Deputy Senate Republican Leader Judith G. Freedman represents the 26th Senatorial District, which includes the communities of Bethel, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton.

Senator Freedman presently serves as a member of several legislative committees. She is the ranking Senate member on the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee and, Government, Administration and Elections Committee. She also serves on the Internship Committee, and the Legislative Management Committee. Senator Freedman is most proud of her work as a long-time member of the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee, which oversees the spending side of the state budget-making process.

Senator Freedman is firm believer that state budgets must provide Connecticut residents with high quality, necessary, government services and programs at a cost that is fair to the taxpayers. She strongly believes in paying down state debt as quickly as possible, responsibly preparing for the future by setting aside money in the Rainy Day Fund, and resisting the temptation to break the state’s spending cap except in the event of a true fiscal emergency.

Senator Freedman advocates strictly adhering to the legislative process to assure that both legislators and state residents know what is, and is not, included in the state budget. She believes in complete transparency when in the budget-making process, and often expresses that belief during budget deliberations.

Senator Freedman is a former Senate Chair and Ranking Member of the Education Committee. She was an elementary schools teacher. She also served as Vice Chair of the Westport Board of Education before getting elected to the Connecticut State.

Freedman is active in many local community organizations, as well as national legislative organizations. She is a member of the executive committee of the Eastern Region Council of State Governments; she is the Connecticut steering committee to the Education Commission of the States and leads the Fairfield County bipartisan caucus.

She attended Boston University, the University of Michigan, and holds both a BS and MS from Southern Connecticut State University. She and he husband Sam live in Westport, and are the parents of one daughter.