Senator Toni Boucher Speaks To NHS Government Class

By John Voket

Touting her support for education and transportation initiatives in Connecticut, as well as her nationally recognized fight against marijuana legalization, Republican State Senator Antonietta “Toni” Boucher came to Newtown High School May 17 to chat for about a half-hour with an American government class.

According to class instructor Candi Dietter, the visit was set up by one of her students, Courtney Berko, after she met the senator in Hartford.

“Courtney pursued and contacted Senator Boucher and asked if she would come and speak,” Ms Dietter told The Newtown Bee. “I often have politicians into class to speak with students to show the students what these politicians do and how what they do affects the students.”

Sen Boucher represents the Fairfield County communities of Bethel, Redding, Ridgefield, Wilton, Weston, Westport, and New Canaan.

She told the class that while she earned her MBA and worked in the world of finance, she was first solicited for public office after speaking up at a local town meeting. An unaffiliated voter at the time, Sen Boucher said she agreed to join an established political party and was immediately tapped to run for a local school board seat.

 She said she ran and won two, eight-year terms on her school board and was subsequently appointed to the state Board of Education. Sen. Boucher advanced to her next level of elected office, winning the State Representative seat from the 143rd Assembly District where she served for 12 years.

She was then appointed to fill a Senate vacancy, and won the seat in her own right in the next general election.

According to her bio, Sen Boucher serves as an Assistant Minority Leader, and is the Senate Ranking Member of the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee and of its Select Committee on Children.

She also serves as a member of the General Assembly’s Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and of its Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee.

She talked about the job of a state senator having three distinct responsibilities.

“One-third of the job is campaigning,” she told the class, adding that to win her senate seat, she had to counter negative campaign tactics of her opposition.

“You have to counteract it with the truth,” Sen Boucher said. “You have to fight.”

The second part of the job, she explained is working and collaboration with members of the many committees she serves, while the third part of the job is handling individual constituent services, as needed.

She told the class that all the activity going on in Washington, D.C., may appear to be “very sexy,” but what is going on in Connecticut is more important from both a politician’s and a citizen’s perspective.

When asked by a student how they could make a difference, Sen Boucher replied, “Just registering to vote is a start.”

“And if you’re interested in politics, you can volunteer to work on a campaign or get involved locally in your town committee,” she said. “And there are Young Republican and Young Democrat chapters at all the colleges.”

Asked about some of her greatest achievements, Sen Boucher said this year, she was instrumental in getting $30 million in federal transportation funding to underwrite a Norwalk to Danbury commuter rail line.

She said she became so notorious in her anti-drug advocacy that her life was threatened at one point, and she had to be escorted in her daily routines for a period of time by a Capital police bodyguard. Although the incident was upsetting to her family, Sen Boucher said that the threat just made her conviction to testify against a medical marijuana initiative in Connecticut even stronger.

“I was determined that no one would shut down the Democratic process,” she said. “And I did kill the bill.”

Another question was posed about her future aspirations, and Sen Boucher said she was interested in possibly running for a national office some day.

Besides her government work, Sen Boucher said she loved to cook so much that for a time she hosted a television program that specialized in Italian cooking.

While Ms Dietter was away for the day, her substitute, Shawn Wadleton, was the teacher in the room when the Senator visited.