The 92nd house district. Two veterans of local Democratic politics — one a Millennial, another a member of Gen Z — are taking steps to challenge 21-term incumbent Pat Dillon to represent a west-side state legislative seat that last changed hands during the Reagan administration. Dillon, a Democrat, first won election to the 92nd district seat in the state House of Representatives in 1984. The district covers parts of Westville, West River, Edgewood, the Hill, and upper Westville/Amity/Beverly Hills. On Friday, Dillon filed paperwork indicating she plans to run in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election in pursuit of another two-year term. Her campaign’s treasurer is Yesenia Rivera and her campaign’s deputy treasurer is Nicholas Fabiani. “I’m excited about the work that we do. I love the district,” Dillon said when asked why she’s running for another term. “We face a lot of challenges based on changes in the federal budget,” she said. In particular, she wants to do everything she can to protect the many jobs in New Haven that are imperiled by Trump administration funding cuts to the National Institute of Health and other federal science programs. “I want to protect the jobs in science,” she said. Losing those jobs could “puncture a hole in our future.” Asked about accomplishments she’s most proud of from her current term in office, Dillon pointed to the state legislature setting aside $500 million “to cover any problems that we had on the federal level,” the passage of an amended version of a housing bill designed to help address the state’s housing shortage, and the “massive investment in children” with the creation of a $300 million Early Childhood Endowment. At a more local level, Dillon described helping land more than $6 million in Community Investment Fund for new affordable housing in Dwight; securing $500,000 to plan for a response to flooding in lower Westville Village; helping preserve Continuum of Care’s affordable housing on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard; working with other New Haven legislators to bring in $800,000 for repairing a bridge, fixing trails, and improving the skate park in Edgewood Park; helping bring in more a $3 million bump for special education funding from the state; and increasing funding for federally qualified health centers. “We’re in the process of talking about priorities right now,” she said when asked about what’s at the top of her to-do list of reelected to another term in November. But she knows that working to help preserve funding for jobs in the sciences will be critical. She described the state delegation as “the firewall, the protection [against] what’s going on in Washington. While Dillon is the only candidate so far to file to run in the 92nd house district, two other Democratic politicos who are relative newcomers to Westville — former Hamden Legislative Councilman Justin Farmer and former Downtown/East Rock Alder Eli Sabin — are also both seriously considering runs for that same seat and have begun making inquiries in the district. They confirmed those likely runs in separate phone interviews with the Independent on Monday. Farmer served for six years on Hamden’s legislative council and ran for state senate in Hamden and the Valley in 2020. He is currently finishing an interdisciplinary studies degree at Southern Connecticut State University while also working for the Six Lakes Coalition. Farmer said that he had talked with Dillon about his intentions to run for the seat, especially if Sabin throws his hat in the ring. “I’m most likely going to run at this point,” he said. “It would be very hard for me to put the genie back in the bottle.” He praised Dillon as “a hard worker,” as someone who consistently “shows up.” Farmer said he’s running in part on a platform of generational change. “None of these seats belong to politicians. They belong to the community,” he said. “Also, we have to train, build up people, have people ready, because we don’t know what the future holds.” Some of the issues most motivating his potential run for office, he said, include “public safety, whether we’re talking about what’s going on at the local level or ICE,” as well as increasing and more equitably distributing state funding for public education. He spoke with pride about championing a right to counsel program during his unsuccessful run for state senate, given that the state legislature subsequently adopted such a program to increase legal representation for tenants in housing court. In a separate phone interview, Sabin also described a potential run for the state legislative seat. “I’m still very seriously considering it,” Sabin said when asked if he’ll be running for the 92nd district seat. “I’m having lots of conversations with folks in the district about what they’re hoping to see” and “I want to make sure to be thoughtful about the decision.” When talking with people in the district, Sabin said, he’s heard time and again concerns about “public schools and funding for education,” property taxes, traffic calming on Whalley Avenue, and public safety in regards to smoke and vape shops. He said he’s also heard “a lot of concerns about immigration, about what the city and state are doing to protect the immigrant community” against the Trump administration. Sabin said he still wants to talk with Dillon before deciding whether or not he’s officially going to run. The post 3-Way Race Takes Shape For State Rep Seat appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less