Connecticut Senate President Looney in Need of Kidney Transplant

NEW HAVEN, CT—Connecticut Senate President Martin Looney is in need of a kidney donor.

Looney's church Saint Rose of Lima in New Haven put a message on its Facebook page urging those who would consider donating to contact Yale-New Haven Hospital's organ donation line at 866-925-3897.

"My dear brothers, Senator Martin Looney, a parishioner of Santa Rosa de Lima and great fighter for this community, is sick," said the Rev. James Manship in the Facebook post. "His only kidney is failing. He needs a transplant. There's no one in the family of him who has a kidney match."

Looney is in his 12th term in the state senate. He was first elected to the state senate in 1992 and was elected as president pro tempore of the senate in January 2015. He was the senate majority leader for 12 years prior and was first elected as a legislator in 1980.

He lives in New Haven with his wife Ellen and has a son and two grandchildren.

Looney served as acting governor while Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman were out of state at the Democratic National Convention, according to the New Haven Independent. He would become lieutenant governor if Hillary Clinton were elected president and rumors came true about Malloy getting a federal post.