35th Senate District Race Turns Out to Be Close Contest

TOLLAND COUNTY, CT — With all 21 precincts reporting results to the secretary of the state's office, incumbent Daniel Champagne appears to have escaped with a narrow win in the race for the 35th District state Senate seat.

With 21 of 21 precincts reporting the tally was:

• Lisa Thomas, Democratic Party: 26,134
• Dan Champagne, Republican Party: 28,815
• Lisa Thomas, Independent Party: 1,161
• Lisa Thomas, Working Families Party: 993

Champagne entered the election not only as the incumbent, but as the mayor of one of the district's most diverse towns — Vernon.

He is also a former police officer in that town and has been highly critical of a recent law enforcement reform bill passed by lawmakers.

"Before I went into politics, I served as a police officer for the Vernon Police Department for 22 years retiring as a sergeant. This summer during a global pandemic, Senate democrats rushed through a very costly bill that punished the good men and women of law enforcement for the actions of a few bad actors," he said. "The majority of officers do the right thing, but this law will dramatically impact their ability to respond to our residents by placing dangerous regulations on policing tactics. The high cost of this bill will likely result in less officers."
Champagne has been a staunch opponent of highway Tolls and an advocate of economic development.

Thomas is a special education teacher in Windsor and a six-term member of the Coventry Town Council.

"Economic recovery from the current pandemic is the most pressing issue facing Connecticut." she said. "In the 35th Senate District our communities have unique needs that range from the town of Vernon with the most commercial base to Union, the smallest town in our state. It includes a large agricultural community. We must include both our small businesses and our agricultural producers in our recovery plans."