WILTON – State Sen. Ceci Maher (D-Wilton) will not run for re-election in November after completing her second term in office at the end of 2026.
“For the last four years, representing the 26th Senate District in Hartford has been a true honor,” said Sen. Maher, who is chair of the Committee on Children and tri-chair of the Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee. “I love this job, and I have the energy, will and interest to keep serving. However, as a member of the Baby Boomer generation, I’m aware of the shifting focuses and needs of our state and county.
“I believe my generation has a responsibility to mentor and support younger leaders. Now is the right time to step aside to let them take the reins and craft the legislation that will shape Connecticut for the coming decades.”
As senator, she serves all of Wilton, Weston, Redding and Ridgefield, and parts of Bethel, New Canaan and Weston.
One of the biggest accomplishments Maher cites in her Senate tenure is the creation of the Early Childhood Education Endowment in 2025. The Endowment Fund is the first of its kind in the nation and overtime, with funding each year to grow capacity, it will significantly enhance childcare in Connecticut for both families and providers.
Families enrolled in Smart Start and earning under $100,000 per year will receive free childcare, while those earning above that threshold will have child care costs capped at 7% of income. It will also expand access to child care by creating more overall slots for enrollment across the state.
Through the Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health Committee, she played a significant role in helping the state assess its mental health resources and start to create opportunities for children and better connect those in need to the care they deserve.
Maher played a role in increasing protections and guidelines for protecting children through state departments, the creation of the Office of the Behavioral Health Advocate, improving educational quality and air quality in state public schools, protecting literary freedom in school and public libraries and delivering new and improved oversight of youth camps in Connecticut.
She has also supported significant advances in consumer protection, protections for victims of domestic violence, improvements to health insurance policies and access, bolstering of mental health care, defending against the opioid epidemic and expansions of worker’s rights, among many other accomplishments.
Prior to serving in the State Senate, Sen. Maher worked as the executive director of Person to Person, where it has supported 25,000 people and served more than 1 million meals per year and as interim director of Sandy Hook Promise, supporting gun violence prevention efforts. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University.
