It's a contest now in the race for the 18th District state Senate seat, with Preston Democrat Timothy R. Bowles announcing his candidacy Monday morning.

"I believe there has never been a clearer distinction between the two parties," said Bowles, a former one-term state representative and a former two-term minority selectman in Preston. His strength in these divisive times, he said, is bringing people together.

"I have a record of reaching out to the other side of the aisle," said the 66-year-old, who manages his family's 200-acre alpaca farm and works as an academic assistant at the Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication in New London.

With a master's degree in child welfare, Bowles worked for the state for almost 30 years, 12 of them as a social worker and program manager in the Department of Children and Families, and later, as a legislative liaison for the Office of Policy and Management. He retired about 2009, and worked for several years as a behavioral health consultant for a regional educational service center. 

Bowles will face Republican Heather Somers of Groton in the race to fill the seat being vacated by Democrat Andrew Maynard of Stonington. The same February day that Somers announced she was running, state Democrats said that Maynard, who has suffered serious head injuries in two separate incidents over the past 20 months, would not be seeking a sixth term.

The sprawling 18th District includes Voluntown, Griswold, Preston, North Stonington, Sterling, Plainfield, Groton and Stonington, and Bowles said he's already received encouragement and support from several of the district's Democratic town chairmen, including Scott Bates of Stonington.

"He gave me all the reasons I should run, and listed the pros and cons," Bowles said of Bates. "He convinced me that somebody has to stand up and run for Andy's seat."

Bowles said he will file the official paperwork for his candidacy later this week, and start campaigning, including visits to all the town committees.

"It's clearly going to be a tough. It's not going to be a piece of cake," Bowles said of the race. "I'm getting into this late, and clearly it is an uphill challenge. But given the level of support I've gotten in the last week, I think we can make a good case."

Somers is a former town of Groton councilor and mayor and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2014. She has been campaigning for the state Senate seat uncontested for the past five weeks.

Bowles acknowledged the state's growing budget deficit and said there could be considerable savings through reducing overhead and consolidation of agencies.

"We have too many redundancies on the administrative level in state government," he said. "We have a very unwieldy bureaucratic system. We spend too much on administration."

He also advocated for giving more authority for funding to regional and local officials, and said he supports further consolidation of the state's councils of governments.

"Too many decisions are made in Hartford," he said. 

Compassion would also be part of his tenure as a lawmaker, said Bowles.  

"My Christian faith is important to me and has been since I was in college," he said, but added his beliefs lean more toward the Christian left than to the right.

"I believe in reaching out to the homeless and those who are less fortunate with love and compassion, not bigotry and hate," he said.

Bowles said he's planning to go door-to-door in the sprawling district, visiting as many homes as he can. He's grateful for support from Bates in Stonington and Elizabeth Duarte of Groton, both of whom are members of the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee.  

"I would be proud to have Tim Bowles represent Stonington in the State Senate," Bates said in an email. "He is the answer for people who are tired of self promoters and negative campaigners. Tim Bowles has a great record of public service and of putting people first."

Duarte also commented via email.

"We were served well by Andy Maynard and while his shoes are hard to fill, I am fully confident that Tim Bowles will fill them and give us more," she said. "I knew Tim when he worked with me as a social worker at the Department of Children and Families and when he worked with local nonprofit organizations. I also have known him as a public servant in Preston and when he served as State Representative. Tim's strong integrity, honesty and belief in justice are what we need in Hartford."

Bowles said he has a breadth of experience and understanding of a number of issues, from social services, to environmental, to government and he can put all of it to good use.

"I can be effective," he said.

a.baldelli@theday.com