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01/26/2020 11:00 PMState Representative Christine Palm (D-36) of Chester will seek a second term representing Chester, Deep River, Essex, and Haddam. She has also qualified for Citizens Election Program (CEP) public financing.
Palm said she learned a lot during her freshman year in Hartford and is eager to return.
“By qualifying so early, I can devote more time to working on behalf of my district during session and beyond and less on campaigning,” said Palm.
“One of the reasons I love serving the 36th District is that the towns I have the honor to represent are full of people willing to step up and be civically engaged,” she said. “I am grateful to them and to all the donors who believe in me.”
She said her campaign volunteers bring a broad range of concerns and experience.
“We have high school kids who can’t even vote yet who want to help because of their concern about climate change, which is one of my main concerns, too. And my team has many retired folks who are already talking about door-knocking to hear from residents about healthcare concerns,” she said. “They are all united by a desire to make their votes count, to improve Connecticut’s future, to motivate first-time voters and to protect our democracy in a very divided time.”
To qualify for CEP campaign financing grant, she first needed to raise $5,100 from at least 150 residents contributing $5 to $250 each; she reported she raised well over the required amount in two days and surpassed the requisite number of in-district donations in two weeks.
House Majority Leader Matthew Ritter (D-1) said Palm is one of their hardest working legislators.
“It stands to reason she would qualify early,” said Ritter. “She loves working on behalf of her district and began planning for this year’s session last year.”
“Christine advocates for our towns in direct ways, such as ensuring adequate educational cost sharing funds, helping secure bonding money for the Chester Ferry, and troubleshooting such issues with the DEEP [Department of Energy & Environmental Protection] as private dam inspections and illegal use of vehicles in our parks,” said Jane Cavanaugh of Deep River, who serves on the Region 4 Board of Education.
Palm, who serves on the Environment, Judiciary, and Legislative Regulations Review committees, said she focuses her legislative efforts on preserving women’s rights, enhancing healthcare for all, gun safety, equitable tax reform, and making Connecticut more affordable and attractive to young adult earners.
In her first term, Palm held listening sessions in each town at local meeting places such as coffee houses, bakeries, breakfast eateries, libraries, and town halls. From these informal sessions, she said she was able to listen to what was most important to the people in the communities.
“I wanted to give the residents an opportunity to speak with me personally and feel like they could express their concerns in a relaxed, open conversation,” said Palm.
A high point for Palm during her first year in office was when her climate change education bill passed the House, and although it was never called in the Senate, Palm took it as a positive and strives to work equally as hard again.
“It’s hard for a freshman legislator to get a bill passed, so the fact that it went as far as it did is something I am very proud of,” said Palm, whose professional background includes working as a journalist, high school teacher, communications manager, small business owner, and most recently as women’s policy analyst for the General Assembly’s Commission on Women, Children, and Seniors.
Palm added, “This was progress. I’m just going to stay at it and work even harder next session. It’s great to feel like you are making a real, positive change.”