Republican Martin Foncello is running for the open state House seat in the 107th District, which includes Brookfield and portions of Bethel and Newtown.  Foncello is a retired Army colonel, a former Homeland Security intelligence officer, and served two terms as Brookfield’s First  Selectman.  He served in Vietnam, the first Gulf War, and in the current war on terror. While serving as First Selectman, he was called back into service for the Army reserves.  He says the economy and affordability are the top issues he's hearing from residents.  Foncello wants to focus on things that can be done at the state level to combat inflation.  He opposes mandates on cities and towns when it comes to affordable housing.  He added that it's more than just 8-30g, it's a matter of getting developers to build housing that's affordable.  Foncello says there's a dent in the bell-shaped curve in the 20 to 40 year old age group, the group most likely to have kids in school.  He attributes that to kids who've gone to college and not returned to the community.  Foncello says Connecticut is the 2nd most taxed state in the country.  He wants to attract businesses here, but says they're also impacted by taxes.  If there are attractive jobs, he says that will make it more attractive for young people to return.  When it comes to gun violence, Foncello says Connecticut has some of the strictest laws in the country on firearms.  He says he'd have to look if there's any additional safety measures that could be put in place, but wants to focus on the related issue of mental health.  He's spoken with a number of doctors and health professionals who say the system infrastructure is decaying and there aren't enough mental health professionals in the area.  Foncello has heard stories of people seeking treatment having to wait up to a year to get seen by a physician.  He'd like to look into how to attract those professionals.  Foncello opposes the early voting initiative on the ballot next week.  He says it will increase the cost of holding elections because security would have to be posted around all of the machines for each night, and the polling facilities will be tied up on those days. He says there's already a procedure for extended voting, absentee ballots, and he supports that.  On infrastructure spending, Foncello would like to see more money put into highways and bridges, but also into cyber security.  He added that cleaning up the lake and general environmental issues should also qualify for infrastructure dollars.

Democrat Phoebe Holmes is also running for the open seat.  She is a member of the Brookfield Zoning Commission.  Holmes calls herself on her campaign website an environmentalist and is looking to pass legislation that fosters climate improvement and a more environmentally friendly world.  On gun legislation, Holmes says that she supports Common sense Gun legislation.  She wants to keep guns in the hands of responsible gun owners and will advocate for the raise of the purchase to age 21. Holmes says on her site that she would like to see the Child Tax Rebate program from this summer become permanent. She is in favor of a wealth-tax on the top 1-3%- the extremely wealthy billionaires and large corporations.  Holmes would support suspending the state’s gas tax for at least two more years