Matthew Lesser

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Matthew L. Lesser
Image of Matthew L. Lesser

Democratic Party

Connecticut State Senate District 9
Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

6

Predecessor
Prior offices
Connecticut House of Representatives District 100

Compensation

Base salary

$40,000/year

Per diem

$No per diem is paid.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn 

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Matthew L. Lesser (Democratic Party) is a member of the Connecticut State Senate, representing District 9. He assumed office in 2019. His current term ends on January 6, 2027.

Lesser (Democratic Party, Working Families Party, Independent Party) ran for re-election to the Connecticut State Senate to represent District 9. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Email [email protected] to notify us of updates to this biography.

Lesser's professional experience includes working as an intern on the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and a member of the Middletown Planning and Zoning Commission.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:[email protected].

2023-2024

Lesser was assigned to the following committees:

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2021-2022

Lesser was assigned to the following committees:

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2019-2020

Lesser was assigned to the following committees:

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2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Connecticut committee assignments, 2017
• Banking, Co-chair
• Government Administration and Elections
• Insurance and Real Estate

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Lesser served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Lesser served on the following committees:

Connecticut committee assignments, 2013
• Appropriations
• Energy and Technology
• Government Administration and Elections, Vice Chair
• Internship, Ranking Member

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Lesser served on these committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Lesser served on these committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Connecticut State Senate District 9

Incumbent Matthew L. Lesser won election in the general election for Connecticut State Senate District 9 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Matthew L. Lesser
Matthew L. Lesser (D / Working Families Party / Independent Party)
 
100.0
 
35,500

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 35,500
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Matthew L. Lesser advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Michael Camillo advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9.

Endorsements

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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Lesser in this election.

2022

Secretary of state

See also: Connecticut Secretary of State election, 2022

General election

General election for Connecticut Secretary of State

Stephanie Thomas defeated Dominic Rapini and Cynthia Jennings in the general election for Connecticut Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Stephanie Thomas
Stephanie Thomas (D / Working Families Party) Candidate Connection
 
55.2
 
687,714
Image of Dominic Rapini
Dominic Rapini (R)
 
42.7
 
532,218
Image of Cynthia Jennings
Cynthia Jennings (Independent Party)
 
2.0
 
25,488

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,245,420
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Connecticut Secretary of State

Stephanie Thomas defeated Maritza Bond in the Democratic primary for Connecticut Secretary of State on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Stephanie Thomas
Stephanie Thomas Candidate Connection
 
75.8
 
84,514
Image of Maritza Bond
Maritza Bond Candidate Connection
 
24.2
 
26,956

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 111,470
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Connecticut Secretary of State

Dominic Rapini defeated Terrie Wood in the Republican primary for Connecticut Secretary of State on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Dominic Rapini
Dominic Rapini
 
58.2
 
51,219
Image of Terrie Wood
Terrie Wood
 
41.8
 
36,749

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 87,968
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

State senate

See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Connecticut State Senate District 9

Incumbent Matthew L. Lesser defeated Lisa Marotta in the general election for Connecticut State Senate District 9 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Matthew L. Lesser
Matthew L. Lesser (D / Working Families Party / Independent Party)
 
55.6
 
20,571
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Lisa Marotta (R)
 
44.4
 
16,440

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 37,011
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Matthew L. Lesser advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Lisa Marotta advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9.

2020

See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Connecticut State Senate District 9

Incumbent Matthew L. Lesser defeated Richie Ruglio in the general election for Connecticut State Senate District 9 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Matthew L. Lesser
Matthew L. Lesser (D / Working Families Party)
 
57.7
 
30,982
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Richie Ruglio (R / Independent Party)
 
42.3
 
22,748

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 53,730
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Matthew L. Lesser advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Richie Ruglio advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9.

