Defending our Rights and Values

Creating a robust and resilient economy is my #1 priority, but I won’t allow our rights and values to be sacrificed in the process. I will defend and champion:

• Children’s health and wellness

• Women’s reproductive freedom

• The environment and clean energy

• Common sense gun laws and public safety

• Gender equality and pay equity

• LGBTQ equality

• Democracy - Voter rights and clean elections

• Transparency and accountability in government – state and federal

If you look at the incumbent's record on these issues, you may be surprised. He has not been a champion in any of these areas. Today, being a "team player" for the Republican party comes at a price - the price of our rights and values. The conservative social agenda is stronger than ever in our country, and in CT. If we want our state laws to continue to reflect our values, we'll need to fight for them fiercely. We are not "safe" just because we have good laws on the books now. Those policies can easily be repealed under a conservative state legislature. This is exactly what the Trump administration is doing at the federal level and we can expect to see the same in CT - a rollback of the principles and rights that we thought were sealed in stone.

For example, the announcement of Justice Kennedy's retirement almost guarantees that women's reproductive freedom will be reversed in the near future. When the federal law no longer guarantees that right, the states will decide whether to take unilateral action to protect choice. In 2017, bills to limit women's reproductive rights were introduced in our CT state legislature. They didn't succeed but if our State Senate earns even one more Republican seat (and it is now 18-18), such bills could easily pass into law.

Similarly, if one more seat in the State Senate becomes Republican, the gun lobby, which is stronger than ever in CT, will be emboldened and will most certainly roll back our gun safety laws. Limiting voter rights and democratic access are also key strategies of the conservative social agenda. Some voter suppression bills have already prevailed in CT. The point is: our state is not immune from the extreme policies on guns or women's choice that other states have. We are one vote away from seeing that agenda realized here - and watching our rights and protections erased. With the chaos and conservatism we're seeing from the Trump administration, it's time to focus on our state legislature which is the best defense to national policy. It's time to fight for our freedom!