36TH State Senate 36th District

Name: Alex Kasser

Party: Democrat

Race: State Senate 36th District

Alex Kasser made history in 2018 when she was the first Democrat to win election in nearly 90 years in the 36th Senate District, which covers all of Greenwich as well as northern portions of New Canaan and Stamford.

A resident of Greenwich, Kasser serves a deputy majority leader in the state Senate. She is chair of the Banking Committee, a vice chair on the Judiciary and Transportation Committees and is a member of the Executive and Legislative Nominations and Regulation Review.

A former corporate attorney and mother of three, Kasser is seeking her second term.

Kasser has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, criticizing him on social issues, particularly his stances on women’s issues, his personal conduct and his rhetoric as well as his administration’s policy of family separation at the border.

Name: Ryan Fazio

Party: Republican

Race: State Senate 36th District

A member of Greenwich’s Representative Town Meeting, Ryan Fazio is the Republican candidate challenging incumbent Sen. Alex Kasser in the 36th District, which includes Greenwich and northern portions of Stamford and New Canaan.

Fazio is a former renewable energy professional and currently works at a small venture capital firm that invests in small and mediumsize businesses.

He is in his first two-year term on the RTM, where he serves on the Finance Committee. His focus is on fiscal matters in the state as he makes his first run for a major office.

Saying he wants to “change how business is done in Hartford,” Fazio has proposed a cut in the income tax rate for Connecticut as well as regulatory and spending reforms in state government, investment in transportation without tolls and education reform that includes indefinite tuition freeze for all state universities, raising standards in K-12 education and reducing what he sees as too many unfunded mandates placed on districts.