Republican Candidate

Democrat Candidate

MD Rahman

https://www.mdforsenate.com/

MD Rahman immigrated to the United States with little more than the American Dream in his back pocket. Twenty-five years later, he owns several businesses, creates hundreds of jobs each year, and has employed over 5,000 people.

Success did not come easy. His first job was working as a waiter. So was his second. And his third. But he worked hard, saved what he could, and from that humble start, eventually created a small import/export company. Today he is the CEO of several businesses in healthcare, construction, and real estate investment.

MD lives in Manchester with his wife Yelena and their three children.

Voting Record

Actions speak louder than words, and those actions are listed in their voting record. The names of bills do not necessarily reflect what’s inside them. Someone might be for Mandatory Childhood Vaccines but vote against the bill due the way that they believe it was implemented. If you are curious about why your representative voted a specific way, contact them and ask.

Government

Education

Environment

Business

Healthcare

Law and Order

Marriage

Other

Platform

Jobs & Economy

He believes that to sustain and grow our middle class, we need a state government that fosters growth through targeted investments, reduced college and technical school costs, and aligns our workforce with the jobs of tomorrow.

Healthcare

MD believes that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. He’ll support a Public Option, and will always ensure our safety net is fully funded.

Education

MD supports publicly funded community college and technical schools, paying and treating teachers as professionals, universal pre-Kindergarten, and funding mental health programs in schools.

Women’s Rights

MD fights to strengthen women’s rights in Connecticut to help end the pay-gap, increase funding of and minimum contracts for women-owned businesses, continue to strengthen domestic violence legislation, and protect a woman’s right to choose.

Unions

MD will support workers’ right to organize, protect existing collective bargaining rights, and ensure that we invest in apprentice programs for union workers. He believes that Project Labor Agreements and Prevailing Wage laws should be expanded to lower funding limits and be codified into all taxpayer funded projects.

Reproductive Rights

Abortion is a woman’s right, fullstop.

LGBTQ+ Rights

MD supports defend LGBTQ+ rights and supports access to medical care for all children and adults. He supports GLSEN Policy Recommendations and public school curriculum that includes instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. He also supports the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms in all taxpayer-funded construction and renovation projects.

Gun Safety

MD supports keeping guns out of the wrong hands must remain a priority. MD will work to strengthen our prohibitions on ghost guns and illegal weapons, require training for firearm permits, and fund mental health programs.

Transportation

MD supports investing in our electric grid and electric-car charging infrastructure, and make more communities walkable and bikeable through funding of complete street initiatives and transportation-oriented housing

Affordable Housing

This letter was sent by MD Rahman in regards to 8-30g

Thank you for reaching out to me about your concerns on 8-30g. As you may know this statue is contentious and people often feel very strongly in support or against it.

Zoning in Connecticut is largely left up to the town. 8-30g aims to create more affordable housing while still maintaining local control. I recognize that 8-30g can create a negative relationship between towns and developers but there are also many developments that towns would never have approve unless it was an 8-30g project. The state is currently in an affordable housing crisis and we need to build more housing of all kinds.

I welcome any feedback you have and would like to hear your thoughts on how this statute could potential be improved.

Giving Back to the Community

MD’s passion is giving back to the community. In addition to his charity work and COVID clinics, he serves on the Governor’s Hate Crime Advisory Council, the Manchester Charter Revision Commission, and the Property Maintenance Board of Appeals.

He is Co-Chair of the Asian American and Pacific Island (AAPI) Democratic Caucus and founder of the Bangladesh Bhaban Community Center in Manchester, CT.

MD is the Vice Chair of the Central CT Education Foundation, former member of the 2020 CT Census Advisory Board,  former President of the Centennial Lions Club, and currently serves on the Board of the  Central CT Chamber of Commerce. 

Stephen King

https://kingforsenate.com

Stephen King is a lifelong resident of Connecticut and has been a resident of Andover for 14 years. Married to a native of the town, Stephen has a deep commitment to Andover. He is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut, and currently works for UConn Health in Farmington. Stephen has been involved in business management throughout most of his career. His leadership experience extends to his role as Chairman of the Board and Chief Range Safety Officer of the Andover Sportsman’s Club, and President of the “Ye Connecticut Gun Guild”. Stephen is a certified NRA instructor and a Chief Instructor for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, teaching conservation education, firearm, and bow hunter safety courses. Stephen just retired from state military service after having served six years with the First Company Governor’s Footguard. Stephen is eager to dedicate more time to his community, leveraging his leadership, business acumen, and management skills.

