Stephanie Thomas (Connecticut)

Stephanie Thomas

Democratic Party

Candidate, Connecticut Secretary of State

Connecticut Secretary of State

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Mark Kohler

Prior offices

Connecticut House of Representatives District 143

Successor: Dominique Johnson

Predecessor: Gail Lavielle

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Compensation

Base salary

$206,062

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

New York University, 1991

Graduate

New School University, 1996

Personal

Profession

Business owner

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Official TikTok

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Stephanie Thomas (Democratic Party) is the Connecticut Secretary of State. She assumed office on January 4, 2023. Her current term ends on January 6, 2027.

Thomas (Democratic Party) is running for re-election for Connecticut Secretary of State. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Biography

Stephanie Thomas earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from New York University in 1991 and a master's degree in nonprofit management from the New School in 1996. Thomas' career experience includes owning a business and working as a fundraising consultant. She has been affiliated with the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Women in Development, Nonprofit New York, the Carver Center, and the Norwalk Housing Authority Scholarship Fund.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.

2021-2022

Thomas was assigned to the following committees:

• Government Administration and Elections Committee, Vice Chair
• Transportation Committee, Member
• Commerce Committee, Member

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2026

See also: Connecticut Secretary of State election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Connecticut Secretary of State

Incumbent Stephanie Thomas is running in the general election for Connecticut Secretary of State on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Stephanie Thomas (D)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

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2022

See also: Connecticut Secretary of State election, 2022

General election

General election for Connecticut Secretary of State

Stephanie Thomas defeated Dominic Rapini and Cynthia Jennings in the general election for Connecticut Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Thomas (D / Working Families Party)	55.2	687,714
		Dominic Rapini (R)	42.7	532,218
		Cynthia Jennings (Independent Party)	2.0	25,488

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,245,420
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Connecticut Secretary of State

Stephanie Thomas defeated Maritza Bond in the Democratic primary for Connecticut Secretary of State on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Thomas	75.8	84,514
		Maritza Bond	24.2	26,956

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 111,470
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Hilda Santiago (D)
• Matthew L. Lesser (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Connecticut Secretary of State

Dominic Rapini defeated Terrie Wood in the Republican primary for Connecticut Secretary of State on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dominic Rapini	58.2	51,219
		Terrie Wood	41.8	36,749

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 87,968
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brock Weber (R) (Unofficially withdrew)

2020

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 143

Stephanie Thomas defeated Patrizia Zucaro in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 143 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Thomas (D / Working Families Party)	55.4	8,362
		Patrizia Zucaro (R / Independent Party)	44.6	6,730

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 15,092
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Stephanie Thomas advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 143.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Patrizia Zucaro advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut House of Representatives District 143.

2018

See also: Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 143

Incumbent Gail Lavielle defeated Stephanie Thomas in the general election for Connecticut House of Representatives District 143 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gail Lavielle (R)	51.5	6,094
		Stephanie Thomas (D)	48.5	5,733

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,827
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Stephanie Thomas has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Stephanie Thomas, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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2022

Stephanie Thomas completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thomas' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Stephanie Thomas is the endorsed Democrat for Secretary of the State in the August 9 primary. She is a current State Representative and small business owner who knows what it takes to build herself from the ground up. Stephanie is running because she believes civic education and community engagement are key to protecting voting rights and reconnecting people to our government and the voting process. The government should work for all of us, whether you are a business owner, voter, consumer, or those often left behind.

Stephanie graduated from NYU and received her Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management. As a small business owner, she has spent three decades advising and problem-solving for nonprofit organizations. Experienced in business strategy and fundraising, Stephanie understands what it takes to grow and maintain a successful enterprise and the value of integrity and transparency.

As Vice Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, Stephanie sponsored and helped pass a variety of voter-focused bills such as automatic voter registration at state agencies and resolutions to advance early voting and no-excuse absentee ballot voting.

Stephanie is passionate about civic engagement. She is a natural leader and consensus builder, with an insistence that government work for all.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• You cannot force people to vote, you must inspire them. Civic education and civic engagement for young people and adults are necessary to complement voter access. Community members and leaders must be engaged to educate the public on our voting methods and voting rights.
• Implement early voting and no-excuse absentee voting to fuel civic engagement and increase ballot accessibility. Ensure all of our towns implement fair, safe, and accessible elections, and maintain a trusted and transparent relationship with our Town Clerks and Registrars.
• Utilize the power of data to provide information to businesses across the state to help them tap into available programs, funding, and resources.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Stephanie Thomas is a fierce advocate for protecting voting rights, expanding accessibility to the ballot, implementing early voting, and fostering civic engagement. Due to the language in the state constitution, Connecticut is not able to allow for in-person early voting by simply passing a law to do so. Consequently, Connecticut is one of only several states that allow no form of early voting.

