As many of you probably know, after the 2021 redistricting, the southern portion of East Haven is now part of the 12th state senate district, currently represented by Senator Christine Cohen.

Christine is a small business owner, a mother of three, and a proven leader in Hartford. I have had the opportunity to meet with her on several occasions. As Senate Chair of the Environment Committee, Christine has led passage of the Connecticut Clean Air Act, created and chairs the Coastal Caucus to address municipal issues of resiliency and create funding mechanisms. She’s worked to improve waste mitigation to not only reduce pollution, but to save our towns money.

Christine fights for working people — earning the endorsement of the Connecticut Working Families Party three times. As a member of the Finance Committee she helped write and pass a budget with over $600 million in tax cuts this year through Child Tax Credits, Earned Income Tax Credits, and accelerating the phase-out on state income tax on pensions and annuities for our seniors.

As a small business owner herself, Christine knows small businesses are the backbone of our economy. She has fought for more jobs, better training for workers, workforce development grants and has worked to cut red tape and bureaucracy to make Hartford work better for everyone.

This past session, Christine worked on investing in our future with improved access to early childhood education for families, and expanding school-based health centers. She fought for additional funding for schools for mental health needs.

Christine has worked across the aisle to find solutions to our state’s complex issues and has focused on collaboration and common sense solutions that go beyond party lines. I’m incredibly excited to cast my first vote for Christine this fall and I hope East Haven will join me!

Karen Martin

East Haven