> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.brookfieldcurrent.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Brookfield Voter Guide, Part 3: Who's running - URL: https://www.brookfieldcurrent.com/voter-guide-part-3-whos-running/ - Published: 2026-10-23T18:59:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T18:59:02.000Z - Description: The candidates for all nine offices on Brookfield's November 3 ballot — from governor to judge of probate — and what to know about each of them. - Author: The Brookfield Current - Tags: News Brookfield's November 3 ballot has **nine offices**, all vote-for-one. Part 1 covered how to vote; [Part 2](https://www.brookfieldcurrent.com/voter-guide-part-2-whats-on-brookfields-ballot/) covered what's on the ballot. This is Part 3 — who's running, in the same order the offices appear. A reminder on party lines: the same name can appear on more than one party's line. Voting for a name on any line counts the same — it never splits or doubles your vote. This guide doesn't tell you who to vote for. It's just who's who. ## Governor and Lieutenant Governor (vote for the pair) **Ned Lamont (Democratic, also Working Families) with Susan Bysiewicz.** Lamont, 72, of Greenwich, is the incumbent seeking a third term — he was first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022\. His eight years have produced steady budget surpluses; he signed the state's paid family and medical leave program and one of the country's highest minimum-wage laws into effect. October polls put him ahead by 13 points (Emerson) to more than 20 (Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and Wesleyan), and every major forecaster rates the race safe for the Democrats. Bysiewicz, the incumbent lieutenant governor, has been on the ticket with him since 2018. **Ryan Fazio (Republican, also Independent) with Matt Corey.** Fazio, 36, is a state senator from Greenwich (the 36th District: Greenwich, New Canaan, Stamford) — first elected in a 2021 special election, then re-elected in 2022 and 2024\. He's the youngest major-party nominee for governor since John Rowland in 1990\. In the Senate he's the ranking Republican on the Finance, Revenue & Bonding and Energy & Technology committees, campaigns on lower taxes and lower electric rates, and co-authored a 2025 bipartisan energy bill that moved some public-benefit charges off ratepayers. His running mate, Matt Corey of Manchester, is a Navy veteran and businessman who has run in six election cycles since 2012. ## U.S. Representative, 5th District **Jahana Hayes (Democratic, also Working Families).** The incumbent since 2019 and the first Black woman elected to Congress from Connecticut. She's from Wolcott, where she taught in the public schools and was named 2016 National Teacher of the Year. She won re-election in 2024 with 53.4% of the vote, and the race is rated safe Democratic. **Chris Shea (Republican).** From Cheshire — a North Haven firefighter and a retired Navy SEAL. He won the August Republican primary to challenge Hayes. His campaign centers on public safety, veterans, small business, and the economy. ## State Representative, 107th District (all of Brookfield) **Julie Kerton (Democratic).** A Brookfield Democrat, she has served on the town's Board of Assessment Appeals since at least December 2017, and her current term on the board runs through 2027. **Martin J. Foncello (Republican, also Independent).** The incumbent, in the seat since 2023 — he won it in 2022 after Stephen Harding vacated it to run for state Senate. Before the legislature, Foncello served two terms as Brookfield's First Selectman (1999–2003), was called to active Army duty in Washington, D.C. after September 11, 2001, and then spent more than 14 years as a Senior Intelligence Officer with the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, where he served as New York City's liaison to the NYPD, FDNY, and Office of Emergency Management. He's a retired Army lieutenant colonel with 28 years of service, a Boston College graduate, taught statistics and business as an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, and founded Brookfield's Greenridge Tax District and Water Company. ## State Senator — two districts, one for you Brookfield's three voting districts vote for different senators, and everything else on the ballot is the same. Districts 1 and 2 vote in **Senate District 30**; District 3 votes in **Senate District 32**. **District 30: Aaron Zimmer (Democratic) vs. Stephen G. Harding (Republican, also Independent).** Zimmer is a Brookfield Democrat who ran for the 107th House District in 2024; his campaign site is zimmerforct.com. He describes nearly two years of community advocacy against the expansion of an Iroquois natural-gas compressor station in Brookfield, and strong climate and clean-energy positions. Harding is the incumbent and the Senate's minority leader (since 2024). He represented the 107th House District from 2015 to 2023, then won the open 30th Senate seat in 2022\. The district covers Brookfield, New Milford, and 16 other Northwest Corner towns. **District 32: Matt Knickerbocker (Democratic) vs. Eric C. Berthel (Republican).