State Rep. Anne Hughes kicked off her re-election bid for the 135th District of Easton, Weston and Redding at Silverman’s Farm in Easton. The Easton Democrat is seeking her second term in office.
Governor Ned Lamont, State Senator Will Haskell, State Rep. Cristin McCarthy-Vahey, Quentin Phipps and Robyn Porter, State Senator candidate Michelle McCabe, Easton First Selectman David Bindleglass, and a crowd of friends, family and constituents gathered at the family farm of Irv and Nancy Silverman where Hughes and her many supporters celebrated her successful first-term.
The 100-year-old farm and Pick-Your-Own orchard (that Hughes visited regularly as a child with her family from Fairfield), set the stage for Hughes as she urged the crowd to “pick your own democracy, pick your own future, pick your own representation… because there has never been more at stake in our lifetime.”
She highlighted the collaboration with her colleagues and the governor, to address the climate crisis, unaffordable access to health care and life-saving prescriptions, and the widening economic disparity we face as a community, state and nation. Hughes and her legislative friends expressed enthusiasm for finding solutions with the broadening coalition of legislators, youth activists, and advocates, the governor’s administration, and a more engaged constituent public than when she first ran two years ago.
“I represent everybody, all ages, all affiliations, like those who have shown up today to celebrate this kickoff… but it’s the youth voices we have a responsibility to amplify, to heed… it’s their future at stake now,” she said, pointing to the groups of students in the crowd.
The governor described Hughes’ leadership along with her colleagues as the “conscience of the Legislature,” that was crucial in passing Paid Family Medical Leave, raising the minimum wage, enacting the plastic bag ban, advancing the renewable energy offshore wind project, and developing the first state water plan.
In her first term, Hughes earned the 2019 Environmental Champion by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV). She points to her record of 79 bills introduced or co-sponsored as an important template of the values and needs of her constituent community, including a bill to increase the earned income tax credit, supporting safe bathroom access in schools for gender-nonconforming students, working to prohibit certain pesticides, and a ban on fracking waste.
She plans to continue her efforts on expanding eligibility for absentee ballots, an act permitting the publication of legal notices on municipal websites, safe firearm storage, increasing support for aging in place, and mental health insurance parity.
To learn more about the bills Hughes introduced in session year 2019, visit her legislative page on the Connecticut General Assembly online. See: https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/CGABillStatus/CGAMemberBills.asp?dist_code=%27135%27.
