Submitted by Christine Palm
(May 12, 2022)—- State Rep. Christine Palm has won unanimous endorsement for re-election from delegates in the four towns she has represented in the General Assembly since 2018: Chester, Deep River, Essex and Haddam.
Palm has served two terms in the House of Representatives and is Vice Chair of the Legislature’s Environment Committee, Chair of the Internship Committee, and is an Assistant Majority Leader. She is a former journalist, teacher and small business owner.
In nominating Palm, Haddam Democratic Town Committee Chair Peter Baird said, “Christine is a champion for the lower Connecticut River Valley, leading the fight on protecting our unique and beautiful environment, on women’s rights, and on protecting the most vulnerable people in Connecticut. She’s also a tireless worker, always accessible, always concerned—no one works harder for us in Hartford, or in Haddam, and no one cares more for doing right by her constituents and her state.”
In addition to handling dozens of constituent concerns weekly, securing funding for local schools and gaining bonding for capital improvement projects, Palm has successfully shepherded two environment bills through the session that just ended. She secured $300,000 to create the Office of Aquatic Invasive Species, which will deal with the problem of hydrilla, water chestnut and milfoil in local waterways, and a bill to require the teaching of climate change in all Connecticut public schools.
“I support Christine Palm’s campaign because over the past three years, I’ve seen how hard she works to combat climate change and move our state in the right direction,” said Sena Wazer, an 18-year-old climate activist who began working at age 15 with Palm on her climate teaching bill and is the outgoing director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement CT. “It’s clear she is a true environmental champion in the Legislature — passionate, committed and effective.”
In addition to environmental protection, Palm’s legislative focus areas include protecting women’s access to reproductive healthcare as Roe v. Wade is imperiled. She was part of the team that successfully passed The Reproductive Rights Defense Act, which will protect abortion providers and patients in Connecticut from the vigilantism currently espoused by other states where abortion has been criminalized.
As legislative leadership, Palm has championed economic security for working families, protection of front-line workers’ safety and security, retaining young Millennial and Gen Z earners, teachers retirement security, and bolstering community non-profits. She voted for the recent state budget, which contains more than $600 million in tax cuts for working families.
The Democratic delegates who unanimously endorsed Palm are, from Chester: Erik Anderson, Cindy Lignar, and Emelia DeMusis; from Deep River: Jane Cavanaugh, Frank Santoro, Cathie Jefferson and Pat Maikowski; from Essex: James Francis, Mark Bombaci, Ellen Pfarr, and Mary Louise Polo; and from Haddam: Peter Baird, Marge DeBold, Kate Wessling, Sue Costa and Linda Rigono.
