Looney Reelected State Senate Prez

New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney will serve another term as the president of the state legislature’s upper chamber, after being reelected to the leadership role by the 24 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Those Democratic state senators took that vote Friday, according to a press release sent out by CT Senate Democrats. They reelected Looney as president pro tempore and Norwalk’s Bob Duff as Senate majority leader.

And Looney will have two more Democratic senators than he had this past session, meaning the party has a veto-proof majority in the upper chamber.

“I want to thank my fellow Senate Democratic caucus members for their votes of confidence in my leadership of the caucus,” Looney is quoted as saying in the press release issued Friday. ​“It is the honor of a lifetime to lead the State Senate chamber, an institution steeped in history and the ability to do so much good for the people of our state. I look forward to working with my fellow Democrats to create and pass public policies that benefit Connecticut’s hardworking families. With the experience, diversity, and energy of our caucus, we are going to move this state forward on a number of vital public policy fronts.”

Looney, who was reelected Tuesday to the State Senate’s 11th District seat, has served as the upper chamber’s president since 2015. Before that, he served as the majority leader from 2003 to 2014.

Earlier this week he told the Independent he hopes this term to see the Democrats push for a more progressive tax structure, a public option for health care, and more funding for public education.

Looney is the only state legislative leader of the four top Connecticut General Assembly roles to remain in office next session, which begins on Jan. 6.

Democratic House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, Republican Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, and House Republican Leader Themis Klarides are all retiring at the end of this year.

The new House speaker will be Hartford Democrat Matt Ritter, and the new top Republicans in the State Senate and House will be Stratford’s Kevin Kelly and Guilford’s Vincent Candelora, respectively.

Democrats control both chambers of the state legislature for the second term in a row following Tuesday’s election, which also saw every local Dem win reelection. They will have a 98 – 53 majority in the House and a 24 – 12 majority in the Senate.