Republican incumbent Len Fasano has served in the Senate for nearly 10 years. He said the top three state-level challenges facing residents in his district are unemployment, local property taxes, and regulatory burdens.

“We need to create jobs by helping people and helping businesses,” said Fasano in the Courier’s online voter guide, adding that he wants people to be able to afford to continue living in Connecticut.

For the area’s eldest residents, “We need to do a better job keeping seniors in Connecticut,” said Fasano. “We are one of only a few states that tax pensions and social security benefits. Individuals who have paid into social security and their pensions throughout their lifetimes should not be taxed again.”

Fasano suggested reducing the amount of mandates the state has placed on school systems as the best way to improve school opportunities for youth.

“Simply reducing these mandates will improve the expense of running our schools as well as allowing our teachers to teach and our administrators more time to deal with school related issues,” said Fasano.

Fasano represented the district during Tropical Storm Irene and has since worked on drafting two bills designed to help prevent damage such as that suffered last year.

The first bill was the Storm Response Bill, which “established better communication among the utility companies and the state and local community in responding to storm emergencies,” he explained.

The second bill was the Shoreline Bill, “which had several provisions dealing with shoreline long term planning and emergency response,” Fasano added.

While Fasano has served in the State Senate since 2003, he stated, “I don’t consider myself a career politician...I am a husband and a father of three and a business man. You need all of those experiences in life to help mold policies for the state of Connecticut.”

Fasano said he is most proud of helping to stop the Broadwater project in Long Island Sound, as well as establishing legislation for the first cord blood bank in Connecticut and veteran legislation.