** Knickerbocker was Bethel's First Selectman for 13 years — before that, a decade on Bethel's Board of Education (seven years as chairman), plus time as Bethel's Town Treasurer and as Wilton's first Town Administrator. He holds a graduate degree in public administration. His campaign priorities are school funding, ending unfunded mandates, and full reimbursement of special-education excess costs. Berthel is the incumbent senator for the 32nd District and Connecticut's chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) since 2022 — ALEC named him its Legislator of the Month for October 2026\. He advocates cutting the personal income tax, eliminating the highway use tax, and removing occupational licensing fees. ## Secretary of the State **Stephanie Thomas (Democratic, also Working Families and Independent).** The incumbent — elected in 2022 with 55.2% after one term as state representative (143rd District). From Norwalk; a former nonprofit adviser and small-business owner, and the first Black person to hold the office, which oversees elections and business filings. **Peter Lumaj (Republican).** From Fairfield — a real estate investor and former immigration legal adviser, born in Albania. He has run for statewide office four times before: twice for U.S. Senate, once for governor, and for this office in 2014. ## Treasurer **Erick Russell (Democratic, also Working Families).** The incumbent since 2023 — in 2022 he became the first Black openly gay person elected to statewide office in the country. A lawyer who specialized in municipal finance and pension issues. Connecticut is the only state where the treasurer is the sole fiduciary over pension investments (roughly $69 billion in assets), and that's the race's defining issue: Russell uses ESG factors — climate, labor — in investing, and his opponent wants to curb that. Russell points to three straight years of double-digit returns (top 17% of public pension funds in 2025, 15.1% in FY2026) and launched the Baby Bonds program, which invests $3,200 for each Medicaid-covered newborn. **Fred Wilms (Republican, also Independent).** From Norwalk — a senior banking executive and a former two-term state representative who lost his seat in 2018 and failed to win it back in 2020\. Previously a Norwalk city councilman and chairman of its Board of Estimate and Taxation. He wants to create an investment board that would share fiduciary duty with the treasurer. ## Comptroller **Sean Scanlon (Democratic, also Working Families and Independent).** The incumbent since 2023, from Guilford — previously four terms as state representative (98th District). The office monitors state finances, payroll, and retirement benefits; Scanlon has raised its profile with healthcare-reform work. **Jennifer S. Tooker (Republican).** From Westport — a retired reinsurance executive (a former global marketing and communications manager at Gen Re). She was Westport's first selectwoman from 2021 to 2025, after serving on its Board of Education and Board of Finance. ## Attorney General **William Tong (Democratic, also Working Families).** The incumbent since 2019, from Stamford — a litigator who served six terms as state representative, chairing the Judiciary and Banking committees. He was the first Asian American elected to state office in Connecticut and the first Chinese American elected attorney general in the country. Since the Trump administration returned to office, he has filed or joined more than 40 lawsuits challenging federal policies — including the bid to end birthright citizenship — led the state's Purdue Pharma and opioid-settlement work, and implemented the Connecticut Data Privacy Act. **John Bolton (Republican).** A Westport lawyer in solo practice for more than 35 years, formerly on Westport's Planning and Zoning Commission. His campaign highlights his representation of 40 teachers who objected to required COVID vaccinations. He ran for state representative in 2024 and lost to incumbent Jonathan Steinberg. (Not the former national security adviser — a different person.) ## Judge of Probate, Housatonic District This is the only judicial office on the ballot. The Housatonic District covers Brookfield, Bridgewater, New Fairfield, New Milford, and Sherman. **Robin Mann (Democratic).** The Democratic candidate for the Housatonic District seat, opposing incumbent Marty Landgrebe. **Marty Landgrebe (Republican).** The incumbent probate judge of the Housatonic District since 2011\. Before that he judged the New Milford–Bridgewater district (1999–2011) and served as acting Brookfield probate judge in 2000–2001, per his official Connecticut probate resume. --- *Still to decide when to vote? [Part 1](https://www.brookfieldcurrent.com/early-voting-starts-monday-where-and-when-brookfield-votes/) has the schedule: early voting runs through November 1 (10 a.m.–6 p.m. daily, extended to 8 a.m.–8 p.m. on Oct. 27 and 29) at Town Hall, Room 133; Election Day is November 3.*