To The Editor:

My name is Michelle Embree Ku, and I'm running for State Representative in House District 106.

Some of you know me from the Legislative Council, my years on the Board of Selectmen, or my time chairing the Board of Education. For more than thirteen years, I've done the necessary, often unglamorous work in local governing: wrestling with budgets, digging into everything from school HVAC systems to development, and finding ways to work with people I don't always agree with.

Before I ever thought of representing Newtown in Hartford, I spent years examining the issues here at home. During that same time, Mitch Bolinsky represented Newtown, and I know he has earned the loyalty of many in our community. This election isn't about diminishing his service. For me, it’s about asking what more can be done for Newtown.

Throughout his 14 years in the legislature, our representative has served in the minority. The reality is that in Hartford, minority members can advocate forcefully, but majority members have greater leverage to shape legislation, influence budgets, and sit in the negotiations where many decisions get made. I wish party affiliation mattered less, but in today's world, it does. Newtown deserves not just a vote in the chamber, but influence at the table.

I believe government works best when it includes opposing points of view, tested against one another. That's genuinely what I enjoy most about this work, and it is how I've operated locally, building relationships across party lines. It shows in my willingness to disagree with my own party when I think they've gotten it wrong, whether that was during the defund-the-police movement, or more recently, in forming housing policy.

The reality is that bipartisanship is not easy to find right now. But Newtown has a real choice this November: send someone to Hartford to cast a vote — or send someone with new ideas and the energy to collaborate and move legislation forward that benefits Newtown. If we want progress on I-84 traffic or changes in housing policy, discussion that requires legislators working together across town and party lines, that collaborative approach isn't optional. It's the only way it happens.

Over the coming weeks, I'll be writing about the issues I believe demand action: property taxes that place too much pressure on homeowners; an energy policy that increases supply and lowers costs without abandoning our environmental responsibilities; education and healthcare families can afford; housing laws that need practical fixes; and the I-84 traffic congestion increasingly spilling onto our neighborhood roads.

These aren't abstract political issues. They affect our household budgets, our schools, our neighborhoods, and the future of our town. I hope you'll follow along, ask tough questions, and join the conversation about what Newtown needs from its next representative.

On November 3, I'm asking for your vote, and for the opportunity to give Newtown’s voice a new energy in Hartford.

Michelle Embree Ku

Candidate for State Representative, House District 106