The race for governor may be grabbing headlines, but the closest contests are actually in local General Assembly districts.

This year, Democrats are looking to flip a cluster of affluent Fairfield County suburbs that were once reliably conservative.

In 1976, America celebrated its bicentennial, Gerald Ford was president and disco ruled the airwaves.

It’s also the last time a Democrat represented Connecticut’s 28th Senate District, which covers Fairfield, Easton, Bethel and Newtown.

Rob Blanchard thinks he can reverse that trend.

“I ran in 2024 and a lot of the issues I ran on, like cost of health care, childcare, housing – while we’ve made some progress, in other areas, I think we could improve a lot,” he said.

Blanchard has spent most of the past decade working as a spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont and Comptroller Sean Scanlon. Two years ago, he lost to longtime state Sen. Tony Hwang, a moderate Republican known for crossing party lines.

“Tony was not afraid to stand up to his party on issues like gun safety, joining with Democrats to cut taxes, environmental initiatives and women’s reproductive health care,” Blanchard said. “And just like Tony, I’m happy to buck my party.”

Blanchard’s new opponent doesn’t buy it.

Republican Amybeth Laroche, a member of the Newtown Board of Finance, said Blanchard is a Hartford insider who had years to turn around Connecticut's high cost of living.

“Now he’s asking for a promotion. He wants to trade being Lamont’s spokesman to being Lamont's vote in the state Senate,” Laroche said in a recent campaign video. “For years, the purpose of Rob Blanchard’s job wasn't to fix anything for this district. It was to help Hartford sound better, while it did whatever it wanted anyway.”

Laroche declined an interview request, but in campaign appearances, insists that she is running against the status quo. Hwang, who sometimes rankled fellow Republicans, opted not to run for a sixth term and avoid a potentially bruising primary with Laroche.

“No more sitting quietly, no more looking the other way," she told the Fairfield Republican Town Committee on Oct. 3. "We are fighting for the parent who feels like nobody is listening."

Laroche supports deep tax cuts.

Blanchard called the idea fiscally irresponsible.

“If you had asked me six months ago, I would have said we can look at potentially trimming the income tax again,” he said. “I worry about the potential for a recession and what that could mean for our Rainy Day Fund.”

Like much of western Connecticut, the 28th District is changing.

Hwang is the only remaining Republican in Fairfield’s legislative delegation; he lost a bid for first selectman by a wide margin to Democrat Christine Vitale earlier this year. Newtown is also led by a Democrat, Bruce Walczak.

Both parties are eyeing another former GOP stronghold – the 36th Senate District in Greenwich, currently held by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Fazio.

Only one Democrat has represented the district in the last century, when Alex Kasser unseated Scott Frantz in the “Blue Wave” of 2018. Fazio returned the seat to Republican hands after Kasser resigned three years later.

Another tough battle is being waged in nearby New Canaan, where longtime state Rep. Tom O’Dea – another moderate Republican – faces a challenge from Democrat Meredith Tobitsch, a journalist and community organizer.