Matt Lesser

Senator Matthew Lesser represents Connecticut’s ninth district, serving the citizens of Cromwell, Middletown, Newington, Rocky Hill and Wethersfield.

As Deputy Majority leader he is the Chair of the Human Services Committee and Vice Chair of the Veterans’ and Military Affairs Committee.

He is also member of the Appropriations, Insurance & Real Estate, Judiciary, and Labor & Public Employees Committees.

In 2025, Sen. Lesser was the lead author of Connecticut’s landmark Bipartisan Prescription Drug affordability legislation which passed the legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support.

A cancer survivor, Sen. Lesser played an instrumental role in the passage of mental health legislation in 2019 and 2025 that ensures that people receive insurance coverage for people in the state suffering from mental health and substance use disorder conditions as they would for other illnesses and he has championed health care affordability and access throughout his time in office.

Before being elected to the State Senate, Sen. Lesser was a State Representative for the 100th District in Middletown from 2008 to 2019.

While a member of the House, Lesser wrote the nation’s first Student Loan Bill of Rights, first in the nation legislation which regulated student loan servicers and provided support for students and their parents facing the student loan process.

He has received state, national and international recognition for his work on health policy, consumer protection, financial regulation and worker rights; he was named a Milbank Fellow for his leadership on health policy, and was previously named a Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

He previously served as chair of the Banking, Insurance & Real Estate and Internship Committees and has chaired numerous legislative commissions and task forces. He also oversees Connecticut’s Medicaid program as co-chair of the Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council or MAPOC.

Sen. Lesser lives in Middletown’s North End with his wife Sarah and their two children.