Platform

Stephen has graciously replied to a number of emails on policy positions.

Rent Control

Availability and affordability of housing are dynamic parameters directly related to many factors including the state of the economy. I believe decisions are best left at the local level with minimal state oversight.

Reproductive Rights

I dislike how abortion has become such a divisive and politicized issue. A patient, the family, and their doctor should be at the center of this decision within the confines of some generally agreed to moral standards. 

Police Accountability Bill

I stand in full support of those in uniform who enforce the law and put their lives on the line for the citizens of this state. In certain cases, actions should be examined closely if they fall out of line with training or enforcement standards. But failure of an individual to cooperate with the direction of law enforcement should not be tolerated.

Mandatory Transition to EVs

I see the current, forced transition somewhat harsh as it imposes the costs of 175 years of abuse of the environment by the human race on the backs of the middle class. I don’t discount the science, and believe we need to make changes, however I believe a more gradual and less burdensome approach would be a better path.

Affordable Housing

From what I understand, under 8-30g, if the amount of “affordable” housing in a town is not at least 10%, a developer can override local zoning to build, unless the town can provide a compelling reason to stop them.

Now 8-30g dates back to the late 1980’s. Some of your points speak to directly define the term “affordability”, which quite frankly I would view as a moving target over time. I don’t see any provisions to redefine that parameter, which I perceive as being a problem.  

I see agreement on both sides of the aisle in putting forth effort to make housing affordable for those less fortunate. I agree that a more pragmatic approach is warranted and I would certainly support changes to 8-30g to bring it more in line with our current, or a fluctuating economy, instituting oversight on developers, and require consistency with land use.

Publicly Funded Community Colleges

I can support public funding of education if it reduces the cost to students without increasing institutional profits and ballooning any inflated salaries of educators and administrators.

Support for Medicare

Medicaid, Medicare, and state assistance for low income, elderly, the disabled, etc. are all important programs that are needed and should be funded with oversight

Gun Ownership

As a gun owner, instructor, and enthusiast I support and promote responsible ownership. I have no issue with certain regulations such as background checks and some registration requirements, however the continued chipping away of the rights of responsible gun owners needs to calm

Unions

I have seen both the good and the bad first hand from both sides of the union fence. The good being when labor gets treated fairly with wages and benefits and profits meet expectations of shareholders, the bad being when unions take advantage of their position with unrealistic demands.

Term Limits

Stephen supports term limits for congress, and has signed a pledge supporting term limits.

Fiscal Responsibility and Transparency

Stephen expresses concern over rising taxes and spending in Andover. He is particularly interested in understanding how the town allocates tax money and ensuring that resources are managed effectively.

Drug Legalization

Stephen voiced concerns about the legalization of marijuana in Connecticut, questioning how the tax revenue from its sale is managed, particularly in the context of federal banking regulations. During the 2024 TALK forum, Steven made his anti-marijuana stances very clear.

BoF Candidate

Stephen applied to be a member of the Board of Finance for Andover in February 2024. The two videos of this interview can be found here and here. We used the transcript of the interview to allow chatGPT to infer some of Stephen’s positions on policy.

Professional Qualifications

Based upon his linked profile, Stephen King is a Senior Systems Administrator with over 20 years of experience in information technology and healthcare computing. Currently employed at UConn Health, he manages the High Performance Computing (HPC) facility, supporting research initiatives across multiple campuses. His expertise spans healthcare information technology, Linux system administration, storage resource management, and network administration. His educational background includes a Certificate in Healthcare Information Technology from the University of Connecticut School of Business, a B.S. in Management Information Systems from Central Connecticut State University, and an Associate’s degree in Business Administration from CT State Tunxis. Stephen’s long-standing career highlights his proficiency in data center management, supporting large-scale, grant-funded research projects with a user base exceeding 700