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Printed From Acorn-Online.com Wilton Bulletin
Calling her 22-year career as state senator for the 26th District “challenging but very rewarding,” Judith Freedman, 69, of Westport, announced she would not be seeking re-election this fall. On the steps of Wilton town hall Monday morning, flanked by longtime supporters, fellow legislators and friends, Ms. Freedman endorsed the candidacy of State Rep. Toni Boucher, 58, of the 143rd District in Wilton and Norwalk, to replace her. “There are always compelling reasons to make one want to stay in this job, but this is the time for me to move ahead and for someone else to take up the torch,” said Ms. Freedman. “After a great deal of thought, soul searching and consultation with my husband, I have decided not to seek re-election for the state Senate.” “I am proud of the record I forged on your behalf. Whatever I have done, it has always been with and for the people of the 26th.” In endorsing Ms. Boucher, Wilton’s representative since 1996, Ms. Freedman said her counterpart in the legislature “is tenacious about the issues common to this district.” “She has an excellent, proven track record which exhibits a strong commitment to public service,” said Ms. Freedman. “She is an outstanding state representative, and I have no doubt she will be an outstanding state senator for the seven towns in the 26th, recognizing that a possible opponent in this race comes from the left side of the spectrum and is not in sync with the thinking of this district.” John Hartwell of Westport, a Democratic challenger for the Senate seat, is a strategy consultant to the financial services industry. The 26th District includes the towns of Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton.
Saying thanks “We really tried hard to make Judi change her mind,” said Ms. Boucher of the efforts of party leaders and friends. She said as late as last Monday her campaign had been depositing funds into the coffers of her 143rd District campaign fund, planning to gear up for that race against Peggy Reeves, Wilton’s Democratic registrar. Ms. Freedman’s decision was not finalized until Saturday, when she sent letters out to the district delegates, said Ms. Boucher. “I can’t tell you how disappointed we are that this day has come,” she said in a later interview. “She’s just an institution.” Al Alper, chair of the Wilton Republican Town Committee, said when it was first realized that Ms. Freedman might not seek re-election, party officials were pressed with having to fill a significant void in the Senate. “She is going to be a tremendous loss to us,” said Mr. Alper of Ms. Freedman’s decision. Ms. Freedman is not expected to stray too far during the campaign, however, said Mr. Alper. “Judi is very popular throughout the district,” he said. “We fully expect Judi to be an intimate component of this campaign.”
Boucher’s run “In my decision to seek our party’s nomination as its candidate for the 26th District Senate seat, I am profoundly conscious of the enormous responsibility that comes with this office,” said Ms. Boucher, reading from a statement on Monday. “It has been a very great privilege for me to represent New Canaan, Norwalk and Wilton in the House. I hope now that I may look forward to another great privilege — that of building on Senator Freedman’s solid foundation of trust and dedicated advocacy to represent the seven towns of the 26th District in the Senate.” Mr. Alper said in the coming race, and once elected, Ms. Boucher would be a strong advocate for the 26th District. “She’s going to be a terrific state senator,” he said. “She is a passionate, well-informed, tenacious advocate. She has proven herself on every issue that has been at the forefront of Wilton’s concerns.” While Ms. Boucher said she is best known in Wilton and Norwalk, the towns she currently serves, and also in New Canaan, where she served before the 143rd District was modified, she has built over the past decade strong relationships with town leaders in many of the other towns in the 26th District. “Every six years I’ve had to deal with introducing myself to a whole new set of voters,” she said. “The good news is that a lot of folks in Westport know me because of my environmental work,” and Redding and Ridgefield residents are familiar with Ms. Boucher because of her opposition to the Super 7 plan. “That effort by Bob Duff [to revitalize the Super 7 plan] brought me back in contact and I had to reignite those relationships from 1995,” she said. Ms. Boucher said in the outlying towns in the district, she will work hard to make sure first the delegates, and later the voters, are comfortable with her and have a firm sense of where she stands and how she can help them in Hartford. “The town I’m getting to know, and have to get to know better, is Bethel,” she said. Ms. Boucher said as an advocate in the state Senate, she will bring with her the years of experience first on local boards in Wilton including the Boards of Education and Selectmen, and her experience in Hartford as a state representative. “There’s no question that we become better representatives if we come from” local boards, she said. “It teaches you, when you become a state representative, how each piece of legislation impacts the community.”
Opposition Ms. Boucher said it is that experience that should give her the edge in any contest against Mr. Hartwell. “If you’re coming out of nowhere, as I understand Judi’s opponent has never held a public office anywhere, you have a couple of years of significant learning to do,” she said. In a statement sent Monday night, Mr. Hartwell thanked Ms. Freedman for her years of service to the district. “2008 is shaping up as a huge year of change, both nationally and locally,” he wrote. “We need new leadership to deliver affordable health care for small businesses, to bring tax dollars back from Hartford to invest in our overburdened transportation system, and to promote environmentally responsible economic growth. This race presents a real opportunity for a vigorous discussion of the issues facing our state, and I call upon whoever becomes the Republican nominee to join me in a series of debates about how to move Connecticut forward.” Mr. Hartwell said he has seen an outpouring of support from the seven towns across the district as his campaign gears up, with enough private financial support to qualify for public financing of his campaign. Before becoming the Republican nominee, Ms. Boucher must be elected in the 26th District convention on May 13. © Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers |
