Connecticut House of Representatives

Minority

(151 seats) (151 seats) Connecticut State Capitol Hartford, Connecticut The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The House convenes within the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford.

History

The House of Representatives has its basis in the earliest incarnation of the General Assembly, the "General Corte" established in 1636 whose membership was divided between six generally elected magistrates (the predecessor of the Connecticut Senate) and three-member "committees" representing each of the three towns of the Connecticut Colony (Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor). The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, replaced the committees with deputies; each town would elect three or four deputies for six-month terms. Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. The Charter of 1662 reduced the number of deputies per town to no more than two, and also changed the title of the legislature to the General Assembly. It was in 1698 that the General Assembly divided itself into its current bicameral form, with the twelve assistants (that replaced the magistrates) as the Council (which became the Senate in the 1818 constitution) and the deputies as the House of Representatives, which began electing the Speaker to preside over it. The terms of representatives were raised to two years in 1884.

Leadership of the House

The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House resolution. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker is also its chief leadership position and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the chamber.

The current Speaker is Matthew Ritter of the 1st House District the includes part of Hartford. The Majority Leader is Jason Rojas of the 9th House District which includes part of East Hartford and part of Manchester. The Minority Leader is Republican Vincent Candelora of the 86th House District that includes part of Durham, part of East Haven, part of Guilford, and North Branford.

Composition of the House of Representatives

List of current members

Current members of the Connecticut House of Representatives, as of January 6, 2026.

Past composition of the House of Representatives

Main article: Political party strength in Connecticut

Notable former House members

1700s

• Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut Colony, Governor of Connecticut
• Roger Sherman, First Mayor of New Haven, Constitutional Signatory, United States Congressman, United States Senator
• Jonathan Trumbull Jr. Aide-de-camp to General Washington, Congressman, US Senator, 20th Governor of Connecticut
• Jeremiah Wadsworth, Congressman, Constitutional Convention Member
• John Davenport (Connecticut politician), Continental Army Officer, Congressman

1800s

• Gideon Tomlinson, Congressman, US Senator, 25th Governor of Connecticut
• Noah Webster, Dictionary author and educator
• Henry W. Edwards, Congressman, US Senator, 27th and 29th Governor of Connecticut
• Samuel A. Foot, Congressman, US Senator, 28th Governor of Connecticut
• Isaac Toucey, Congressman, US Senator, United States Attorney General, Secretary of the Navy, 33rd Governor of Connecticut
• William W. Eaton, Congressman and US Senator
• Marcus H. Holcomb, Connecticut Attorney General, 66th Governor of Connecticut
• Henry C. Deming, Congressman, Mayor of Hartford, Commander of the 12th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
• John T. Wait, Congressman
• William E. Simonds, Congressman, Patent Commissioner, Medal of Honor recipient
• Augustus Brandegee Congressman, Mayor of New London
• John Q. Tilson, Congressman
• E. Stevens Henry, Connecticut State Treasurer, Congressman
• P.T. Barnum, showman, politician, and businessman known for the Barnum and Bailey Circus.
• Charles Phelps, lawyer, state legislator, Connecticut Secretary of State, and first Attorney General of Connecticut

1900s

• Marcus H. Holcomb, Attorney General of Connecticut, 66th Governor of Connecticut
• Everett J. Lake, 67th Governor of Connecticut
• Raymond E. Baldwin, Congressman, United States Senator, 72nd and 74th Governor of Connecticut, Chief Justice of the Connecticut Court of Errors, Chair of the 1965 Constitutional Convention
• Emily Sophie Brown, one of the first women to be elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives
• Abraham A. Ribicoff, 80th Governor of Connecticut, United States Senator, United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
• John N. Dempsey, 81st Governor of Connecticut
• William R. Ratchford, Congressman
• Stewart McKinney (politician), Congressman
• Sam Gejdenson, Congressman
• Ronald A. Sarasin, Congressman
• Ella T. Grasso, 83rd Governor of Connecticut
• Barbara B. Kennelly, Congresswoman
• William O'Neill, 84th Governor of Connecticut
• Lowell P. Weicker Jr., Congressman, US Senator, 85th Governor of Connecticut
• Sam Gejdenson, Congressman
• John G. Rowland, 86th Governor of Connecticut
• Gary Franks, Congressman
• Christopher Shays, Congressman
• Susan Bysiewicz, Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State.
• George Jepsen, Connecticut Attorney General and Chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party.

2000s

• Rob Simmons, Congressman
• Jodi Rell, 87th Governor of Connecticut
• Joe Courtney, Congressman
• Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General and US Senator
• Chris Murphy, Congressman and US Senator

2010s

• Elizabeth Esty, Congresswoman.
• Denise Merrill, Connecticut Secretary of State.
• William Tong, Connecticut Attorney General

2020s

• Stephanie Thomas, Connecticut Secretary of State.
• Sean Scanlon, Connecticut State Controller.

References

References

1. ''Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature'', by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16–27.
2. "House of Representatives Members (listed alphabetically)". [[Connecticut General Assembly]].