Senate District 8
Who Paul Honig is
Paul Honig is a former teacher and finance professional and current State Senator. The son of a teacher and a veteran, Paul left JP Morgan to become a middle and high school math teacher. In the State Senate, he has worked to lower costs by helping pass laws to cut energy bills by hundreds of dollars per year, capping prescription drug price increases, and banning surge pricing in grocery and big box stores. Paul will keep working to lower costs, take on corporate greed, invest in our schools, and keep our towns safe.
Is working to rein in the cost of utilities by stopping greedy utility companies like Eversource from gouging Connecticut residents, voting to pass laws cutting energy bills by hundreds of dollars per year, and voting to require utility companies to justify their costs and rate hikes, strengthen reporting requirements, and modernize the energy grid to make energy usage more efficient in Connecticut.
As chair of the veterans committee, worked with his Republican colleagues to make sure 99% of the bills he passed had bipartisan support, and worked with Republicans to pass a balanced, bipartisan budget to pay down the debt and invest in the rainy-day fund.
Has taken on Silicon Valley technology companies to put new safeguards on artificial intelligence, voting to protect our private data that companies try to buy and sell, criminalize abusive AI deepfake images, prohibit private businesses from sharing facial recognition data, hold AI companies accountable when their products cause harm, and restrict their ability to target underage kids on social media with algorithmic content.
Who Mike Criss is
In the last 5 years under First Selectman Mike Criss, the Harwinton municipal budget has ballooned much faster than inflation from $5.8 million to $8.3 million, a 42% increase. As costs go up for the rest of us, Criss voted himself a pay raise of more than 17% in a single year.
Has promised to double dip in government salaries by taking pay as First Selectman in Harwinton and as State Senator at the same time, which means taking nearly $150,000 a year in government salaries, two retirements, and two sets of medical benefits while doing both jobs part time, all funded by taxpayers.