Herron Gaston
Herron Gaston (Democratic Party) is a member of theConnecticut State Senate, representingDistrict 23. He assumed office on January 4, 2023. His current term ends on January 6, 2027.
Gaston (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) ran for re-election to theConnecticut State Senate to representDistrict 23. He won in the general election onNovember 5, 2024. He advanced from the Democratic primary onAugust 13, 2024.
Biography
Herron Gaston earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration from Florida A&M University in 2008 and 2010, respectively; a master's degree in theology, master's degree in divinity, and doctorate in counseling psychology from Yale University in 2014, 2015, and 2018, respectively; and a juris doctor from Quinnipiac University in 2021. Herron's career experience includes founding and directing the Gaston Justice Coalition Group and working as an author, an assistant chief administrative officer with the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a national political commentator with The Sisaundra Show. He served as the president of the Civil Service Commission in the City of Bridgeport.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 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.
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Gaston was assigned to the following committees:
- Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee
- Housing Committee,Vice-Chair
- Human Services Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Public Safety and Security Committee,Co-Chair
2023-2024
Gaston was assigned to the following committees:
- Environment Committee
- Human Services Committee,Vice Chair
- Judiciary Committee
- Public Safety and Security Committee,Co-Chair
- Transportation Committee
Elections
2024
See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Connecticut State Senate District 23
IncumbentHerron Gaston defeatedBrian Banacowski andErnest Newton in the general election for Connecticut State Senate District 23 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Herron Gaston (D / Working Families Party) | 77.1 | 15,848 |
| Brian Banacowski (R) | 19.3 | 3,969 | ||
| Ernest Newton (New Movement Party) | 3.6 | 746 | ||
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 20,563 | ||
 = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 23
IncumbentHerron Gaston defeatedErnest Newton in the Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 23 on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Herron Gaston | 71.6 | 1,824 |
| Ernest Newton | 28.4 | 723 | ||
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 2,547 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled.Brian Banacowski advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 23.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gaston in this election.
2022
See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Connecticut State Senate District 23
Herron Gaston defeatedMichael Garrett andJuliemar Ortiz in the general election for Connecticut State Senate District 23 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Herron Gaston (D) | 76.2 | 8,194 |
| Michael Garrett (R) | 17.5 | 1,883 | ||
| Juliemar Ortiz (Working Families Party) | 6.3 | 673 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 10,750 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 23
Herron Gaston defeated incumbentDennis Bradley in the Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 23 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Herron Gaston | 52.2 | 1,775 |
 | Dennis Bradley | 47.8 | 1,628 | |
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 3,403 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled.Michael Garrett advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 23.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Herron Gaston did not completeBallotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Herron Gaston did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
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 theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.
| Year | Office | Status | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Connecticut State Senate District 23 | Won general | $249,160 | $249,765 |
| 2022 | Connecticut State Senate District 23 | Won general | $229,410 | $229,370 |
| Grand total | $478,570 | $479,135 | ||
| Sources:OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). | ||||
Scorecards
Ascorecard 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 toeditor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2024, theConnecticut State Legislature was in session from February 7 to May 8.
|
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2023, theConnecticut State Legislature was in session from January 4 to June 7.
|
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Candidate Connecticut State Senate District 23 | Officeholder Connecticut State Senate District 23 | Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dennis Bradley (D) | Connecticut State Senate District 23 2023-Present | Succeeded by - |
- 2022 challenger
- 2022 general election (winner)
- 2022 primary (winner)
- 2024 general election (winner)
- 2024 incumbent
- 2024 primary (winner)
- Connecticut
- Connecticut State Senate candidate, 2022
- Connecticut State Senate candidate, 2024
- Current member, Connecticut State Senate
- Current state legislative member
- Current state senator
- Democratic Party
- State Senate candidate, 2022
- State Senate candidate, 2024
- State senate candidates
- Working Families Party
