Connecticut State Senate

Connecticut State Senate
Connecticut State Senate
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 5, 2017
Leadership
Lieutenant Governor	Nancy Wyman (D) ; since January 5, 2011
President Pro Tempore	Martin M. Looney (D) ; since January 7, 2015
Republican President Pro Tempore	Len Fasano (R) ; since January 4, 2017
Majority Leader	Bob Duff (D) ; since January 7, 2015
Structure
Seats	36
Political groups	Majority Democratic (18 + Lt. Gov.); Minority Republican (18);
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article III, Section 1, Connecticut Constitution
Salary	$28,000/year
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2016; (36 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2018; (36 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; Connecticut State Capitol; Hartford, Connecticut
Website
	Official Senate Page

The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms without term limits. The Connecticut State Senate is one of 14 state legislative upper houses whose members serve two-year terms; four-year terms are more common.

As in other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate is reserved with special functions such as confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to the state's executive departments, the state cabinet, commissions and boards. Unlike a majority of U.S. state legislatures, both the Connecticut House of Representatives and the State Senate vote on the composition to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The Senate meets within the State Capitol in Hartford.

History

The Senate has its basis in the earliest incarnation of the General Assembly, the "General Corte" established in 1636 whose membership was divided between at least six generally elected magistrates (the predecessor of the Senate) and three-member "committees" representing each of the towns of the Connecticut Colony (the predecessors of the House of Representatives). The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, renamed the committees to "deputies", the Corte to the Court, and established that the magistrates were generally elected for yearlong terms; the magistrate who received the highest number of votes would serve as governor for the year, so long as he had previously served as a magistrate and had not been governor the previous year. Other magistrates were elected deputy governor, secretary, and treasurer. Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. The Charter of 1662 replaced the six magistrates with twelve assistants, not including the governor and deputy governor, and renamed the legislature to the General Assembly. In 1698, the General Assembly split into a bicameral body, divided between the Council and the House of Representatives. The Council contained the twelve assistants, deputy governor, and governor, who led the body, while the House was led by a Speaker elected from among its members. Because the governor led it and other notables sat in it, the Council took precedence to the House and when the two chambers were at odds, the House deferred to the Council. The 1818 constitution renamed the Council to the Senate, removed the governor and deputy governor from its membership, and removed all remaining judicial and executive authority from it, but it remained largely the same in that it still consisted of twelve generally elected members. It was in 1828 that senatorial districts were established and the number of senators revised to between eight and twenty-four; the number was altered to between twenty-four and thirty-six in 1901, with the General Assembly setting it at thirty-six immediately. Senatorial terms were raised to two years in 1875.^[1]

In 1814–15, the Hartford Convention met in the Connecticut Senate chamber of what is now the Old State House.

Leadership of the Senate

The Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote if required to break a tie. In his or her absence, the President Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senate presides. The President pro tempore is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the entire Senate through a Senate Resolution. The President pro tempore is the chief leadership position in the Senate. The Senate majority and minority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.

The President of the Senate is Nancy Wyman of the Democratic Party. The President pro tempore is Democrat Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven). The Majority Leader is Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and the Minority Leader is Len Fasano (R-North Haven).

Current leadership

#3333FF #3333FF #E81B23 #3333FF #E81B23

Position		Senator
Lieutenant Governor	Nancy Wyman	—
President Pro Tempore	Martin M. Looney	11
Co-President Pro Tempore	Len Fasano	34
Majority Leader	Bob Duff	25
Co-Majority Leader	Toni Boucher	26

Make-up of the Senate

The current makeup of the Connecticut Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans at 18 seats for each caucus. However, Democrats hold the working majority in the Senate, with Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman casting the deciding vote in the event of a tie.

18	18
Democratic	Republican

#3333FF #E81B23

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of previous legislature	22	14	36	0

Begin	22	14	36	0
End of previous legislature	22	14	36	0

Begin	20	15	35	1
End of previous legislature	21	15	36	0

Begin^[2]	17	17	34	2
February 28, 2017^[3]	18	18	36	0
Latest voting share	50%^[4]	50%

Members of the Senate

Current members of the Connecticut Senate, as of February 28, 2017^[update].

