led by a woman. The only question was; which one. This story finds the candidates in the final weeks of campaigning.

Early in Ned Lamont’s first term as governor of Connecticut, I was given unprecedented behind the scenes access, as he and his team of advisors prepared to present the governor’s first budget proposal to the state legislature. The resulting photo essay showed readers with pictures and explained with words how it all came together.

In today’s media landscape, it would be unusual for a traditional news media outlet to be granted this sort of access, or have the resources to commit to such a project. This reality of the media environment provides opportunities for independent journalism to make a difference.

My work on the behind the scenes story of Governor Lamont’s first months in office led to an opportunity to cover his visit to the Millstone nuclear power station on the Connecticut shoreline. The owner of the plant, Dominion Energy, hired me to produce this essay which was used as part of the firm’s public affairs campaign in Connecticut.

The last political campaign I worked on personally(as a volunteer) was the admittedly quixotic independent run by Oz Griebel for governor of Connecticut.

Oz had run four years earlier as a Republican, but lost in a primary. He chose to run as an independent the next time around because he felt it was the only way he could tell voters what they truly needed to hear about the condition of their state government. Of the three candidates running that year, there is no doubt in my own mind that Oz was most prepared to be the next governor, but running as an independent meant he had little chance to succeed. Still he made the case and had no regrets when it was over.

(A few years later, Oz tragically died as the result of injuries he sustained when he was hit by a car while jogging).

About a year into the Biden administration a group of Trump supporters rallied in eastern Connecticut for their preferred president.

Here is what I saw in words and pictures.

In advance of the 2020 presidential election I covered campaign appearances by several Democratic candidates in New Hampshire throughout 2019.

When Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate, I updated this essay on his historic choice.

The following photo essays were produced during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign in New Hampshire.