Five Special Elections Scheduled for February 26

Special elections are scheduled for Feb. 26 in three state Senate and two state House districts to fill vacancies created by appointments to Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration.
Lamont’s appointment of those five legislators—all reelected last November—forced special elections in the following districts:

• 3rd Senate District (East Hartford, East Windsor, South Windsor, and part of Ellington)
• 5th Senate District (West Hartford, Burlington, and parts of Bloomfield and Farmington)
• 6th Senate District (Berlin, New Britain, and part of Farmington)
• 39th House District (Part of New London)
• 99th House District (Part of East Haven)

State Senator Tim Larson (D-East Hartford) resigned the 3rd Senate District seat following his nomination as executive director of the Office of Higher Education.
Larson’s appointment requires legislative approval, as does Lamont’s nomination of Senator Beth Bye (D-West Hartford) to lead the Office of Early Childhood.
Senator Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain) resigned her 6th Senate District seat to take a position as an adviser in the state Office of Health Strategy.
State representatives Derek Slap (D-West Hartford) and Rick Lopes (D-New Britain) will run for the 5th and 6th Senate seats respectively, setting up additional special elections should one or both win.
Former state representative Bill Wadsworth is the Republican candidate in the 5th District while New Britain city attorney Gennaro Bizzarro is running on the GOP ticket in the 6th.
Farmington Libertarian Jeffrey Przech is a candidate in the 5th.
East Windsor Board of Finance member Sarah Muska, a Republican, has filed to run for the 3rd Senate District and will face South Windsor mayor Saud Anwar, who was nominated by the Democratic Party. 

House Vacancies

Rep. Chris Soto (D-New London) resigned the 39th state House seat to become Lamont’s director of legislative affairs, while Rep. James Albis (D-East Haven) left the 99th House seat to become a senior adviser at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Four New London residents have filed to run for Soto’s former seat: Republican Kat Goulart, former city councilor and unaffiliated candidate Jason Catala, Green Party candidate Mirna Martinez, a school board member, and Democrat Anthony Nolan, a city councilor.
Republican Joseph Zullo, the East Haven town attorney, and Democrat Josh Balter, an attorney and Navy veteran, will contest Albis’ former seat.
Democrats currently hold 20 seats in the state Senate, seven more than Republicans, with three vacancies. In the state House, Democrats hold 90 seats to the Republicans’ 59, with two vacancies.