District	Name^[5]	Party	Hometown	First elected	Towns represented	Occupation
1	John Fonfara	Dem	Hartford	1996	Hartford (part), Wethersfield (part)	Marketing Consultant
2	Douglas McCrory	Dem	Bloomfield	2017↑	Bloomfield (part), Hartford (part), Windsor (part)
3	Tim Larson	Dem	East Hartford	2014	East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington (part), South Windsor	Insurance Executive
4	Steve Cassano	Dem	Manchester	2010	Andover, Bolton, Glastonbury, Manchester	Daycare Owner
5	Beth Bye	Dem	West Hartford	2010	Bloomfield (part), Burlington, Farmington (part), West Hartford	Educator
6	Theresa "Terry" Gerratana	Dem	New Britain	2011	Berlin, Farmington (part), New Britain	Teacher
7	John A. Kissel	Rep	Enfield	1992	East Granby, Enfield, Granby (part), Somers, Suffield, Windsor (part), Windsor Locks	Corporate Attorney
8	Kevin Witkos	Rep	Canton	2008	Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby (part), Hartland, Harwinton (part), New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury, Torrington (part)	Utility Executive
9	Paul R. Doyle	Dem	Wethersfield	2006	Cromwell, Middletown (part), Newington, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield (part)	Attorney
10	Gary Holder-Winfield	Dem	New Haven	2014	New Haven (part), West Haven (part)	Photographer, Business Owner
11	Martin M. Looney	Dem	New Haven	1993	Hamden (part), New Haven (part), North Haven (part)	Attorney
12	Ted Kennedy, Jr.	Dem	Guilford	2014	Branford, Durham (part), Guilford, Killingworth, Madison, North Branford	Attorney
13	Len Suzio	Rep	Meriden	2016	Cheshire (part), Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown (part)
14	Gayle Slossberg	Dem	Milford	2004	Milford, Orange, West Haven (part), Woodbridge (part)	Retired Attorney
15	Joan V. Hartley	Dem	Waterbury	2000	Middlebury (part), Naugatuck (part), Waterbury (part)	Teacher
16	Joe Markley	Rep	Southington	2010	Cheshire (part), Prospect, Southington, Waterbury (part), Wolcott	Teacher
17	George Logan	Rep	Ansonia	2016	Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Hamden (part), Naugatuck (part), Woodbridge (part)
18	Heather Somers	Rep	Groton	2016	Griswold, Groton, North Stonington, Plainfield, Preston, Sterling, Stonington, Voluntown
19	Catherine A. Osten	Dem	Columbia	2012	Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Marlborough, Montville (part), Norwich, Sprague	Corrections officer First Selectman
20	Paul Formica	Rep	East Lyme	2014	Bozrah, East Lyme, Montville (part), New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook (part), Salem, Waterford
21	Kevin C. Kelly	Rep	Stratford	2010	Monroe (part), Seymour (part), Shelton, Stratford (part)
22	Marilyn Moore	Dem	Bridgeport	2014	Bridgeport (part), Monroe (part), Trumbull
23	Ed Gomes	Dem^[6]	Bridgeport	2015↑ (2005–2013)	Bridgeport (part), Stratford (part)
24	Michael McLachlan	Rep	Danbury	2008	Bethel (part), Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman
25	Bob Duff	Dem	Norwalk	2000	Darien (part), Norwalk	Realtor
26	Toni Boucher	Rep	Wilton	2008	Bethel (part), New Canaan (part), Redding, Ridgefield, Weston (part), Westport (part), Wilton	Teacher
27	Carlo Leone	Dem	Stamford	2011	Darien (part), Stamford (part)	Financial Analyst
28	Tony Hwang	Rep	Fairfield	2014	Easton, Fairfield, Newtown, Weston (part), Westport (part)
29	Mae Flexer	Dem	Danielson	2014	Brooklyn, Canterbury, Killingly, Mansfield, Putnam, Scotland, Thompson, Windham
30	Craig Miner	Rep	Litchfield	2016	Brookfield, Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington (part), Warren, Winchester
31	Henri Martin	Rep	Bristol	2014	Bristol, Harwinton (part), Plainville, Plymouth, Thomaston	Real Estate Business Owner
32	Eric Berthel	Rep	Watertown	2017↑	Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury (part), Oxford, Roxbury, Seymour (part), Southbury, Washington, Watertown, Woodbury	Strategic Outreach
33	Art Linares	Rep	Westbrook	2012	Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook (part), Portland, Westbrook	Entrepreneur
34	Len Fasano	Rep	North Haven	2002	Durham (part), East Haven, North Haven (part), Wallingford	Attorney
35	Tony Guglielmo	Rep	Stafford	1992	Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington (part), Hampton, Pomfret, Stafford, Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, Woodstock
36	Scott Frantz	Rep	Greenwich	2008	Greenwich, New Canaan (part), Stamford (part)

