State Senator Will Haskell Says So-Long At His "Retirement" Party
Wednesday night about 135 guests gathered at the Carriage Barn in New Canaan to say thank you to Staples graduate, Westport's Will Haskell who became one of the youngest elected officials in America with his 2018 surprise victory over a multi-term incumbent. Haskell was elected State Senator from the 26th district which includes includes the towns of Redding, Ridgefield, Wilton, and parts of Bethel, Weston, Westport, and New Canaan.
Story and photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Among the many people offering appreciation and accolades from the podium were Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, Senate Majority Leader Will Duff, State Senator Ceci Maher who was elected and Wilton DTC Chair Tom Dubin.
Offering their well wishes via videos were Governor Ned Lamont, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, Congressman Jim Himes, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz and Attorney General William Tong.
A good bit of fun was had at the concept of Will's "retirement". Senator Blumenthal commented in his video, "not everyone joins the Senate at 22 and retires at 26."
Tom Dubin, Wilton DTC Chair served as emcee and began the presentation by saying “Tonight was an opportunity for the seven towns Will represented to say "thank you, congratulations, and good luck. Thank you for the extraordinary job he did in Hartford and also for the energy he brought to our party. Congratulations on embarking on his legal education at NYU and also on his recent engagement. And good luck with whatever he sets his sights on next. We know that former Senator Will Haskell is going to do extraordinary things, and we hope that his path takes him back to Connecticut very soon."
Dubin, a long time supporter who was instrumental in the first campaign of the Senator shared comments on Senator Haskell's brief political history and many achievements contained in the recommendation he wrote on behalf of Haskell when he applied to NYU School Of Law. He described his call from Haskell, then in his senior year at Georgetown who he said quickly overcame the challenge of convincing " people that he was not running as a lark or as a vanity project." and that he did so by doing "his homework on current legislative matters, and he had studied the political landscape. And he was eager to listen to people and synthesize disparate and inchoate points of view." He said Will had "an energy that we were not used to, and he captured the imagination of younger voters in ways that we never could. He was fearless in knocking every door he could find, responding to every journalist inquiry and every debate invitation, and engaging with any voter willing to meet him."
Dubin further highlighted Senator Haskell's work on education while in the Senate, writing, "During his first term he sat as Chair of the Senate Committee for Higher Education and Employment Advancement. In that role he championed access for nontraditional students, and negotiated passage of free tuition for students attending community colleges. Similarly, he found aisle-crossing support for tax credits to local businesses that reimburse college debt of their employees."
Story and photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
After remarks by Secretary of the State Thomas and Haskell's successor Ceci Maher Will took the podium to thank the many people who made this unlikely journey a reality including his senior year Georgetown roomate After remarks by Secretary of the State Thomas and Haskell's successor Ceci Maher Will took the podium to thank the many people who made this unlikely journey a reality including his senior year Georgetown roommate Jack Lynch who served as Haskell's campaign manager for his first campaign. Haskell later admitted to being overwhelmed by the event and opened his remarks by saying, "First, let me thank the remarkable host committee who worked so hard to make this evening possible. What started as an idea by Tom and Shiva morphed into an event that exceeded my wildest expectations, and I feel totally undeserving of this celebration. That committee included: Stephen Blinder, Carina Drake, Tom Dubin, Christina Fagerstal, Melissa Kane, Angela Liptack, Michelle Mechanic, Liz Milwe, Glori Norwitt, Sam Nestor, Peg O'Donnell, Shiva Sarram, Amy Shapiro, Judy Stone, Vicki Volper, and Gayle Weinstein. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Each of you have been there for me in countless ways along this journey, and I feel truly honored to count you as my friends. You hosted me in your living rooms, knocked doors with me, supported me throughout my first term, then helped win a re-election campaign in the midst of a pandemic. Now, you've given me a new honor -- if I thought being a state senator at 22 was pretty cool, being a retiree at 26 is even better. If only it came with social security, too."
He continued, "I also want to thank my family, who has been patient and supportive during this wild adventure. Katie (his fianceé) wishes she could be here tonight, but she's stuck at work in DC and is sorry to miss all of you. Jack and Kevin, you guys have written every good line that I've ever used, and vetoed a whole lot of bad ones that I came up with. I hope you're enormously stressed about listening to a speech that, for once, I didn't run by you."
He credited a speech by President Obama which motivated him to run for statewide office at 22 years old. Haskell said, "Six years and one day ago, Barack Obama gave a speech that changed my life. You're all probably sick of hearing me talk about that speech that inspired me to change my post graduate plans, come back home, and start knocking on doors. He said "grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself." I took him up on it and have been quoting him ever since." Obama in fact became aware of Haskell's run for office and in fact endorsed Will in his first campaign.
Haskell also gave credit to Maher, his successor, saying "Leaving this job is made infinitely easier by the fact that Ceci Maher is our new State Senator. She cares so deeply about this district, and she'll be a tireless advocate in Hartford. I first got to know Ceci when she invited me to visit Person to Person, a non profit she ran that offered food, textbooks, clothing, counseling and so much more to 25,000 families in Fairfield County."
Haskell spoke of the work he did which he is especially proud of, and described those achievements: "We couldn't have made community college free, which this year will help over 11,000 students pursue a degree that they otherwise would not have been able to afford. We couldn't have passed the CT Clean Air Act, requiring every school bus and transit bus to be electrified so that riders don't breathe diesel exhaust on their way to work and to school. We couldn't have passed the strongest gun laws in the nation, the most inclusive paid family and medical leave program in the country, the long-anticipated right to vote early and conveniently."
The evening closed by the presentation of several gifts to Haskell, including a copy of his book, "100,000 First Bosses" which was signed by officials including Senator Blumenthal and by many of the event guests, a kind of high school yearbook theme offering their heartfelt thanks and praise. Will was also give a nearly 100 year old map of the State Of Connecticut which showed the extensive rail lines in place at the time, transportation being one of Will's passions. The guests were in agreement that Haskell will do great things after the next step in his life's journey at New York University Law School, an acclaimed institution which accepts less than 25% of applicants.
Story and photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.