Sam Gurwitt File Photo
Kathy Hoyt.
A Republican challenger has emerged to take on an incumbent Democrat in one of the state’s most competitive legislative State Senate districts, the 17th.
The Republican, Hamden small business owner and activist Kathy Hoyt, this weekend announced her candidacy for the seat, which includes portions of Hamden and Naugatuck as well as Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, and Derby.
If she wins her party’s nomination, she will face Democrat Jorge Cabrera, a commercial and food workers union organizer who unseated Republican George Logan in 2020 after narrowly losing to him in 2018.
A real estate agent, Hoyt tried in 2020 to unseat Hamden State Rep. Joshua Elliott in her first run for public office.
Hoyt issued a news release to announce her candidacy. She touched on themes that Republicans are hoping will bring them gains in the state and nationally this year, such as concerns over crime and rising prices.
“Every day I talk to people in the community and hear they are struggling to make ends meet. They are consistently burdened with the continuing demands of inflation, expensive healthcare, taxes and fees. The rise in crime, unsustainable cost of living and the decline of personal freedoms have people frustrated, and concerned with the current leadership of our state. Many are moving elsewhere to live their lives and raise their families. I will stand up and advocate for solutions to bring balance, affordability, safety, and common sense back to Connecticut,” Hoyt is quoted as stating in the release.
“I have watched our state crumble,” she states in a recent campaign video. She criticized policies driven by “radical leftist ideology.” (Watch the video above.)
Cabrera spoke about his first term and his aim of boosting mental health care in a recent interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline Hamden.” Click on the video to watch that interview.