House Speaker Sharkey to Retire from State Legislature (UPDATED)

HARTFORD, CT — House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, will retire from the state legislature when his term expires in January.

The decision comes following a long and contentious budget battle, which finally saw a $19.76 billion spending plan approved by a 74-70 vote last week.

Sharkey, 54, planned to make a formal announcement on Monday, but the news began to leak late Sunday night and he confirmed that he will step aside, according to the Hartford Courant.

Sharkey issued the following statement on Monday afternoon:

“It has been my honor and privilege to represent Hamden, the best community in Connecticut, for the last 16 years. I’m proud of all we accomplished together, such as passing the strongest gun safety law in the country, repealing the death penalty, and taking significant steps toward regionalizing local government to save taxpayers money.

But in some ways I’m more proud of the things we accomplished that don’t always make it into the newspapers. The laws that we passed that were originally suggested by my constituents when I ran into them in the post office or the grocery store, like tattoo licensing and tree cutting regulations. The things that made real differences in the lives of Hamden families are what I am proudest of as I retire from public service.”

The Courant reports Sharkey joins at least 21 other members of the General Assembly who will not run for re-election, many of them citing the exhausting budget battles as a reason.

Sharkey, who had lined up votes for a rare third term as speaker next year, told the Connecticut Mirror it is an “extremely exhausting part-time job” and as a small business owner with a family it had become less attractive.

The Mirror reports that House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, intends to seek the position of speaker of the House.

Sharkey is serving his eighth term as state representative of the 88th District in Hamden.

Read more at the Connecticut Mirror here and the Hartford Courant here.

Photo via housedems.ct.gov