Kathryn Russell
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Kathryn Russell (Republican Party) ran for election to the Connecticut House of Representatives to represent District 36. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kathryn Russell was born in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Dominican High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1973 and a graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business in 1984. Her career experience includes working as a business executive, adjunct professor, and town selectwoman.[1]
Russell has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Deep River Board of Selectmen
- Deep River Rotary
- Deep River Congregational Church
- Deep River Republican Town Committee
- River Valley Transit Board
Elections
2024
See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36
Renee Muir defeated Kathryn Russell in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Renee Muir (D) | 53.0 | 7,966 | |
Kathryn Russell (R) | 47.0 | 7,078 |
Total votes: 15,044 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Renee Muir advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Kathryn Russell advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36.
Endorsements
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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Russell in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kathryn Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Russell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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|I am currently a Deep River Selectwoman. My professional experience includes over 30 years in the corporate world, where I held management roles at American Express, ATT Wireless, and Aetna, managed budgets of $60 million and led cross-functional teams. I will bring key skills to the state legislature including financial literacy, strategic thinking, conflict resolution and the ability to build consensus.
As a Selectwoman I deal with the daily issues of my town and meet the needs of my constituents on a face-to-face basis. I am solidly rooted in the 36th District, having owned my home in Deep River for over 20 years. I am invested in this community where I serve as a board member for River Valley Transit, am a member of the Deep River Rotary, and serve on the Investment Committee of the Deep River Congregational Church. Over the past several years, I have been a board member of the Deep River Public Library, worked in the Shoreline Soup Kitchen, and served on the task-force shaping Deep River's Affordable Housing Plan.
I built a long record of board membership and non-profit volunteer work spanning my business career. I taught Marketing as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut, served on the boards of the United Way Tri-State and the NY Chapter of the American Red Cross, and for many years, did literacy tutoring with elementary students whose primary language was Spanish.
- Affordability: As a fiscal conservative, I will apply commonsense fiscal discipline and support policies designed to make life in our towns more affordable and to lower energy costs. I will block new State mandates which result in burdensome costs to our towns and businesses, and will work to keep the State Budget fiscal guardrails intact.
- Community Safety: Our police deserve the resources they need to protect our towns. I will focus on community safety and will work to reduce speeding and crime. I want to work with my colleagues to revisit and revamp the Police Accountability Act which as it is currently constructed, hampers the effectiveness of our first responders.
- I have just started to work on this.
I am passionate about allocating and spending taxpayer dollars in an effective, efficient, responsible and respectful manner.
My biggest role model was my Mom, Clara Lulis Russell. She was first-generation American, one of six children, and a working Mom a generation before it became the norm. She was hardworking, loving, gracious and devoted to her extended family. She instilled in me a love of reading, the importance of education, financial independence, follow through, and living according to your values. If I accomplish a fraction of what she accomplished in her lifetime, I will consider my life a success and well lived.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
I think that it is very important that elected officials have personal characteristics of integrity and honesty. For the role of State Representative, I think that it is particularly important that the elected official be committed to listening to their constituents and actually representing what the people of the district want, rather than pushing through items of their own personal agenda. The principles of accountability and transparency are also very important for elected officials.
Some of the qualities I possess which I think would make me a successful officeholder include:
Intelligence
Compassion
Persistence
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Strong financial literacy
Collegiality
The core responsibilities for someone elected to this office are:
1. Listen to the people of the District, understand their point of view and be able to communicate their point of view.
2. Draft and propose legislation on key issues which will represent the view of the people of the district
3. Participate actively in the work of any committee to which they are assigned
4. Attend and actively participate is all session discussions
5. Review all proposed legislation through the lens of how it will impact the residents they represent
6. Vote in accordance to their principles and the will of their constituents
7. Communicate well with their constituents
8. Help their constituents in whatever way possible to obtain information and support from State programs.
I would like to leave the legacy of being someone who strove to use their talents in the pursuit of making life better for those in her family, her workplace, her community and her state.
