Connecticut State Senate

The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms without term limits. The Connecticut State Senate is one of 14 state legislative upper houses whose members serve two-year terms; four-year terms are more common.

Connecticut State Senate
Connecticut General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 9, 2019
Leadership
Lieutenant Governor	Susan Bysiewicz (D) since January 9, 2019
President Pro Tempore	Martin Looney (D) since January 7, 2015
Majority Leader	Bob Duff (D) since January 7, 2015
Minority Leader	Len Fasano (R) since January 7, 2015
Structure
Seats	36
Political groups	Majority   Democratic (22) Minority   Republican (14)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article III, Section 1, Connecticut Constitution
Salary	$28,000/year
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2018 (36 seats)
Next election	November 3, 2020 (36 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Connecticut State Capitol Hartford, Connecticut
Website
Official Senate Page

As in other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate is reserved with special functions such as confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to the state's executive departments, the state cabinet, commissions and boards. Unlike a majority of U.S. state legislatures, both the Connecticut House of Representatives and the State Senate vote on the composition to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The Senate meets within the State Capitol in Hartford.

History

The Senate has its basis in the earliest incarnation of the General Assembly, the "General Corte" established in 1636 whose membership was divided between at least six generally elected magistrates (the predecessor of the Senate) and three-member "committees" representing each of the towns of the Connecticut Colony (the predecessors of the House of Representatives). The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, renamed the committees to "deputies", the Corte to the Court, and established that the magistrates were generally elected for yearlong terms; the magistrate who received the highest number of votes would serve as governor for the year, so long as he had previously served as a magistrate and had not been governor the previous year. Other magistrates were elected deputy governor, secretary, and treasurer. Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. The Charter of 1662 replaced the six magistrates with twelve assistants, not including the governor and deputy governor, and renamed the legislature to the General Assembly. In 1698, the General Assembly split into a bicameral body, divided between the Council and the House of Representatives. The Council contained the twelve assistants, deputy governor, and governor, who led the body, while the House was led by a Speaker elected from among its members. Because the governor led it and other notables sat in it, the Council took precedence to the House and when the two chambers were at odds, the House deferred to the Council. The 1818 constitution renamed the Council to the Senate, removed the governor and deputy governor from its membership, and removed all remaining judicial and executive authority from it, but it remained largely the same in that it still consisted of twelve generally elected members. It was in 1828 that senatorial districts were established and the number of senators revised to between eight and twenty-four; the number was altered to between twenty-four and thirty-six in 1901, with the General Assembly setting it at thirty-six immediately. Senatorial terms were raised to two years in 1875.[1]

In 1814–15, the Hartford Convention met in the Connecticut Senate chamber of what is now the Old State House.

Leadership of the Senate

The Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote if required to break a tie. In his or her absence, the President Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senate presides. The President pro tempore is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the entire Senate through a Senate Resolution. The President pro tempore is the chief leadership position in the Senate. The Senate majority and minority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.

The President of the Senate is Susan Bysiewicz of the Democratic Party. The President pro tempore is Democrat Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven). The Majority Leader is Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and the Minority Leader is Len Fasano (R-North Haven).

Current leadership

Position		Senator	District
	Lieutenant Governor	Susan Bysiewicz	N/A
	President Pro Tempore	Martin M. Looney	11
	Majority Leader	Bob Duff	25
	Minority Leader	Len Fasano	34

Make-up of the Senate

As of February 2019, the current makeup of the Connecticut Senate composes of 22 seats for Democrats and 14 seats for Republicans.

22	14
Democratic	Republican

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of Previous Legislature: 2017-2019	18	18	36	0
Begin 2019	23	13	36	0
January 2019[2]	20	13	36	3
February 26, 2019[3]	22	14	36	0
Latest voting share	61.1%	38.9%	100%

Members of the Senate

Current members of the Connecticut Senate, as of March 5, 2019.