This year in Connecticut, the state must implement a strong outreach campaign to reach voters to educate them about the question on the ballot to support early voting. Once this initiative is approved by the general voting public, a bill would need to be raised to support early voting in Connecticut and undergo the usual public hearing process and pass a vote in both chambers - the House and Senate - in order for early voting to be adopted.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Thomas’s campaign website stated the following:

“	TRANSPARENCY, ADVOCACY, AND INTEGRITY My Top Priorities Ensuring that our towns have the resources and infrastructure to implement fair, safe, and accessible elections (from tabulators to telephone help)! Serving as a leader in cooperation with ROVAC and CTCA to work with the General Assembly to implement early voting and no-excuse absentee voting when those ballot measures become law. Using the power of data to provide information to businesses across the state that will help them tap into available programs, funding, and resources. Serve as a convener and open up channels of communication with all the stakeholders of the office: from community groups and voting rights advocates to businesses to frontline election workers. Transparency Focused on communication and transparency, ensuring that information is made public on a timely and clear basis and that residents can easily find the information they need. Committed to partnering with all groups and political parties in an open and transparent manner. Advocacy Determined to continue the work that Governor Lamont and Secretary Merrill have spearheaded to utilize technology smartly – streamlining paperwork and creating one-stop-shopping for Connecticut’s businesses and entrepreneurs. Committed to work with schools, community organizations, religious institutions, and other stakeholder groups to foster greater civic engagement. Voting is the very underpinning of our democracy, and apathy is winning as many elections as are our political parties. Committed to bring town clerks and registrars of voters to the table to discuss their challenges and find 21st Century solutions to ensure that every city and town succeeds. Committed to ensuring every Connecticut city and town has the funding and resources it needs to educate their electorate and implement fair and safe elections. Integrity Focused on restoring trust in our elections by fair dealing and embracing listening tours around the state even after elected. Committed to ensuring access to the ballot box for all eligible voters through an increased focus on voter registration efforts. Committed to ensuring that all voters are enfranchised; will further solutions that benefit all voters such as individuals with disabilities, caregivers, business owners, holders of multiple jobs, college students, and others who require effective access to the ballot box.	”
—Stephanie Thomas’s campaign website (2022)

2020

Stephanie Thomas completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thomas' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Voter access, affordable health care, small business assistance, and public transportation improvements are just a few of the issues that I support strongly. However, I am running because I believe apathy has been winning as many elections as Democrats or Republicans because politics have replaced governance.

I have always tried to embody public service in my community through my work with the nonprofit sector and my volunteer activities. I see government as a natural extension of this work and believe that I can make a difference across a number of issues for my district through my ability to listen, build consensus, make tough decisions, and most importantly, serve as a proactive voice for values that are often labeled Democratic, but I believe are human values.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• It is time to bring urgency to the legislature. Solutions cannot move at a glacial pace any longer.
• Voter access is the first step in ensuring that our democracy reflects the wants of it's citizens. Connecticut has some of the most restrictive voting rights in the county which need to be changed.
• Intervention is always more expensive than prevention. Let's focus on prevention and innovation to move Connecticut forward.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

*We need to ensure that our healthcare is accessible and affordable - in times of crisis and always.

• Systems that will make it easier for residents to vote such as no-excuse absentee ballots, online requests for absentee ballots, early voting, and Automatic Voter Registration.
  
• Our natural resources are one of the best things about living in Connecticut and should be protected.
  
• We need gun laws that expand upon the work of activists and legislators to make Connecticut an even safer place.
  
• We need 21st century infrastructure to have a 21st century economy.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Stephanie Thomas campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Connecticut Secretary of State	Won general	$1,531,601	$1,470,455
2020	Connecticut House of Representatives District 143	Won general	$25,111	N/A**
2018	Connecticut House of Representatives District 143	Lost general	$34,859	N/A**
Grand total			$1,591,571	$1,470,455
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Connecticut

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Connecticut scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2022

In 2022, the Connecticut State Legislature was in session from February 9 to May 4.

• Connecticut AFL-CIO

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor policy.

• Connecticut Business & Industry Association: Senate and House

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

• Connecticut Citizen Action Group

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.

• Connecticut League of Conservation Voters

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.

• Family Institute of Connecticut Action: Senate and House

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to family issues.

• National Federation of Independent Business

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].
In 2021, the Connecticut State Legislature was in session from January 6 to June 9. Connecticut League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2026 Elections

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Mark Kohler (D)	Connecticut Secretary of State 2023-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by Gail Lavielle (R)	Connecticut House of Representatives District 143 2021-2023	Succeeded by Dominique Johnson (D)