Alex Burns of Weston is challenging incumbent Democrat Anne Hughes for the seat in the State House of Representatives for the 135th District, which as of this election includes part of Easton as well as Weston and Redding.
Learn more about Alex and his platform below, as also shared with the Easton Courier:
My name is Alex Burns. I’m 24 and I’m currently a long-time resident of Weston. I was born in Newton, Massachusetts and spent the first few years of my life in Portland, Maine. However, I moved to Weston in 2008 or so and have been here ever since. I went through Weston Intermediate, Middle, and High School and had quite a good time doing so! I then went to Quinnipiac University where I received a bachelor’s in political science. In my final year of college, I decided to join the Weston Republican Town Committee as a member to get involved in politics and put my political science training to good use. I volunteered to help in the upcoming 2021 municipal elections and was also asked to run and serve on the Weston Planning and Zoning Commission. While the ticket in town ultimately did not win, I was able to win my election for the commission, a position I’ve been serving in since. In early 2022 I became the chairman of the Weston Republican Town Committee. When I’m not doing something in relation to politics, I’m a regular attendee at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Weston where, when not campaigning, I sing in the choir. I’m also a new member of Kiwanis and look forward to contributing time to help and serve in that organization. I currently work as a legal assistant at a law firm in Fairfield where I work most often with real estate and land use attorneys. When it comes to personal activities, I like to hike in all of the wonderful parks we have nearby. I enjoy listening to music classics like Nat King Cole. I’m also a big fan of American and European history so I spend a lot of time reading about that as well!
What I want to do is provide our district with a pragmatic legislator who in Hartford will work with Republicans and Democrats to benefit Easton and the 135th as a whole and not simply toe the party line. On the matter of local control, I’m firmly in the camp of keeping government local. I think that no matter how well intentioned a Hartford bureaucrat may be, they know as much about Easton, Connecticut as they do Easton, Washington. Mandatory regionalization coming out of Hartford helps no one and only makes government more unresponsive. That said though, I do support towns pursuing voluntary regionalization. Whether it be matters relating to health like the Aspetuck Health district, which is a joint effort between Weston, Easton, and Westport. Or whether it be Easton and Redding sharing Joel Barlow High School. If two or more towns in an area want to collaborate and regionalize a certain government function, I support it. But nothing coming from Hartford without the consent of the towns.
Another point I’d like to talk about is the dismal fiscal state of our state. We’re $90 billion dollars in debt and continuing to tax as much as we do and spend as much as we do will only make that debt worse. What’s particularly egregious about debt is that not only is it a tax on all of us currently living, but on those who have yet to be born. That simply isn’t fair. To address that it means we’re going to have to cut spending and tighten our belt a bit. Now, many would think this means we’ll need to do massive cuts to our social programs that many people rely on. This simply isn’t true. Government can be both fiscally responsible and provide quality services for those who may need it. To say otherwise simply isn’t true. To do it, I plan on going into the budget and making small cuts here and there that will add up to something large. For example, Connecticut routinely overbudgets the capital projects budget for the Department of Transportation by around $100 million dollars a year. Let’s take some of that money and give it back to the tax payer and use the rest to work to paying back our debt. By also working with the private sector, we can potentially really cut down on costs and provide services of a similar quality without spending at the crazy rates we currently do.
Finally, I’d like to emphasis my concern over clean water. In Easton there was gasoline found in the water and in Weston Public Schools they found PFAS in the water. Water is one of our most precious resources. I want to go to Hartford and work to keep our water clean and safe. My platform is about local, bipartisan issues, and I’ll work with either party Hartford to make it happen. Easton deserves someone who will advocate for Easton and I’m that person.
To learn more, please visit https://www.alexburnsforstaterep.com.