Kwame Gyamfi, of Stamford, left, votes at Westover Magnet Elementary School. Gyamfi said improving the education system and reducing hatred culture are his important goals that encourage him to vote. “We want changes,” he said.
Voters in Hartford, West Hartford, Middletown and Stamford will take to the polls on Tuesday to fill three vacant state House of Representatives seats in a special election ordered by Gov. Ned Lamont in January.
Two of the seats were vacated by lawmakers pursuing other jobs. The third has been empty since Rep. Quentin “Q” Williams of Middletown died.
The balance of power is not an issue, as Democrats won a majority of 98-53 in the state House of Representatives in November. All three House districts favor Democrats.
Polls in each district will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and results will be available on the Connecticut Secretary of the State website.
Here’s an overview of the three elections:
6th District — Hartford/West Hartford:
Voters in the 6th Congressional District, which covers the South End of Hartford and a small section of West Hartford, will elect a replacement for former Democratic Rep. Edwin Vargas Jr.
Vargas, who ran unopposed in November, vacated his seat before the 2023 legislative session began. Earlier this month, he was named Central Connecticut State University’s next Gov. William A. O’Neill Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics.
Democrat James “Jimmy” Sanchez is the only major party nominee running, though petitioning candidate Jason Diaz is on the ballot as well.
Sanchez is a two-term Hartford city councilor who works as a technician for the Metropolitan District Commission. Diaz is a Hartford firefighter and head of the Hartford firefighters union Local 760.
Hartford voters can find their polling place — and check whether they live in District 6 — here.
West Hartford will have only one polling place open, at Charter Oak International Academy. Residents can check whether they live in precinct 4-1 — the city’s only precinct in the 6th District — here.
100th District — Middletown:
Middletown’s 100th District seat has been vacant since Jan. 5, when Williams died in a two-car crash on Route 9 in Cromwell on his way home from the governor’s inaugural ball in Hartford.
Williams ran unopposed in November, but Democrat Kai Juanna Belton and Republican Deborah Kleckowski are vying to fill his seat.
Kleckowski is an insurance broker who served on Middletown’s Common Council from 2009-2019. She first ran for the 100th District seat in 2012 but lost to then-Rep. Matt Lesser.
Belton is a licensed social worker and a youth crisis clinician at Middlesex Health. She is a 2021 graduate of Emerge, which trains Democratic women to run for office. Belton is running on the Working Families Party line in addition to the Democratic Party.
Middletown voters can find their polling place here.
Stamford — 148th District:
Democrat Anabel D. Figueroa is facing off against Republican Olga Dimitria Anastos for a seat vacated by Rep. Dan Fox, D-Stamford.
Figueroa, who works as a medical and surgical unit coordinator, has served on the Stamford Board of Representatives since 2001. Anastos is a manager at Curley’s Diner in Stamford, which her family owns.
Fox was elected to his seventh term in November with 68% of the vote. He resigned from his seat on Jan. 4 to pursue an appointment as a judge. State law prohibits a lawmaker from taking a position in another branch of government once they have begun a new term.