The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. 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 vested 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 of 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, the deputy governor, and the 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 over 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.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.
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 the absence of the lieutenant governor, 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 Susan Bysiewicz of the Democratic Party. The President pro tempore is Democrat Martin Looney (D-New Haven). The Majority Leader is Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and the Minority Leader is Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield).
Current leadership PositionSenatorDistrict Lieutenant GovernorSusan Bysiewicz President Pro TemporeMartin Looney11 Majority LeaderBob Duff25 Majority WhipHerron Gaston23 Minority LeaderStephen Harding30 Minority WhipPaul Cicarella34
Make-up of the Senate As of January 2025, the makeup of the Connecticut Senate consisted of 25 seats for Democrats and 10 seats for Republicans. In the 2024 elections, Democrats picked up District 8, giving them 25 seats to the Republicans' 11 seats.
2511 Democratic Republican
AffiliationPartyTotalVacant DemocraticRepublicanEnd of Previous Legislature: 2023–20252412360Start of Current Legislature: 2025–20272510351February 28, 202511360Latest Voting Share
Members of the Senate Current members of the Connecticut Senate, as of February 28, 2025.
DistrictNamePartyResidenceStartTowns represented1John FonfaraDemHartford1996Hartford (part), Wethersfield (part)2Douglas McCroryDemBloomfield2017Bloomfield (part), Hartford (part), Windsor (part)3Saud AnwarDemSouth Windsor2019East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington (part), South Windsor4MD RahmanDemManchester2022Andover, Bolton, Glastonbury, Manchester5Derek SlapDemWest Hartford2019Bloomfield (part), Burlington, Farmington (part), West Hartford6Rick LopesDemNew Britain2020Berlin, Farmington (part), New Britain7John KisselRepEnfield1993East Granby, Ellington (part), Enfield, Granby (part), Somers, Suffield, Windsor (part), Windsor Locks8Paul HonigDemHarwinton2024Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby (part), Hartland, Harwinton (part), Hartland, Norfolk, Simsbury, Torrington (part)9Matthew LesserDemMiddletown2018Cromwell, Middletown (part), Newington, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield (part)10Gary WinfieldDemNew Haven2014New Haven (part), West Haven (part)11Martin LooneyDemNew Haven1993Hamden (part), New Haven (part)12Christine CohenDemGuilford2018Branford, Durham (part), East Haven (part), Guilford, Killingworth, Madison, Middlefield (part), North Branford (part)13Jan HochadelDemMeriden2022Cheshire (part), Meriden, Middlefield (part), Middletown (part)14James MaroneyDemMilford2018Milford, Orange, West Haven (part), Woodbridge (part)15Joan HartleyDemWaterbury2000Middlebury (part), Naugatuck (part), Waterbury (part)16Rob SampsonRepWolcott 2018Cheshire (part), Prospect, Southington, Waterbury (part), Wolcott17Jorge CabreraDemHamden2020Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Hamden (part), Naugatuck (part), Woodbridge (part)18Heather SomersRepGroton2016Griswold, Groton, North Stonington, Plainfield, Preston, Sterling, Stonington, Voluntown19Catherine OstenDemSprague2012Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Marlborough, Montville (part), Norwich, Sprague20Martha MarxDemNew London2022Bozrah, East Lyme, Montville (part), New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook (part), Salem, Waterford21Jason PerilloRepShelton2025Monroe (part), Seymour (part), Shelton, Stratford (part)22Sujata Gadkar-WilcoxDemTrumbull2024Bridgeport (part), Monroe (part), Trumbull23Herron GastonDemBridgeport2022Bridgeport (part), Stratford (part)24Julie KushnerDemDanbury2018Danbury, New Fairfield (part), Ridgefield (part)25Bob DuffDemNorwalk2004Darien (part), Norwalk26Ceci MaherDemWilton2022Darien (part), New Canaan (part), Stamford (part), Redding, Ridgefield (part), Weston (part), Westport, Wilton27Patricia Billie MillerDemStamford2021Darien (part), Stamford (part)28Tony HwangRepFairfield2014Bethel (part), Easton, Fairfield, Newtown,29Mae FlexerDemWindham2014Brooklyn, Canterbury, Killingly, Mansfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Scotland, Thompson (part), Windham30Stephen HardingRepBrookfield2022Bethlehem (part), Brookfield (part), Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Fairfield (part), New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Sherman, Torrington (part), Warren, Washington (part), Winchester31Henri MartinRepBristol2014Bristol, Harwinton (part), Plainville, Plymouth, Thomaston32Eric BerthelRepWatertown2017Bethel (part), Bethlehem (part), Bridgewater, Brookfield (part), Middlebury (part), Oxford, Roxbury, Seymour (part), Southbury, Washington (part), Watertown, Woodbury33Norman NeedlemanDemEssex2018Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook (part), Portland, Westbrook34Paul CicarellaRepNorth Haven2020Durham (part), East Haven (part), North Branford (part), North Haven, Wallingford35Jeff GordonRepWoodstock2022Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington (part), Hampton, Stafford, Thompson (part), Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, Woodstock36Ryan FazioRepGreenwich2021Greenwich, New Canaan (part), Stamford (part)
Notable former members Joe Lieberman, US Senator and 2000 Vice Presidential Nominee Chris Murphy, US Senator Richard Blumenthal, US Senator Beth Bye, plaintiff in the 2008 case that legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut Will Haskell, elected at age 22, author of '100,000 First Bosses' Edward M. Kennedy Jr., son of Ted Kennedy
See also Connecticut State Capitol Connecticut General Assembly Connecticut House of Representatives Historic members of the Connecticut Senate
References
External links
Connecticut State Senate Connecticut Senate Districts Map at Project Vote Smart