Candidates are listed in the order in which they appear on the ballot. 
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Jonathan Steinberg

​Democratic  Party 
* Serving fourth term as State Representative, representing Westport: 
o Chair, Public Health Committee 
o Chair, Pension Sustainability Commission 
o Leader of Moderates Caucus within House Democrats 
o Former Chair, M.O.R.E. Commission 
o Former Chair, Transportation Bonding Subcommittee of the Finance Committee 
o Former Vice-Chair, Energy & Technology Committee 
o Former member, Constitutional Spending Cap Commission 
o Former member, Shoreline Resilience Taskforce 
* Elected four times to Westport’s RTM: 
o Elected Deputy Moderator three times (unanimously) 
o Former Chair of Health & Human Services; Library, Museum & the Arts, and IT Committees (five years on Education Committee) 

* 20+ years marketing/communications executive in consumer healthcare, including Bristol-Myers, Revlon, and Mount Sinai Hospital 

* 40+ years Westport resident 
* Graduated Westport schools: 
o Hitchcock Nursery School 
o Hillspoint Elementary School 
o Coleytown Junior High (now Coleytown Middle School) 
o Staples; Class of 1974 
* B.A., Yale University, Class of 1978 [Member, Yale Whiffenpoofs] 
* M.B.A. with Honors, NYU Stern School of Business, Class of 1986 
* Returned with wife Nancy to Westport in 1996; daughters Rachel, Margot and Charlotte graduates of Westport schools 
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Greg Kraut

​Republican  Party, ​Independent Party
Twenty years of experience in real estate management and asset management, advising companies, creating jobs and solving financial problems. Proven record of reviving neighborhoods. Elected member of Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM), serving on the Finance, Planning and Zoning and Employee Compensation committees. Founder of a mentorship program for adults with special needs, youth sports coach, and real estate leadership board of B’nai B’rith. Recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the AISH Center Leadership Award for a high standard of professional ethics, a three-time recipient of Commercial Observer’s “Top 100” list, and Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction. Husband and father of two sons in Westport public schools.
What specific measures would you propose to balance the state budget? Please list up to three. 
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Steinberg (D)

* Mitigate the huge unfunded pension liability for teachers and state workers, which is strangling the state budget year after year, through initiatives like the Pension Sustainability Commission, of which I am the Chairman. We’re looking at donation of select state real estate assets to an independent trust which will optimize the asset’s value and dedicate the proceeds to work down the unfunded liability. 
* Reform the estate tax, business taxes, and other nuisance taxes so that residents and businesses commit to staying and prospering in CT, ultimately increasing revenues to balance the budget. But ending the Income Tax would be disastrous to state budget solvency. 
* Open new negotiations with state worker unions to achieve further concessions on pension and healthcare benefits based on a new “shared risk” model, which is proving effective in Canada and is being considered by other states. Pensioners benefit when Government does well and has the funds to disperse, but the state won’t be tied to automatic raises or other unaffordable benefits.
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Kraut (R, I)

Besides my 21-point economic recovery plan which can be viewed at gregkraut.com, these three specifics, easily implementable ideas would generate revenue and lower expenditures without raising taxes: 

1. Sell and lease back state-owned and occupied commercial office space, which could immediately generate up to $1 billion in revenue. The federal government and our top corporations have implemented this strategy for several years. 
2. Renegotiate public sector pension plans, as Westport has done. Modest reforms, like reductions in COLAs, immediately reduce annual pension funding costs, reducing budgeted expenditures. 
3. Eliminate up to $1 billion of wasteful spending per the auditor’s reports. 
What would you do to make Connecticut a more attractive state for new businesses to open in and for established companies to remain or move in?
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Steinberg (D)

​* Prioritize investment in rail and road infrastructure, bringing CT into the 21st century. 
o The truth is that trains won’t get faster until the Federal Railroad Administration lifts current speed restrictions. In the meantime, we must focus on upgrading tracks, catenaries, and stations. OK, expand WiFi, too! 
o We need improvements to I-95, including congestion pricing, to move traffic more efficiently and make CT an attractive place for new business investment. We must also find necessary funding to fix deteriorating roads and bridges. 
o Implement tolls to capture out-of-state driver revenue, coupled with a constitutional lockbox, to assure adequate transportation funding. 
* Establish state budget discipline and accountability, like zero-based budgeting and greater transparency, to bolster confidence in the State’s ability to meet its obligations and send the right signals to the business community and markets. 
* Create business “ecosystems” for growing industry clusters like bioscience and green tech by facilitating quality transit/housing infrastructure and attractive amenities, and assist small businesses in finding/training skilled workers and sourcing grants/loans needed for expansion and job growth.
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​Kraut (R, I)

1. Reform the tax code to encourage private companies and high earners to remain in the state by exempting retirement income from taxation and lowering the top marginal tax rate.
2. Forgive student debt for residents to attract and retain an educated younger workforce.
3. Establish an Economic Development Corporation to incentivize employers to bring high paying jobs to Connecticut.
4. Fund a comprehensive ten-year infrastructure improvement plan to fix ailing trains and highways. 1. Reform the tax code to encourage private companies and high earners to remain in the state by exempting retirement income from taxation and lowering the top marginal tax rate.
2. Forgive student debt for residents to attract and retain an educated younger workforce.
3. Establish an Economic Development Corporation to incentivize employers to bring high paying jobs to Connecticut.
4. Fund a comprehensive ten-year infrastructure improvement plan to fix ailing trains and highways.