Seeking the State Senate: Kim Healy
Kim Healy, the Republican candidate for the State Senate 26th district, is a newcomer to politics. She, her husband, and four children reside in Wilton, where she is active in community organizations.
One such organization is the Wilton Library, where Ms. Healy is a member the Board of Directors.
In the 17-minute video interview (above), Ms. Healy said she was first motivated to seek office upon hearing in 2019 of concept bills filed in the Legislature regarding school regionalization and teacher pension costs. “It made my ears perk up.”
None of the bills made it to the drafting stage or out of committee, but Ms. Healy said they made her wonder, “why is this happening?”
Ms. Healy is by training an accountant and was an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “I’m not politically motivated,” she said, but after consulting with local leaders in Wilton, concluded she “can do a really good job” in the Legislature.
Priorities
Ms. Healy said, if elected, she would make a priority of stopping any attempt to regionalize school districts. On taxation and State spending, she said she is committed to “figuring out why this is happening” and “where the money is going.”
Ms. Healy said she disapproves of the recent Desegregate Connecticut movement. “I don’t see the benefit of some of these proposals that are coming down.” She added, “we do need to protect our towns.”
Ms. Healy said she has been working with local officials to find ways to facilitate affordable housing without “one blanket law for the state.”
The State’s fiscal position
Ms. Healy said she believes having more Republicans in the Legislature would produce better budgets. She said attracting companies like GE to return to the state and encouraging entrepreneurs and other companies to come to Connecticut would produce “a rising tide.”
Utilities
Ms. Healy is pleased that the Legislature’s Take Back Our Grid Act passed with bipartisan support. Utilities, she said, “need to do more to give us the services we need.”
She included internet providers in that group. “People complain more about their Optimum bill than they do about their income taxes,” she said, adding “we need competition.”
The campaign
Ms. Healy decided to run for office just before Covid hit. Launching a campaign in the early stages of a shutdown “was definitely challenging,” she said.
At the same time, she added, “because I’ve never run for office before—and have never even helped on a campaign—this is all new for me.”
She has still campaigned door-to-door—masked, of course—and finds “people are happy to see you.”