The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Democrat Timothy Bowles, who is running for the 18th District state Senate seat, as a top environmental champion.

"Tim is not only an enthusiastic supporter of the environment, but has a deeper understanding of the issues than most citizens. He is a hard worker who can reach across the aisle to get things done — a rare quality these days," said David Bingham, co-chairman of the league.

While serving a prior term as a state representative, Bowles was named one of the legislature’s top "environmental champions” for his work on major clean energy initiatives in 2013 and 2014, and earned a score of 100 percent on CTLCV’s annual environmental scorecard.

According to the league, Bowles is committed to advancing important legislation in 2017, as evidenced by his responses to CTLCV’s 2016 candidate survey and an interview about his priorities.

Another group, 32BJ, the largest building service workers union in the country, has also endorsed Bowles, who is running on both the Democratic Party and the Working Families Party tickets. In a release, 32BJ said its members support Bowles so he can "help win a higher minimum wage and more full-time hours for Connecticut workers next year."

Bowles is running against Republican Heather Somers in the district that includes Griswold, Groton, North Stonington, Plainfield, Preston, Sterling, Stonington and Voluntown.