Democrats in Hartford are tuned in to CT towns like East Windsor – Hartford Courant

East Windsor is a historic Connecticut town, founded in 1768, eight years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Colonial farmers were attracted to our level topography and fertile soils right here on the banks of the Connecticut River — great for growing corn, oats and hay. Today, we’re a town of 11,000 people who spend about 25 minutes commuting to work in order to earn a median annual household income of about $79,000. We’re the definition of “middle class” in Connecticut.

That’s why it was so rewarding to see East Windsor swing 10 points this year to help elect Ned Lamont by a whisker in town. East Windsor is one of a whopping 45 towns in Connecticut — one quarter of the entire state — that shifted from supporting Bob Stefanowski for governor in 2018 to Ned Lamont for governor in 2022.

When you’re winning dozens of middle-class towns like Bloomfield, Hamden, Manchester and Newington, and then picking up even more middle-class towns like Enfield, Old Saybrook, Rocky Hill, Wallingford and Windsor Locks, you must be doing something right.

I’m also proud that East Windsor was part of the Democratic landslide this year that started in the governor’s office and continued on down through our state constitutional offices, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, and the state Senate and House races. It was quite a show.

If you’re looking for some deep political analysis about why Gov. Lamont and Democrats did so well in East Windsor and across Connecticut on Election Day, I invite you to tune in to some cable TV show or search the Internet for any one of hundreds of explanations. I’m not interested in that. My theory of government has always been that “politics” doesn’t matter — successfully running a town does.

But I do think part of the Democrats’ success on Election Day and over the past four years can be attributed to just that: they make it easier for municipal leaders like me to successfully run cities and towns, and they make it easier for middle-class Connecticut residents to be safe, happy and healthy.

Let me give you a few examples.

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In 2018, Democrats handed out $4.46 billion in state budget aid to our cities and towns, everything from reimbursements for local tax-free property (PILOT) to elderly programs, vo-ag classes, adult and public school education, school-based health clinics, town road aid, local capital improvements and more. By June of next year, that figure is expected to hit $5.2 billion — a 16 percent increase in state aid over four years. When you get money from the state, that’s less money that I and other town leaders have to raise in local property taxes to pay for the things that our residents want. That’s a good thing.

Middle-class folks in East Windsor may have noticed some welcome Democratic public policy changes over the past four years, too.

Paid family and medical leave comes to mind, as does a higher hourly minimum wage. There was a 25 cent per-gallon gas tax cut this year, and a $250 per-child tax credit, an increase in the Earned Income Tax credit (which is claimed by about 190,000 Connecticut taxpayers), a $100 increase in the local property tax credit, a phase-out of state taxes on pension and annuity income, free public bus rides, a cap on local car tax rates, free community college tuition, and hundreds of millions of dollars for job training, clean air in schools, Meals on Wheels, Alzheimer’s respite care, domestic violence prevention, summer camps, non-profit pay raises for daycare providers and home health care aides, renovated child care facilities, and more.

So, I can see why middle-class East Windsor residents flipped from Stefanowski to Lamont this year. Democrats have done a heck of a job recognizing middle-class stresses and family needs and have worked to fill those gaps. That’s what attentive, effective government is all about — making life easier and putting some money back in your pocket.

I don’t know what the future holds for East Windsor, or for Connecticut. I’ll start town budget talks in a few months, and I’d like to get some local referendums passed in 2023.

But if Democrats in Hartford keep listening and keep working the way they’ve been doing over the past four years, I think we can all bet on the middle class in Connecticut to keep surviving and thriving well into the future. That’s good for East Windsor, and that’s good for Connecticut, too.

Jason Bowsza is the first selectman of East Windsor.