By John Schwing

WESTPORT — State Sen. Will Haskell, elected to represent the 26th District in 2018 shortly after his graduation from college — becoming the youngest state senator in the nation — said Monday that he will not seek re-election in November.

Haskell, a 2014 Staples High School graduate, gained notoriety after launching a campaign to unseat veteran Republican state Sen. Toni Boucher not long after graduating from Georgetown University in May 2018 — a seat that a Democrat had not won since 1973.

Yet, in what many state and local political observers called an improbable victory, the youthful Democrat defeated Boucher that year and went on to win a second term in 2020. 

Haskell recounts his experiences as a neophyte candidate, and then legislator, in his recently published book, “100,000 First Bosses: My Unlikely Path as a 22-Year-Old Lawmaker.” He is scheduled to discuss the book in a program set for 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Westport Library.

The affluent, largely suburban Senate district includes not only Haskell’s hometown of Westport, but all of Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding, and parts of Bethel, New Canaan and Weston — although under redistricting approved this year, the district loses some northerly precincts and spreads westward into Darien and Stamford.

At the time, Haskell told the CT Mirror he felt the new district boundaries are “reflective of the huge growth in Fairfield County, but especially in Stamford, and the need for some districts to be reworked to accommodate that growth.”

With Haskell deciding not to seek a third term in November, the contest to succeed him can be expected to prompt competitive races on both sides of the political aisle.

In announcing that he will not seek re-election, Haskell said he plans to attend law school and “and spend more time with loved ones.”

“I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to represent the people of the 26th District over the last few years,” Haskell said in the statement. “My constituents took a chance on me when I was just 22, having freshly graduated from college.”

“As a legislator,” he said, “I’ve learned so much about our state, about democracy and myself. I ran for office because I thought my community needed a change. 

“I still think government works best when new voices have a chance to shape public policy, and I think the 26th District is ready for a new voice.”

During his four years in the General Assembly, Haskell served as Senate chairman of the Higher Education & Employment Advancement and Transportation committees, as well as a member of other legislative committees.

Among his “proudest accomplishments,” he said, include  creating the PACT program, Connecticut’s free community college program; helping to pass the “most inclusive” paid family and medical leave program in the nation, and focusing on transportation infrastructure investments.