20 Facts About Matt Lesser

Matthew L Lesser was born on 28 or 29 April 1983 and is an American politician who represents the 9th district in the Connecticut State Senate.

Matt Lesser won election to the state Senate from the 9th district in 2018, and was reelected in 2020 and 2022.

Matt Lesser was elected as Chairman of the Middletown Planning and Zoning Commission.

Matt Lesser received support from State Senator Thomas Gaffey and Middletown DTC Chairman Dan Russo.

Matt Lesser took a leave of absence from Wesleyan in the fall 2008 semester.

Matt Lesser was a member of the member of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee.

Matt Lesser pressed for a review of natural gas pipelines in Connecticut after the 2018 Merrimack Valley gas explosions in neighboring Massachusetts.

In 2013, Matt Lesser voted in favor of the gun control bill that passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

In 2012, Matt Lesser was elected as one of the Connecticut Democratic Party's two delegates to the National Platform Committee ahead of the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

In 2017, Lesser considered running for Connecticut Secretary of the State in 2018 and formed an exploratory committee, but said he would only run if Denise W Merrill did not seek election.

In May 2018, Matt Lesser announced a run for state senator from the 9th district, which includes Cromwell, Newington, Rocky Hill, and portions of Middletown and Wethersfield.

Matt Lesser won the August 2018 primary against former state representative Antonio Guerrera.

The general election featured some controversy when the campaign of Republican nominee, Ed Charamut, of Rocky Hill, sent out a mailer to voters attacking Matt Lesser, featuring an altered image of Matt Lesser clutching $100 bills; the mailer garnered national media attention and was denounced for its use of antisemitic tropes.

In 2023, Matt Lesser was one of several legislators and staff to test positive for COVID-19, prompting the Senate to implement a masking policy.

In 2022, Matt Lesser sought the Democratic nomination for Connecticut Secretary of the State in the 2022 election.

Matt Lesser came in second, losing the party's endorsement to Thomas; although he qualified to run against Thomas in the primary, Matt Lesser dropped out of the race and opted to seek reelection to the state Senate instead.

On January 14,2024, an online petition initiated by Black community leaders criticized Matt Lesser for withdrawing funding for CPREP.

In 2023, Matt Lesser opposed funding of Steve Perry's Capital Preparatory Charter School in Middletown; funding for the charter school was initially allocated by the Appropriations Committee, but was removed from the budget after eleventh-hour maneuvering on the last day of the 2023 legislative session.

Matt Lesser was appointed executive director of the Cancer Support Community of Southern Connecticut in 2014.

Matt Lesser was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2012, and survived.