To The Editor:

Connecticut has had a Democratic majority in both the State House and State Senate almost every year since 1992, with one exception, 2017, when the State Senate was evenly split 18 to 18 and the House was close to a split with 79 Democrats and 72 Republicans.

So what happened in 2017?

Neither party could act alone, and every major decision required cooperation. That balance changed how government worked. Instead of one side pushing through its priorities, senators and representatives had to negotiate, listen, and find common ground. The result was a bipartisan budget that protected essential services, avoided broad tax increases, and put stronger fiscal safeguards in place. Those guardrails helped stabilize Connecticut’s finances in the years that followed and our State Representative Mitch Bolinsky was part of that important legislative year. His committee roles placed him directly in the negotiations that shaped the final bipartisan budget and several policy reforms that year. Mitch has been a consistently effective leader and legislator throughout his tenure in Hartford.

His opponents claim that she would have more influence to change how Hartford works is not credible. The facts speak for themselves; the Democratic party has been running our state for almost 3 decades and the most meaningful change that benefited everyone came in 2017 when there was a balance of power and our state was set on a better financial path.

The idea that electing more Democrats to their supermajority in Hartford could make a difference is NOT realistic and NOT what is best for Newtown or Connecticut. We need more balance in Hartford, not less. Vote to re-elect State Representatives Mitch Bolinsky and Marty Foncello and let’s send Amybeth Larouche to the State Senate so genuine, results driven negotiations take place.

Michele Buzzi

Newtown