I was in grade school when President John F. Kennedy was shot. I remember the Principal announcing it on the public address system, and leading all the students in prayer.
I began babysitting at age 12, but my first "real" job was the Summer after my Junior year in high school when I landed the job as an advertising proofreader at The Detroit News. I held it during my Senior year in high school and through two Summers during college.
Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".
Early in my working life, I struggled to make enough money to support myself, to find work commensurate with my education, and to be taken seriously in the corporate environment where I worked. These struggles lasted for several years while I deepened my education and work skills during my 20's and 30's. I worked hard to accomplish significant educational and professional goals. More recently, I have been working on the challenge - - I will call it that, rather than label it a struggle - - of providing and encouraging diversity of thought and perspective in municipal, political and cultural discussions and environments.
The ideal relationship between the Governor and the State Legislature is one of respect, open communication, and collegiality in working towards common goals to benefit the citizens of the state, and civility in discussing matters where their interests and positions don't align.
Connecticut's greatest challenges in the next decade include:
1. How to ensure that living and doing business in Connecticut is actually affordable for the State's residents and businesses.
2. Determining a lower cost method of energy delivery
3. Building the required infrastructure to support the upcoming energy transformation
4. Positioning the state for business investment and growth
5. Continuing to pay down the large unfunded pension debt
Most important is for state legislators to have solid principles, admirable characters, strong ethics, strong communication skills, a strong work ethic and a commitment to delivering results to their constituents. That said, previous experience in politics or government can be helpful. My experience as a Selectwoman in Deep River is directly beneficial to the role of State Rep. Serving in that role has given me hands-on experience with budget development and planning, priority setting, face-to-face communication with constituents, and communicating directly with colleagues of the majority party. The experience I gained through my business career - - setting strategic priorities, developing and managing large budgets, managing teams of diverse individuals with cross-functional skills, setting success parameters, communicating directly with customers, and driving program delivery for growth and quantifiable results - - was directly helpful in my municipal role, and I believe will be equally beneficial in the State Legislator role.
I think that it is crucial to build solid relationship of trust and good communication with other legislators. All the legislators are on a team tasked with delivering solid results and well-being for the residents and businesses in the State of Connecticut. This end result cannot be achieved by a single individual or by a group of individuals working in separate lanes or silos. I believe that work flows more smoothly and better results are more frequently and quickly attained when leaders work from a position of a well-built, respectful relationship. I think this is true and important within and across party lines.
Not at this time.
Three conversations with potential constituents stand out:
1. One man in his early 70's said: "It doesn't matter who we elect. Everyone promises to do this, that and the other when they are running. When they get up there, they find out that they really can't accomplish anything."
2. A young Mom of two who is also running a small business told me that all the State regulations, fees and taxes are financially challenging and time consuming. The last straw was all the closures on the E. Haddam Swing Bridge and the work being done on the roundabout off Route 154. She said the disruption by the two projects basically shut down her business. She wondered if the timing of these types of projects couldn't be better planned.
3. After talking with me for 10 minutes, one resident said, "You seem sincere and honest. All I want is for someone up there in the legislature to tell the truth."
The despair and frustration of these conversations really resonate with me. I am sincere, honest, capable and committed. I want to work hard to make our State government work better for them.
The committees which interest me are: 1. Energy and Technology 2. Appropriations 3. Commerce and 4. Planning and Development. I think that my business and municipal leadership experience have given me the skills to be an effective member of these committees.
Financial transparency and government accountability are crucial. The money the State operates with comes from the taxpayers. Actions regarding taxpayer monies must be clearly communicated and easy for the average citizen to access and understand. Government accountability is a critical component of the citizen's sense of the State's legitimacy and respect for them as a taxpayer. Acting with financial transparency and government accountability are key elements of good government best practices. I have focused on them in my role as Selectwoman in Deep River, and will continue to be guided by them as a State Representative.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Footnotes