Answering the Call to Duty

To truly understand the multiple layers of state government, you must see it from the outside and the inside. That is what I have done for 25 years in public service — as a local leader, a state representative, and most recently as a top staff member helping craft proposed state budgets and researching issues to help stop some of the most reckless legislation coming out of Hartford.

Let me clarify a point on my current job as well. If I win in November, I will give up my current state job and full-time salary, before being sworn into the role in January 2027. Yes, I will take a pay cut to go back to elected public office. It has been frustrating to watch the slide away from the good policies I helped pass in 2017. After a long stretch on the sidelines — and with an open seat — I decided to listen to my heart and answer the call of duty, again.

As the legislature has moved from majority to supermajority, details are now often glossed over and accountability is lacking. Moderate voices are constrained in the super majority. Look no further than Rep. Jill Barry, elected four times as a moderate Democrat--now running as an Independent in Glastonbury. Beyond the growing pressure of far left values, the supermajority has misplaced priorities, putting big-city politics ahead of our small-town values.

Those priorities show up in household budgets. Property taxes keep climbing. Energy, groceries, and housing take a larger share of every paycheck. Unfunded mandates from Hartford do not stay in Hartford; they land on local taxpayers. When state elected leaders treat “state money” as if it grows on trees and not taxpayer money, our town residents pay the price. We must demand a government that lives within its means so families can live within theirs.

We need a strong voice standing up for our small towns. That does not always mean the loudest voice, but I pledge to use every tool in my toolbox to advocate for you — for local control, for scrutiny of every dollar, and for keeping more of what you earn at home, in your own pocket to begin with. I have a unique perspective, and I intend to use that knowledge for all our benefit.

Melissa Ziobron

East Haddam