Essex — Democratic State Senate candidate Norm Needleman, who is running in the 33rd District, announced this week that his campaign has reached the fundraising requirements needed to qualify for public financing in compliance with the Citizens’ Election Program.

Needleman said he is the first to qualify for such financing in the 33rd District race.

His campaign committee, Norm For Senate, raised more than $16,390 from 364 individual contributors, with 319 of those contributors coming from one of the 12 towns in the 33rd State Senate District, the candidate said in a news release.

The district contains Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland and Westbrook.

The campaign noted that it outraised the required totals of $15,000 from 300 donors residing in the district.

Needleman said he refused to accept donations from lobbyists. None of the 300-plus donors to the campaign is a lobbyist, he said.

Needleman is the founder and chief executive officer of Tower Laboratories, an Essex-based manufacturing business that employs more than 200 people. He also serves as first selectman of Essex.

The Citizens’ Election Program is a voluntary system of public campaign financing that is designed to encourage citizen participation and limit the role of private money in politics.