I am very dismayed but not surprised at the level of vitriol and blatant attack pieces that have been leveled at me regarding a woman’s right to choose by my opponent Nick Gauthier. Simply put, these pieces do not reflect the truth. My opponent has no record to run on and no accomplishments, therefore he is resorting to fear tactics to mischaracterize my vote.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a pioneer for women’s rights in wide-ranging arenas: education, sports, business, aviation, domestic violence and, of course, health. My NO vote on the access to reproductive rights was NOT about a woman’s right to choose (That has been codified into Connecticut statute since 1990, and I respect the law.) but rather a vote that followed the nonpartisan advice of medical professionals to ensure that women are safe in their reproductive care including aspiration abortion.

My opponent prefers to obfuscate the serious challenges that are facing Connecticut families, such as: community safety, high inflation, workforce shortages, housing shortages, early childcare, excessive taxes on our businesses and families, high energy costs, health care costs, learning loss by our students, unfunded mandates on our teachers, districts, businesses and municipalities, and the state’s long-term liabilities. The list could be expanded as there exists a multitude of important fiscal and safety challenges confronting our communities and state on a daily and continuous basis. Surmounting these issues will require my leadership, experience, perseverance, dedication, and the ability to work across the aisle in a bipartisan, civil manner in the next legislative session.

As the ranking member on education, I will remain focused on the learning loss experienced by our students due to the pandemic as well as working on policy to ensure safe and nurturing schools.

I am most proud of my legislative proposals that both the education and public health committees supported – to combat the opioid epidemic, increase mental health services, and protect our seniors, individuals with disability, and veterans. My work protecting seniors was recognized by AARP last session, and I received the legislative championship award for it.

Finally, my pro-active leadership in spearheading the charge to educate, petition and convince my fellow legislators to halt a premature closing of the Millstone Power Plant, resulted in saving thousands of jobs and protected a $30 million tax base contribution to the town of Waterford. This also set the state on a course to reach its decarbonization goals by 2040.

My track record protecting the environment, small businesses, women, seniors and our school districts speaks for itself. My common sense “voice of reason” bipartisan approach to finding solutions to the challenges confronting our communities and state is producing results for Waterford and Montville.

I am placing my faith and trust in my constituents to return me to Hartford so that I may continue to improve the quality of life for residents in our community and throughout the state.

Please support me by voting Row 5B or by absentee ballot on Nov. 8.

Kathleen McCarty

Waterford