Nicole Hockley, Mark Barden considering run for Esty’s seat

Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Nicole Hockley, Mark Barden considering run for Esty’s seat 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEWTOWN - Two high-profile parents who lost first-grade sons in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre are exploring a run for Elizabeth Esty’s Congressional seat in November.

Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley, co-founders and managing directors of the homegrown nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise, have been asked by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to consider representing the Fifth District, which covers greater Danbury and northwestern Connecticut.

“We already live very public lives, but to be a public official is very different,” said Hockley on Tuesday after meeting with DCCC representatives. “That is why we are continuing to have these conversations with DCCC.”

Although it was not clear Tuesday when Hockley and Barden would decide whether to run for Esty’s seat, it is likely to be within the next two weeks. The two agree that only one of them - not both - would run, she said.

“Mark and I are still best friends,” Hockley said. “One of us would support the other.”

Democrats and Republicans are looking at the Fifth District as a brand-new race after Esty announced she would not seek a fourth term after an office harassment and abuse scandal.

Tuesday was Esty’s first day back to work in Washington, D.C., since Hearst Connecticut Media broke news in late March that she allowed her former chief of staff, who had been accused of abusing a coworker, to get a new job with Sandy Hook Promise’s Ohio office while keeping the scandal quiet.

Hockley and Barden have become two of the most visible leaders in the national movement to prevent gun violence.

At the same time, Sandy Hook Promise has become one of the premier nonprofit groups of its kind in the country. The group provides free programs to help school communities learn to recognize the signs that someone is preparing to commit violence.

Hockley on Tuesday said she has sometimes thought about what she would do were she to move on from the organization she helped start.

“It feels good to know we are making a difference, but if I do make a transition at some point, I want it to be an area where I can make an impact,” Hockley said. “Politics is something I might want to do.”