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Needleman Wins Third Term

Voters from Connecticut’s 33rd State Senate District have overwhelmingly re-elected Democrat Norm Needleman to represent them in Hartford.

Though votes were still coming in at press time, Needleman declared victory on Nov. 9 with about 55 percent of the vote and over 95 percent of votes reported. Republican Brandon Goff had about 45 percent of the vote in his favor at press time.

The 33rd District represents Chester, Clinton, Colchester, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Deep River, Haddam, Lyme, Portland, Westbrook, and northern Old Saybrook. Needleman has held the seat since 2018. In 2020 he was reelected with about 54 percent of the vote.

In the Harbor News coverage area specifically, voters favored Needleman by a total of 6,895 votes (55 percent) compared to 5,732 votes (45 percent) for Goff.

Needleman is an Essex resident and has also served as that town’s first selectman for over 10 years. At the state level, he is a member of the Energy and Technology Committee and is a member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding, Transportation, and Commerce Committees.

Needleman told the Harbor News “I’m very grateful to the voters to reelect me to represent them. I want to thank all the voters I think it was a good election.”

With the race now over, Needleman said he looks forward to moving past partisan politics.

“The process works and has spoken. My job is to represent all the people in the district,” said Needleman. “I’m looking forward to working on some really complicated issues.”

When running his campaign, Needleman said he wanted to tackle issues related to expanding renewable energy options and providing economic relief that is fair to people as well as businesses. Speaking with the Harbor News after the election, Needleman reiterated a desire to tackle the solid waste problem.

Goff, Needleman’s opponent in the race, is an East Hampton resident who is also a member of the East Hampton Town Council. Previously, he sat on East Hampton’s Brownfields Redevelopment Agency.

Goff did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article.