Connie Di Cicco knows Georgia: from the soil on the seven acres where she grew up in Roswell, to the political buzz under Georgia’s Capitol Gold Dome.
She’s even familiar with the spiders that liked to scamper along the bricks on her father’s construction sites. This is where she and her brothers helped the family business each weekend by carrying the bricks to be laid for the next new project.
Those weekends are where she learned that we are meant to leave things “better than you found them.” This has driven her to seek election as a Democrat for State House District 44.
Di Cicco, who holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a Master’s degree in Television, Film and Recording Arts from Florida State University, worked as Mary Frances Williams’ Chief of Staff for two years. In 2018, Williams defeated a three-term Republican incumbent. This experience showed Di Cicco how legislative brick-making works at the state level.
That’s one of the reasons why the Asian American Advocacy Fund is among a number of groups backing Di Cicco on November 3. “She . . . understands how the Capitol works internally and identified a dire need for change there,” the organization says. “Connie is a progressive and compassionate candidate.”
According to the Georgia WIN list, “Connie doesn’t believe in leaving people out, or in people being left behind.”
“We succeed when we’re part of a community, when we’re together,” Di Cicco herself adds. “Being together means healthcare, education, and equal justice . . . We should listen to each other. We should see each other and celebrate one another.”
In addition to these issues, Di Cicco supports reproductive rights, education, and a clean environment. She cares about voting rights, redistricting, money in politics, commonsense gun legislation and the ability of Georgians to have an affordable roof over their heads.
She has served in the following organizations: No Safe Seats, the Sierra Club, the Cherokee Beekeepers Club, the Addison Elementary Foundation, the Addison Elementary Student Council and the Addison Elementary PTA. She is also a member of the Cobb Democratic Party and Cobb Democratic Women.
But maybe it was all that time spent on construction sites that impacted her the most. It made her value “hard work, accountability and humor.”
Those are the values Di Cicco and her husband have tried to pass on to their children after spending years building their own business in documentary filmmaking. She will use those values in her battle to win against a 25-year Republican incumbent and carry them into her legislative work should she prevail.
“It’s time for change,” she said, adding, “This campaign is about moving Georgia out of the dark ages and being progressive: pro-choice, pro-equality, pro-gay marriage.”
While raised a Catholic, Di Cicco says that she no longer considers herself “religious,” but she does still have “faith and a strong system of beliefs.”
“I believe in the good of humanity, in science, and in the power of nature,” she told the Freethought Equality Fund.
She also very much believes in family and its traditions. When she was young, every Wednesday night was dinner at Grandma’s house next door to her own home. Today, Di Cicco’s extended family “all live within an hour of each other.”
In terms of Atlanta traffic flow, that is close-knit indeed.
But there are no spiders allowed at the family dinner table!
