(DANBURY, CONNECTICUT) -  First-time Democratic candidate Julie Kushner - a Retired New England United Auto Workers (UAW) Regional Director - upset Connecticut State Senator Mike McLachlan for the 24th District seat on Election Night.

Kushner, 66, has served as Co-Chairwoman of the Connecticut Working Families Party and as the New England UAW Regional Director, from which she retired this Summer.  Kushner used her deep ties to Organized Labor to run a near constant campaign for most of the year, while Republican McLachlan did not engage with the campaign until the Fall.

The race grew heated in the final weeks before the election with mudslinging mailers and a testy debate at The News-Times.

Kushner’s win could prove crucial in breaking the 18-18 tie between Republicans and Democrats in the State Senate, flipping a long-Red seat that Democrats have not won since 1992 and McLachlan has held for the past decade. 

“I felt like we were building a movement,” Kushner said. “It’s something bigger in Danbury.  It’s about coming together as a community and saying we are one community.   I think it’s about hope and vision.  I think it’s wanting things better for Working People.”

The results stunned McLachlan, a long-time Danbury Republican Leader.  “The voters have spoken but I’m still scratching my head,” McLachlan said after conceding the race.

Kushner joined the record number of women candidates running for office Nationwide.

Although she and McLachlan agreed Connecticut is at a “crossroads,” they offered sharply different visions of the future of the State.

Kushner’s progressive campaign focused on issues like expanding health care access, pay equity and Paid Family Leave to attract and retain more people in the State to stabilize Connecticut’s financial future.

Whereas McLachlan, one of the Legislature’s most Conservative members, campaigned on sharp cuts to the State Budget and more limited government.

To Read This Labor News Report In Its Entirety, Go To: https://www.newstimes.com/politics/article/Democrat-Julie-Kushner-upsets-Sen-Mike-McLachlan-13368910.php