Kami Evans is the Republican and Independent Party candidate for State Senate in the 26^th district. The district encompasses Weston, Westport, Wilton, Redding, and parts of Ridgefield, Darien, New Canaan, and Stamford.

This is the first run at elective office for Ms. Evans, who described herself as “a single mom with two daughters living in 850 square feet with three bedrooms and one bath.”

Ms. Evans said she was contacted by a Republican search committee shortly after moving from New Canaan to Westport, where she had lived before, and immediately agreed to run. “I get a rush from serving the community,” she said.

“I feel that everything has spiraled down in the last few years,” said Ms. Evans. “I don’t like how things are being run. I didn’t need to run for office, I had to run. I want a safe place for my kids to grow up.”

“I looked at my own circumstances and saw an opportunity to make a difference for myself and my kids,” she said, and likened it to being on an airplane that plunges in turbulence.

“You put on your own oxygen mask first,” she said. “Then you can take care of everybody else. There’s room at the table for everyone, but please don’t take my seat.”

Ms. Evans said she is “all about community engagement and bringing people together.” She said she manages or supports more than 60 social media groups, and has started her own corporate communications firm with a particular emphasis on nonprofits. “We have to find ways to get people together,” she said. “The only way to get to know other people is to go out and get to know other people.”

Ms. Evans said her priorities in office would be education and public safety, but acknowledged that if elected, her first order of business would be to absorb a huge amount of information.

Ms. Evans described herself as “a common sense moderate.” She said she favors increasing funding for police and “taking the handcuffs off” law enforcement. She said she is concerned about a spike in utility rates, and questioned the public benefits surcharge and whether it is being used for the right purposes.

On the issue of affordable housing, Ms. Evans said she wants “to have a conversation about local control,” and believes “8-30g isn’t working.” That statute, under certain circumstances, gives developers of affordable housing a path to judicial appeal if their permit applications are wrongly denied by zoning authorities. “We have to protect our land use rights,” said Ms. Evans.

Rather than strictly focusing on affordable housing, she said, “we should focus on education and employment opportunities for low-income people.”

“I’m an innovator,” said Ms. Evans. “I like trying to find ways to make magic for people. If you let people stay at a certain level, they would stay. I want everyone to do well, but let’s do it the right way.”