District	Name[4]	Party	Hometown	First elected	Towns represented	Occupation
1	John Fonfara	Dem	Hartford	1996	Hartford (part), Wethersfield (part)	Marketing Consultant
2	Douglas McCrory	Dem	Bloomfield	2017^	Bloomfield (part), Hartford (part), Windsor (part)
3	Saud Anwar	Dem	South Windsor	2019^	East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington (part), South Windsor	Physician
4	Steve Cassano	Dem	Manchester	2010	Andover, Bolton, Glastonbury, Manchester	Daycare Owner
5	Derek Slap	Dem		2019^	Bloomfield (part), Burlington, Farmington (part), West Hartford
6	Gennaro Bizzarro	Rep	New Britain	2019^	Berlin, Farmington (part), New Britain	Lawyer
7	John Kissel	Rep	Enfield	1992	East Granby, Enfield, Granby (part), Somers, Suffield, Windsor (part), Windsor Locks	Corporate Attorney
8	Kevin Witkos	Rep	Canton	2008	Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby (part), Hartland, Harwinton (part), New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury, Torrington (part)	Utility Executive
9	Matt Lesser	Dem	Middletown	2018	Cromwell, Middletown (part), Newington, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield (part)
10	Gary Winfield	Dem	New Haven	2014^	New Haven (part), West Haven (part)	Photographer, Business Owner
11	Martin Looney	Dem	New Haven	1993	Hamden (part), New Haven (part), North Haven (part)	Attorney
12	Christine Cohen	Dem	Guilford	2018	Branford, Durham (part), Guilford, Killingworth, Madison, North Branford	Owner of Cohen's Bagel Company, Guilford Board of Education member.[5]
13	Mary Daugherty Abrams	Dem	Meriden	2018	Cheshire (part), Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown (part)
14	James Maroney	Dem	Milford	2018	Milford, Orange, West Haven (part), Woodbridge (part)	Retired Attorney
15	Joan Hartley	Dem	Waterbury	2000	Middlebury (part), Naugatuck (part), Waterbury (part)	Teacher
16	Robert Sampson	Rep	Wolcott	2018	Cheshire (part), Prospect, Southington, Waterbury (part), Wolcott	Realtor
17	George Logan	Rep	Ansonia	2016	Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Hamden (part), Naugatuck (part), Woodbridge (part)
18	Heather Somers	Rep	Groton	2016	Griswold, Groton, North Stonington, Plainfield, Preston, Sterling, Stonington, Voluntown
19	Cathy Osten	Dem	Columbia	2012	Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Marlborough, Montville (part), Norwich, Sprague	Corrections officer First Selectman
20	Paul Formica	Rep	East Lyme	2014	Bozrah, East Lyme, Montville (part), New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook (part), Salem, Waterford
21	Kevin C. Kelly	Rep	Stratford	2010	Monroe (part), Seymour (part), Shelton, Stratford (part)
22	Marilyn Moore	Dem	Bridgeport	2014	Bridgeport (part), Monroe (part), Trumbull
23	Dennis Bradley	Dem	Bridgeport	2018	Bridgeport (part), Stratford (part)
24	Julie Kushner	Dem	Danbury	2018	Bethel (part), Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman
25	Bob Duff	Dem	Norwalk	2000	Darien (part), Norwalk	Realtor
26	Will Haskell	Dem	Westport	2018	Bethel (part), New Canaan (part), Redding, Ridgefield, Weston (part), Westport (part), Wilton
27	Carlo Leone	Dem	Stamford	2011	Darien (part), Stamford (part)	Financial Analyst
28	Tony Hwang	Rep	Fairfield	2014	Easton, Fairfield, Newtown, Weston (part), Westport (part)
29	Mae Flexer	Dem	Danielson	2014	Brooklyn, Canterbury, Killingly, Mansfield, Putnam, Scotland, Thompson, Windham
30	Craig Miner	Rep	Litchfield	2016	Brookfield, Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington (part), Warren, Winchester
31	Henri Martin	Rep	Bristol	2014	Bristol, Harwinton (part), Plainville, Plymouth, Thomaston	Real Estate Business Owner
32	Eric Berthel	Rep	Watertown	2017^	Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury (part), Oxford, Roxbury, Seymour (part), Southbury, Washington, Watertown, Woodbury	Strategic Outreach
33	Norman Needleman	Dem	Essex	2018	Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook (part), Portland, Westbrook	First Selectman
34	Len Fasano	Rep	North Haven	2002	Durham (part), East Haven, North Haven (part), Wallingford	Attorney
35	Dan Champagne	Rep	Vernon	2018	Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington (part), Hampton, Pomfret, Stafford, Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, Woodstock
36	Alexandra Bergstein	Dem	Greenwich	2018	Greenwich, New Canaan (part), Stamford (part)	Attorney

^ Senator was first elected in a special election.

Past composition of the Senate

Main article: Political party strength in Connecticut

See also

• Connecticut State Capitol
• Connecticut General Assembly
• Connecticut House of Representatives
• Historic Members of the Connecticut Senate

References

1. Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature, by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16–27.
2. Democrats Tim Larson (District 3), Beth Bye (District 5) and Terry Gerratana (District 6) resigned to join Governor Lamont's administration.
3. Democrat Saud Anwar (District 3), Democrat Derek Slap (District 5), and Republican Gennaro Bizzaro (District 6) elected to replace Tim Larson, Beth Bye, and Terry Gerratana respectively.
4. "Senate Members (listed alphabetically)". Connecticut General Assembly. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Connecticut State Senate
• Connecticut Senate Districts Map
• State Senate of Connecticut at Project Vote Smart
• Connecticut State Senate at Ballotpedia