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I'm Mark Sudall. Welcome back to Power and Politics. Jill Oberlander, who has held several positions in town government in Greenwich, is here to talk about her run for state senate. Welcome. Thanks so much, Mark. I'm super glad to be here. Well, we're glad to have you. Now, uh, of course, the hardest question I'm gonna ask you, maybe the most obvious, is why are you running for Ryan Fazio's old seat, the thirty-sixth district? Yes, uh, thanks for starting with that. I think you realize and a lot of the viewers will realize the state legislatures are where it's at these days really really important um my career has been I'm a lawyer um and I've worked in and around government for most of my career and served in Greenwich Town government it's always come back to making government work better for the people. Most of my positions have been because I. You know, I care about our institutions and I care about our people. So given the moment that we're in where state legislatures are so important and um knowing from my work experience, whether it be in law, nonprofits, government policy that elective office is the single most direct way to improve people's lives, I think that's like the single most direct way so. Having an open seat, I thought I have to step forward. This is the time absolutely. uh so how does your experience as an attorney in the nonprofit sector you think helped you in this role? Oh sure, I have a lot of experience with legislation, whether it be drafting, reviewing, reading the fine print on whether it's legislation rules, regulations, that's part of it. I'm great with stakeholders. I've done a lot of stakeholder engagement over the years to understand and listen to what they want and need, and then I'm really good with compromise as well, um, advocate advocating for my position and my, um, constituents' positions, but also finding opportunities for compromise, finding solutions. So I think all of these careers, and then I just love government truthfully. I love making. Government work better for people whether it be on on parks which has been my was my first job and my most recent job infrastructure um all aspects of it so now as you know the district uh you know primarily covers Greenwich, but then there's parts of Stanford and New Canaan as well um so I imagine you've been kind of out, you know, talking to folks so what do you hear? What what would they like to see happen? Yeah, so uh thank you for that. Yes, I've been out and about. I think that's the most important part of the campaign process and also when you're elected to talk to your constituents, talk to the voters, find out what they care about, and I'll tell you these are some of the things that I'm hearing right now at the doors. People want their government to work better and they want them to work for them. They want to protect local zoning. They are worried about costs, the costs of the things that I'm most hearing healthcare, um, energy costs, um, housing costs, of course, and, um. Just sort of, you know, electricity bills, things like that and um. And I, I had another point, but I can't think of it right now on the, uh, on the screen. I mean, you certainly have a diverse, you know, age group in Greenwich, but you certainly have some, some older folks, and I'm sure that they're thinking about not only healthcare, but, you know, Social Security and things like that as well. You know what, no one has mentioned Social Security actually that is not a cost that they're really talking about. They talk about um. Uh, staying in their community, right, and being able to age with their friends and their, um, network, that's super important to people. They talk about, you know, the public benefit charge discussion that's been going on on the electricity bills and how to manage those kinds of costs. They talk about health care costs. No, I haven't met him yet. I don't know a lot about him, but, uh, Greenwich Republican Joe Kelly is also running for this seat. Uh, why do you think, uh, and can you say, would you be a better candidate? Oh yeah, um, well, first of all, you know, Joe and I have known each other. We're both involved in the community. Uh, we do have some similarities. We both have red hair. That's what I like to say more than he does that's, you know, I'm glad you said it. It's on my list of, of, um, we both like rugby, you know, he was a coach, my brother's a rugby player, my nephew's a rugby player. I can be a little scrappy myself, but not in the from. So, um, so we do have some commonalities, uh, both from big families, um, but. But we're, we're different. I'm a centrist independent Democrat, right, so I am fiscally conservative, socially more progressive, res reflective of our district. That's what the district is, and I think that's what they're looking for and that's what they want. As a, as a Democrat, I'll have the ability to speak to the majority, you know, let's face it, we are a majority blue state. And we need to be able to, as I said, to talk to, uh, the, you know, all sides, get all views compromised, um, represent our district. The Republicans that have held this seat, they're, um, they're a little bit more limited on, on how they can act, um, and how they vote truthfully. They end up voting in lockstep with their party. Um, they've actually told me that that's their negotiating strategy, right, that in order to negotiate with the majority Democrats they vote in bloc. I don't have those limitations. I'll be able to really represent the people of our district in a. Smart centrist way I don't have to vote with the majority um in the same there's not the same kind of pressure on me and so I think our district will be better represented as a result we'll be able to talk to the majority yet we can represent our views. Now back in 2014 you ran for state rep in the 150th district but lost by just 244 votes. That's right, that's 122 people, right? So, um, why is this run a little bit different you think? Yes, so, um, thank you for asking me about that. I never thought I'd run for office. Actually I'm a policy person basically. I, you know, I like to find um the solutions and policy. Someone asked me to run and I believe in saying yes to opportunity and it was a fantastic experience. They didn't tell me when they asked me to run and before they endorsed me that Democrats hadn't won. In 100 years truthfully, so I went into it really kind of blindly and I didn't have any idea how hard it would be and I think it was transformational actually if you look at the pathway for Democrats in Greenwich in particular, um, since that time that's a purely Greenwich seat so now I'm much more rooted in the community. I have a better idea of of what I'm doing and truthfully it's um wear more purple. Uh, district than we were back then. Yeah, it seems like the tide has shifted a little bit for sure. Well, Jill, thank you so much for the time and wish you all the best of luck. Thank you for having me. It's just been great. I'm very emotional already. I will try not to cry. A 5th grade graduation with a surprise visitor. This Iraq veteran's emotional reunion with her daughter.

