“This year will mark twelve years for me serving in the Connecticut General Assembly. During this time I have had the opportunity to work with and meet so many wonderful people, both on a state level and more importantly on a local level. To me, being able to serve in the legislature is more than a privilege, it is about responsibility and trust that people place in you to represent their interests. I am very honored and humbled to have been given this opportunity. It is my hope that over these last 12 years I have lived up to that responsibility to help make a difference in the lives of the people I represent,” said Sen. Herlihy. “2008 will be my last year representing the people of the 8th Senatorial District as I am announcing today that I will not seek reelection in November.”

Senator Herlihy was first elected to the State Senate in 1998. He currently serves as Deputy Minority Leader and Ranking Member of both the legislature’s Education Committee and Energy & Technology Committee. He is also a member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee as well as the Regulation Review Committee. He has served as a member of the legislature’s Select Committee on Children and The Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Affordable Housing.

As an advocate of controlled state spending and lower taxes Sen. Herlihy said he is proud of what he has accomplished over the last decade. In 1999, Sen. Herlihy took a stand by being the only member of the Senate to vote against a state budget he believed called for more spending than the state could afford. “There have been some good budgets and some not so good budgets over the years and I believe that I have worked hard to make sure all towns benefited from the budgets that were put forth,” said Sen. Herlihy.

Under Sen. Herlihy’s leadership, the towns of the 8th District have received nearly $20 million in additional education funding, an increase of nearly 70% since he took office. As an advocate of open space and farmland preservation, he was able to garner state land acquisition grants to protect some of our region’s most precious resources. He also pointed to his efforts to provide our state’s firefighters with thermal imaging cameras that now give first responders added protection while improving their ability to save the lives of others.

Sen. Herlihy said that one of the most difficult periods of his tenure occurred in 2005 following the horrific traffic accident at the bottom of Avon Mountain. The crash involving an out of control dump truck tragically claimed the lives of four people and injured dozens. In response to this devastating incident, Sen. Herlihy called for the creation of the Avon Mountain Accident Task Force. The task force was created by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and charged with making recommendations to improve the motor vehicle safety along Route 44. Today, those recommendations made by the task force are being put into place, in hopes of improving road safety and preventing what happened in 2005 from ever happening again.

“There are so many people that I want to thank, from my colleagues in legislature, to my staff, to my supporters, to my campaign volunteers. I am so grateful for all you have done for me,” said Sen. Herlihy “Most importantly, I want to thank the people of the 8th District. There’s a reason people want to come to our region of the state, and that’s because of the people who live here. I am forever grateful for the opportunity you have given me and I thank you.”