↑Senator was first elected in a special election.

Past composition of the Senate

References

^ Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature, by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16–27.
^ Democrat Eric D. Coleman (District 2) and Republican Rob Kane (District 32) resigned prior to the legislative session. [1]
^ Democrat Douglas McCrory and Republican Eric C. Berthel elected to succeed Coleman and Kane, respectively.
^ A power-sharing agreement was reached dividing control of the chamber, splitting the committees 50–50 and giving power to the Republicans to call procedural votes to bring legislation to the chamber floor, while Lt. Gov. Wyman retains the ability to break tied votes. [2]
^ "Senate Members (listed alphabetically)". Connecticut General Assembly. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
^ Though Sen. Gomes was elected on the Working Families Party line, he remains a registered Democrat.

External links

[1] Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature, by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16–27.

[2] Democrat Eric D. Coleman (District 2) and Republican Rob Kane (District 32) resigned prior to the legislative session. [1]

[3] Democrat Douglas McCrory and Republican Eric C. Berthel elected to succeed Coleman and Kane, respectively.

[4] A power-sharing agreement was reached dividing control of the chamber, splitting the committees 50–50 and giving power to the Republicans to call procedural votes to bring legislation to the chamber floor, while Lt. Gov. Wyman retains the ability to break tied votes. [2]

[5] "Senate Members (listed alphabetically)". Connecticut General Assembly. Retrieved February 14, 2013.

[6] Though Sen. Gomes was elected on the Working Families Party line, he remains a registered Democrat.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Members of the Connecticut State Senate
President of the Senate Susan Bysiewicz (D) President pro tempore Martin Looney (D) Majority Leader Bob Duff (D) Minority Leader Stephen Harding (R)
▌John Fonfara (D) ▌Douglas McCrory (D) ▌Saud Anwar (D) ▌MD Rahman (D) ▌Derek Slap (D) ▌Rick Lopes (D) ▌John Kissel (R) ▌Lisa Seminara (R) ▌Matt Lesser (D) ▌Gary Winfield (D) ▌Martin Looney (D) ▌Christine Cohen (D) ▌Jan Hochadel (D) ▌James Maroney (D) ▌Joan Hartley (D) ▌Robert Sampson (R) ▌Jorge Cabrera (D) ▌Heather Somers (R) ▌Cathy Osten (D) ▌Martha Marx (D) ▌Kevin C. Kelly (R) ▌Marilyn Moore (D) ▌Herron Gaston (D) ▌Julie Kushner (D) ▌Bob Duff (D) ▌Ceci Maher (D) ▌Patricia B. Miller (D) ▌Tony Hwang (R) ▌Mae Flexer (D) ▌Stephen Harding (R) ▌Henri Martin (R) ▌Eric Berthel (R) ▌Norman Needleman (D) ▌Paul Cicarella (R) ▌Jeff Gordon (R) ▌Ryan Fazio (R)
▌Democratic (24) ▌Republican (12) Connecticut General Assembly Connecticut House of Representatives Connecticut State Senate

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