21 year old democrat Will Haskell is running for Connecticut State Senate. Just past the legal drinking age, this “youngin” is challenging State Senator Toni Boucher in Connecticut’s 26th district. Boucher is a republican representing the district since 2008 and is in her fifth term. Haskell hasn’t even graduated college.

“I was embarrassed to find out that not only was voter suppression taking place in Connecticut, but it was actually my state senator (Sen. Toni Boucher) who was proposing it,” said Haskell, when asked why he decided to run. He cites her push for “stricter voter identification requirements and reduce the number of voting hours” as well as attempt to block early voting as the catalyst which set his dream of State Senate in action. He seeks to bring equality, justice and respect to the seat, qualities he sees as “sadly absent in Hartford.”

“I’m not going to contest that she has a lot of experience. I think years of bad experience is worse than no experience. I’m not going to hide the fact that I’m new to politics — I think it’s actually a benefit,” stated Haskell. “I’m excited that I’m new to politics and young.” He feels he can be an advocate for youth in Connecticut as he sees no real representation for young people who are being legislated without being heard.

This May he will graduate from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. with a major in Government and a minor in French and return to Connecticut to continue his run. He is splitting his time between D.C. and CT, recently speaking at the ‘March for Our Lives’ in Hartford.

Though he is young, he has political experience. He worked for the political campaigns of democratic Connecticut Representative Jim Himes, democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, and Hillary Clinton as well as summer work for the Democratic National Committee. If he wins, he will serve as a representative for Westport, Wilton, Ridgefield, and Redding, and parts of Bethel, New Canaan and Weston.