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RTCTPowerPolitics06272026CBlock230pm

Congressman Jim Himes and Senator Richard Blumenthal just returned from the front lines in Ukraine. After 4 years, they say the war may finally be moving in Ukraine's favor. News 12 Connecticut's John Craven tells us why. Senator Richard Blumenthal has been to Ukraine 10 times, but the war's human toll is always stunning. Nothing is more heartbreaking. Than to meet with children who have been kidnapped by Russians, put in education camps. Blumenthal and Congressman Jim Himes just spent 5 days on the front lines. On Monday, they told Ukrainians in Stamford that after 4 long years, the tide is finally turning. Their development of drone technology, their ability to strike targets deep in Russia, they sense that they are winning. Ukraine is now developing its own drones. Even striking targets in Moscow. It's our biggest advantage and why it's so hard for Russia to destroy this program because we split up. We don't have any command centers and we use dozens of places. Well, despite Ukraine's military advances, Blumenthal and Himes both say the war in Iran is complicating things. President Volodymyr Zelensky asked both leaders for reinforcements. But the war in Iran has made that a challenge. We use so many of the interceptors that we might have otherwise given the Ukraine, the Ukrainians to save lives in Kiev. We use them in the Persian Gulf. President Trump may soon let American companies build air defense missiles in Ukraine. It is now manufacturing its own drones. It will begin its own air defense munitions. It is becoming more and more self-sufficient for Ukrainians in Connecticut, a glimmer of hope. After years of war in Stamford, John Craven, News 12, Connecticut. In Norwalk, an emotional reunion for a 5th grader at Cranberry School this week. Her mother, Air Force Sergeant Erica Gilday, surprised her at graduation. Gilday and her husband have both been deployed overseas all year. Yesterday she asked me and then she said, Oh mama, I wish you were here, uh, for my graduation. I said, Oh, maybe next year. Riley's mom contacted me about 2 weeks ago and said that she had made arrangements to come here to be present for the promotion, and we were very happy to put the surprise together for her. Now the Gilday family's time in Connecticut will be short. They ship out for North Carolina later this summer. That's all our time. I'm Mark Sudoff. Thanks for watching.

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Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Democratic state Senate District 36 candidate Jill Oberlander join the show this week.

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