GROTON — State Sen. Heather Somers, of Groton, will seek re-election to the 18th district in 2018, her office announced Thursday.
In Nov. 2016, Somers was elected to the Senate with 57 percent of the vote in her district, which comprises Stonington, North Stonington, Griswold, Groton, Plainfield, Preston, Sterling and Voluntown. Somers previously served as a town councilor in Groton for eight years, including two years as town mayor.
Before her public service career, Somers founded Hydrofera Blue, a division of Hollister of Willimantic and Manchester, which is a biotech manufacturing company employing nearly 100 people. She resides in Groton City with her husband Mark and daughter Grace.
Somers said it was an “incredible honor to represent the hardworking families, workers, retirees and businesses” of the 18th district.
“Our region is so critical to the overall health of the state and our residents face many real and pressing challenges — there is so much more to be done and that is why I am seeking re-election as the state senator for the 18th district,” she said in a release. “After the voters put their trust in me to represent them in 2016, I brought my outsider perspective as a leader on the local level and in business to challenge the status quo in Hartford, deliver results for our eastern Connecticut community and stand up to the insiders who continue to threaten our state’s prosperity.”
In just over one year in office, Somers said she has delivered results for the 18th district, such as passing a joint resolution that helped stop the Federal Railroad Administration’s proposed railroad bypass from cutting through Mystic. She said she also led the fight to prevent an unpopular state gun range from being located in Griswold.
“I worked across the aisle to successfully pass a bipartisan plan to tackle the opioid epidemic that has caused such terrible pain in our state,” said Somers, who is co-chair of the State Senate Public Health Committee.
Somers said she has challenged business-as-usual in Hartford and “brought greater accountability to public institutions by exposing wrongdoing and demanding reform.”
She said she helped uncover a pattern of unethical behavior at Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, of Norwich, whose executives had funded a $342,000 trip for 40 people to the Kentucky Derby in May 2016, and worked to bring greater accountability to the cooperative.
“I [also]helped expose a pattern of abuse at Whiting Forensic, a state run mental health facility, and am currently leading the fight to hold the Malloy administration accountable for the failures in process and oversight that made the pervasive abuse possible and encouraging it to implement reforms so it can never happen again,” she said.
She said she has provided a strong voice representing local industry in Hartford.
“I have also fought to protect our local assets — including Electric Boat, the U.S. Sub Base, our tribal casinos, our tourism industry and our local fishing fleet,” she said. “I have proven I can be effective when our community needs to fight.”