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As a town council member in East Hampton who again struggled with tough budget decisions this year, one thing became increasingly clear. State aid to education (known as Educational Cost Share) has not kept paced with the cost of living, and worse, is even fewer dollars than we received a few short years ago. I believe you’ll see the same trend in East Haddam. When state government does not live up to its responsibility as a full partner in public education, the burden falls hard on property taxpayers to hold our services together. It smothers what we can and should do in other services vital to our town, such as roads, public safety, land use and senior citizens. It has become clear to me that this retreat from state funding is beginning to threaten the very nature of who we are as a small town; and not just East Hampton and East Haddam, but the tens of small towns in our state which comprise the real spirit of Connecticut. This problem can only be solved in our state legislature. In this time of fiscal strength for our state, it is time to bring the fight for long-overdue funding for our towns to the forefront. This is why I have accepted the Democratic nomination to run for the 34th Legislative Seat serving East Hampton, East Haddam and Salem. Educational funding is not the only issue. As we focus on what small towns need to thrive and be who they want to be, we need to focus on giving them the tools they need to do so. That is the responsibility of state government. Let’s be the voice that will make that happen. Feel free to email me at rknotek53@gmail.com, or call me at 860-638-9361.
State Senator Norm Needleman is running for reelection as the Democratic candidate for the 33rd State Senate District. His approach to public service as a first selectman and as a State Senator has been to build consensus, reject partisan politics, and forge common sense solutions to the most challenging problems. Norm’s leadership abilities and management skills have produced singular results: lower taxes and financial stability in small town government, balanced budgets, bipartisan cooperation at the state level, and success in enacting key initiatives in education, job creation, and benefits for senior citizens.
Norm’s approach is simple: put people and their needs ahead of party politics. As Essex First Selectman, Norm brought Democrats and Republicans together, solved problems, and kept property taxes among the lowest in the state without cutting services. As State Senator for the 33rd District, Norm will continue to use his energy and leadership experience to help make certain that Connecticut works for the people and the towns in our district.
Since his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, Joe Courtney has served as an independent voice and tireless advocate for eastern Connecticut. Sent to Washington during the most trying economic period in a generation, Joe has fought to protect jobs in the region and to expand opportunities for Connecticut businesses.
A lifelong resident of Connecticut, Joe learned the value of public service firsthand from his parents, Bob and Dorthy Courtney. His parents met during their service in World War II for the FBI’s New York City headquarters guarding against enemy sabotage in the homeland. Growing up in a large family with four brothers, his parents always conveyed the importance of giving back to the community and striving to achieve something greater than himself. After graduating Tufts University in 1975, Joe earned his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1978. Following college, Joe served as a public defender in Vernon where he immersed himself in the local community and worked to connect clients with the tools to better their lives. After three years, he entered private practice and became involved with non-profit agencies to strengthen access to health care, job training, and education. He served as town attorney for Vernon and became very well versed in local government and its challenges to promote economic growth and lower taxes.
From his first day in office as the Congressman from the 2nd District, Joe has kept his focus squarely on the needs of eastern Connecticut. Joe’s first challenge was to reverse years of decline at the Electric Boat shipyard, which was on the verge of massive layoffs when he took office in 2007. He won a seat on the House Armed Services Committee and, working with Democrats and Republicans alike, secured $588 million to start building two new submarines a year. Now Joe is the chairman of the influential Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee which oversees all submarine and ship construction programs—and the first Connecticut official to serve at this capacity since 1848 and a critical post for a region like ours. Joe’s work, however, goes well beyond submarines. He’s been a leader in reducing the cost of college education, expanding vocational education programs to support our manufacturing sector, bolstering our region’s farmers, and supporting our veterans. A longtime advocate for improving access to affordable health care, he’s worked to lower the cost of healthcare by helping to pass legislation eliminating surprise medical bills, and has enhanced access to opioid and mental health treatment with federal appropriations for our region’s hospitals and clinical services.
He knows that getting things done means working together with Republicans. That’s why he’s ranked by the non-partisan Lugar Institute as Connecticut’s most bipartisan representative for his work with his republican colleagues.
Chris Murphy has dedicated his career to serving the people of Connecticut. Elected to the Senate in 2012, Chris is a leading voice in the fight to create jobs, make sure all Americans have good health care they can afford, and keep our kids safe from gun violence. Chris has earned a reputation as a serious legislator who is willing to stand up for his principles and reach across the aisle. On issues ranging from transportation and manufacturing to fixing our broken mental health system and combating the opioid crisis, Chris listens to his constituents and works hard with both Democrats and Republicans to get things done.
Both sides of Chris’s family go back generations in Connecticut. His great-grandfather and grandfather climbed into the middle class through manufacturing jobs in New Britain, and his mother was a public school teacher. Growing up in Wethersfield, Chris first became interested in public service after spending weekends helping clean up the Connecticut River. He attended Williams College in Massachusetts before enrolling in UConn Law School where he met his wife, Cathy. Before coming to Congress, Chris served for eight years in the Connecticut General Assembly and the State Senate. During his time in Hartford, Chris authored Connecticut’s Stem Cell Investment Act and the state’s landmark ban on smoking in the workplace. In 2006, Chris was elected to the House of Representatives serving Connecticut’s 5th district. During his time in the House, Chris began his work to grow manufacturing jobs in Connecticut and strengthen our Buy American laws. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he helped draft the Affordable Care Act, providing health care coverage for millions of Americans.
In 2012, Chris was elected to the United States Senate. As the junior Senator, Chris travels across the state hearing from people in Connecticut about what they want him to be working on in Washington. Chris walks across the state every year, averaging 20 miles a day as he listens to a cross-section of Connecticut residents about their unfiltered concerns and priorities. Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, Chris made a promise to the community that he wouldn’t rest until Washington took action to prevent future tragedies. He has since become one of the strongest voices in Congress fighting to strengthen our gun laws. He introduced universal background check legislation and supports measures to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and domestic abusers. When it appeared that Congress was not going to act following the shooting at Pulse Nightclub, Chris filibustered on the Senate floor for 15 hours to force a vote on gun violence measures. After the tragedies in Buffalo and Uvalde, Chris worked across the aisle to break the logjam and pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first significant piece of federal gun safety legislation in 30 years.
When Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Chris helped lead the fight to preserve health coverage for millions of Americans. In 2016, Chris worked with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy to author the largest overhaul of our nation’s mental health laws in a generation. Signed into law by President Obama, the Mental Health Reform Act breaks down barriers between the physical and mental health systems, trains new child psychiatrists, makes sure insurance companies cover mental health treatment fairly and provides $1 billion to combat the opioid crisis. Finally, as a Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Chris fights to secure funding for major Connecticut priorities. He has advocated for upgrades to Connecticut’s roads and rails. He has been a voice for Connecticut’s manufacturers, advocating for more submarines, jet engines and helicopters and for the programs that train workers for these new jobs. And he has made the case for preserving Connecticut’s coastline and open spaces, including cleaning up Long Island Sound.
When he’s not working, Chris can be found spending time with Cathy and their two sons, Owen and Rider.
