Kathryn Russell
Kathryn Russell (Republican Party) ran for election to the Connecticut House of Representatives to represent District 36. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kathryn Russell was born in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Dominican High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1973 and a graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business in 1984. Her career experience includes working as a business executive, adjunct professor, and town selectwoman.[1]
Russell has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Deep River Board of Selectmen
- Deep River Rotary
- Deep River Congregational Church
- Deep River Republican Town Committee
- River Valley Transit Board
Elections
2024
See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36
Renee Muir defeated Kathryn Russell in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Renee Muir (D) | 53.0 | 8,022 |
 | Kathryn Russell (R)  | 47.0 | 7,114 | |
| Total votes: 15,136 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Renee Muir advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Kathryn Russell advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 36.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Russell in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kathryn Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Russell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As a Selectwoman I deal with the daily issues of my town and meet the needs of my constituents on a face-to-face basis. I am solidly rooted in the 36th District, having owned my home in Deep River for over 20 years. I am invested in this community where I serve as a board member for River Valley Transit, am a member of the Deep River Rotary, and serve on the Investment Committee of the Deep River Congregational Church. Over the past several years, I have been a board member of the Deep River Public Library, worked in the Shoreline Soup Kitchen, and served on the task-force shaping Deep River's Affordable Housing Plan.
I built a long record of board membership and non-profit volunteer work spanning my business career. I taught Marketing as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut, served on the boards of the United Way Tri-State and the NY Chapter of the American Red Cross, and for many years, did literacy tutoring with elementary students whose primary language was Spanish.- Affordability: As a fiscal conservative, I will apply commonsense fiscal discipline and support policies designed to make life in our towns more affordable and to lower energy costs. I will block new State mandates which result in burdensome costs to our towns and businesses, and will work to keep the State Budget fiscal guardrails intact.
- Community Safety: Our police deserve the resources they need to protect our towns. I will focus on community safety and will work to reduce speeding and crime. I want to work with my colleagues to revisit and revamp the Police Accountability Act which as it is currently constructed, hampers the effectiveness of our first responders.
- I have just started to work on this.
Intelligence
Compassion
Persistence
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Strong financial literacy
1. Listen to the people of the District, understand their point of view and be able to communicate their point of view.
2. Draft and propose legislation on key issues which will represent the view of the people of the district
3. Participate actively in the work of any committee to which they are assigned
4. Attend and actively participate is all session discussions
5. Review all proposed legislation through the lens of how it will impact the residents they represent
6. Vote in accordance to their principles and the will of their constituents
7. Communicate well with their constituents
1. How to ensure that living and doing business in Connecticut is actually affordable for the State's residents and businesses.
2. Determining a lower cost method of energy delivery
3. Building the required infrastructure to support the upcoming energy transformation
4. Positioning the state for business investment and growth
1. One man in his early 70's said: "It doesn't matter who we elect. Everyone promises to do this, that and the other when they are running. When they get up there, they find out that they really can't accomplish anything."
2. A young Mom of two who is also running a small business told me that all the State regulations, fees and taxes are financially challenging and time consuming. The last straw was all the closures on the E. Haddam Swing Bridge and the work being done on the roundabout off Route 154. She said the disruption by the two projects basically shut down her business. She wondered if the timing of these types of projects couldn't be better planned.
3. After talking with me for 10 minutes, one resident said, "You seem sincere and honest. All I want is for someone up there in the legislature to tell the truth."
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