2018

See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2018

In addition to running as a Democratic Party candidate, Lesser cross-filed to also run with the Working Families Party in 2018.[2]

General election

General election for Connecticut State Senate District 9

Matthew L. Lesser defeated Ed Charamut in the general election for Connecticut State Senate District 9 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Matthew L. Lesser
Matthew L. Lesser (D)
 
57.8
 
24,253
Image of Ed Charamut
Ed Charamut (R)
 
42.2
 
17,674

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 41,927
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9

Matthew L. Lesser defeated Antonio Guerrera in the Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9 on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Matthew L. Lesser
Matthew L. Lesser
 
56.4
 
4,779
Image of Antonio Guerrera
Antonio Guerrera
 
43.6
 
3,699

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 8,478
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9

Ed Charamut defeated Tyler Flanigan in the Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 9 on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ed Charamut
Ed Charamut
 
51.8
 
1,966
Image of Tyler Flanigan
Tyler Flanigan
 
48.2
 
1,829

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,795
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Connecticut House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 7, 2016.

Incumbent Matthew Lesser defeated Anthony Moran in the Connecticut House of Representatives District 100 general election.[3]

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Matthew Lesser Incumbent 69.40% 7,113
     Republican Anthony Moran 30.60% 3,136
Total Votes 10,249
Source: Connecticut Secretary of the State


Incumbent Matthew Lesser ran unopposed in the Connecticut House of Representatives District 100 Democratic primary.

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Matthew Lesser Incumbent (unopposed)

Anthony Moran ran unopposed in the Connecticut House of Representatives District 100 Republican primary.

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Anthony Moran  (unopposed)

2014

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Connecticut House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on August 12, 2014, and a general election on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 10, 2014. Incumbent Matt Lesser was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Angel R. Fernandez was unopposed in the Republican primary. Lesser defeated Fernandez in the general election.[4][5]

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngMatthew Lesser Incumbent 63% 4,558
     Republican Angel R. Fernandez 29.6% 2,138
     Working Families Matthew Lesser Incumbent 7.4% 537
Total Votes 7,233

2012

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2012

Lesser ran in the 2012 election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 100. Lesser ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on August 14, 2012. He defeated Deborah Kleckowski (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[6][7][8]

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngMatthew L. Lesser Incumbent 68.6% 6,677
     Republican Deborah A. Kleckowski 31.4% 3,057
Total Votes 9,734

2010

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2010

Lesser ran for re-election to the 100th District seat in 2010. He defeated John Szewczyk (R) in the November 2 general election.

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100 General Election (2010)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Matthew L. Lesser (D) 4,756
John Szewczyk (R) 4,433

2008

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2010

On November 4, 2008, Lesser won election to the Connecticut House of Representatives from Connecticut's 100th District, defeating Raymond Kalinowski (R). Lesser received 6,186 votes in the election while Kalinowski received 5,787 votes.[9] Lesser raised $31,761 for his campaign; Kalinowski raised $30,330.[10]

Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Matthew L. Lesser (D and WF) 6,186
Raymond Kalinowski (R) 5,787

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Matthew L. Lesser did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

State senate election

Matthew L. Lesser did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.


Secretary of state election

Matthew L. Lesser did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Matthew L. Lesser did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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.

Matthew L. Lesser campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Connecticut State Senate District 9Won general$15,244 $3,061
2022Connecticut Secretary of StateWithdrew primary$26,117 $50,758
2022Connecticut State Senate District 9Won general$122,842 $122,137
2020Connecticut State Senate District 9Won general$121,062 N/A**
2018Connecticut State Senate District 9Won general$214,791 N/A**
2016Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100Won $33,555 N/A**
2014Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100Won $33,623 N/A**
2012Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100Won $32,670 N/A**
2010Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100Won $43,677 N/A**
2008Connecticut House of Representatives, District 100Won $26,761 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Connecticut

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Connecticut scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012

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External links

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Officeholder

Connecticut State Senate District 9

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed October 17, 2014
    2. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "2018 List of Candidates," accessed October 29, 2018
    3. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of the State, "Election Night Reporting, 2016 General Election," accessed December 14, 2016
    4. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed July 15, 2014
    5. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Official primary and general election results," accessed November 26, 2014
    6. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Candidate list," accessed June 19, 2012
    7. ↑ CBS Connecticut, "2012 Primary Results," August 14, 2012
    8. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Results 2012," accessed November 21, 2012
    9. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "CT House official election results for 2008," November 5, 2008
    10. ↑ Follow the Money, "District 100 Connecticut House candidate funds, 2008," accessed October 17, 2014

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Paul Doyle (D)     		Connecticut State Senate District 9
    2019-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    -     		Connecticut House of Representatives District 100
    2009-2019    		 Succeeded by
    -


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