Voters in the 18th Senatorial District will have a new senator representing them for the first time in 10 years. The incumbent Democrat, Sen. Andy Maynard, who suffers from continuing health problems tied to a serious brain injury resulting from a fall, opted not to seek re-election.

Politically speaking, all eyes in Connecticut are on this race. Republicans hold out hope of taking control of the state Senate, ending the full control the Democrats have had for six years of the Senate, House of Representatives and the governor’s seat. Both parties know the 18th District could determine Senate control.

And both parties have fielded strong candidates. In our estimation it is the Republican, Heather Somers, who is the better choice in the district serving Stonington, Sterling, Groton, Griswold, North Stonington, Plainfield, Preston, and Voluntown.

Somers is bringing an enthusiasm and clarity of vision to the race that we don’t see matched by the Democrat, former state representative and former Preston first selectman, Timothy Bowles.

She wanted this challenge, making clear her interest early in the process. Bowles seemed the reluctant team player, agreeing to the challenge after other, high-profile candidates took a pass. That is admirable. Entering the election arena, and the criticism that will follow, is no easy task.

Yet in Somers, 50, voters have a candidate who knows what she wants. A businesswoman, she would work to streamline operations so that businesses seeking regulatory approvals do not confront a confusing and redundant state bureaucracy.

Somers wants to ask of state workers no more than what is asked of many workers in the private sector who support them — moving new state hires to defined contribution plans and out of defined benefit pension plans. Somers would vote to require legislative approval of all labor contracts.

If elected, she vows to repair the state constitutional spending cap so that it is enforceable. That must happen to provide the discipline necessary to make the tough choices and return fiscal stability to Connecticut. And she supports a bond application cap to get state debt under control.

Less clear is Bowles’ vision. He has proposed an interesting constitutional change that would shrink the House of Representatives from 151 districts to 108 and impose term limits on House and Senate members. It has merit, but no viable political path to reality.

Bowles, 66, spent his career working for the state in various capacities, his longest tenure in social services. He seems torn by his recognition that state government has grown too expensive and his desire to protect its programs and the people who provide them.

A one-term representative — he lost his re-election bid in 2014.

Somers has experience in both local government, having served on the Groton Town Council and as its mayor, and in business. She also got a taste of how politics is played at the state level, running unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket in 2014 after winning an upset victory in that party's primary.

The Bowles’ campaign has attacked Somers because a wound-care company she was a partner with, Hydrofera, benefitted from a $1 million investment from a quasi-state agency, Connecticut Innovations. The Bowles’ camp contends the state ended up losing money on the deal, while Somers and her partners benefitted when it was sold. But Somers and her partners played by the rules. And ultimately the company became successful, creating jobs and revenue for the state, which is the point of such state programs.

Connecticut could use Somers in the effort to make the state more business friendly. The Day endorses Heather Somers in the 18th Senatorial District.