About Norm

Norm Needleman was first elected to the State Senate in 2018 to represent the 33rd District, which consists of twelve towns in the Lower Connecticut River Valley, including: Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Portland, Westbrook, and part of Old Saybrook.

Needleman serves as Senate Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, Vice Chair of the Planning and Development Committee, and is a member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding, Transportation, and Commerce Committees.

Norm’s commitment to independent thinking and supporting his constituents shines through in his successful business career. That success allows him to avoid taking a salary, benefits or pension in his role as State Senator and the lowest amount legally allowed in his work as Essex First Selectman. His business experience also provides him with a unique mindset and perspective that allows him to negotiate bills and maneuver through the legislature with a focus on success and pragmatism.

In his role as Co-Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, Sen. Needleman is continually focused on finding solutions that can help reduce Connecticut’s high energy costs, which take a toll on families and businesses. In the last several years, Norm played an instrumental role in passing legislation that will address high bills. His steps forward provided hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce costs for ratepayers and increase consumer access to renewable energy, most prominently solar power generation. His approach to the energy grid involves a balance of renewable energies like solar and wind power with the stability of currently used fuel sources; he is particularly striving to increase nuclear capabilities in Connecticut.

Norm is focused on passing initiatives will help provide a stable, long-term energy supply for the state, rapidly increase use of renewable energies and fulfill the promise of a carbon-free energy future by 2040. He’s also committed to bolstering the state’s workforce with green workforce development and expanding access to clean energy technology. 

Sen. Needleman’s work has also resulted in significant successes benefiting the 33rd District, supporting residents and communities alike. He voted to bring millions of additional dollars in education funding to local schools and communities to reduce property taxes, enhanced consumer protections against fraud and took steps to rein in predatory consumer tracking and monitoring technology. His votes supported legislation restricting the use of toxic pesticides, the creation and development of a debt-free community college program and protected public health and public safety standards in Connecticut, working to help the state retain its top rankings in health care quality and low crime rates. Norm, with his colleagues, took action to make the state a leader in its approach to artificial intelligence and to create a paid family and medical leave program that has benefited hundreds of thousands of Connecticut households. He’s also worked to deliver child tax credits to help working families, expand access to voting so residents can better utilize absentee balloting and early voting, and supported new standards to protect warehouse workers.

As affordability remains a pressing issue across Connecticut and the 33rd District, Norm’s experience has him focused on balancing the state budget, paying down debt to benefit the state’s fiscal future and find ways to expand housing availability amid a significant shortage, all while making sure state residents have the support they need from community and state nonprofits. His votes have helped rein in insurance costs and expand access to health care, and he supported the state’s efforts to fund health care subsidies ended by the federal government.

Norm also helped secure millions of dollars for the 33rd District, including $2 million to support Clinton property redevelopment to create new affordable housing, $1.6 million for Colchester property remediation, $1.2 million for Haddam and Chester sidewalks and hundreds of thousands of dollars for Deep River education, Old Saybrook waste reduction, East Haddam and Portland aquatic species cleanup, Lyme agriculture, Essex and Westbrook docks and dredging and East Hampton property cleanup.

Needleman’s common sense approach has made him a respected problem solver and added to his impact as the voice of the 33rd District in Hartford. He has been able to forge bipartisan and often unanimous support for legislation by seeking consensus, rejecting partisan politics, and fostering an open and inclusive exchange of views.

Needleman is also currently in his eighth term as Essex First Selectman, where he has brought Democrats and Republicans together, built consensus, solved problems, and kept property taxes among the lowest in the state without cutting services. 

He has over 20 years of experience advocating for his small town, having previously served as an Essex Selectman, a member of the Essex Zoning Board of Appeals, and a member of the Essex Economic Development Commission. Needleman is a member of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, helping the 17 member towns coordinate various government functions. He is also a board member of Valley Shore Emergency Communications, a center formed by local public safety professionals to handle emergency call processing and dispatching needs for communities throughout the region.

Needleman's business career began at age 13, working for his father at his one-man grocery store. At 17, he worked in a bookstore, and at 19, he began driving a New York City taxi cab while in college. At midnight on one of his last taxi shifts, an entrepreneur hopped in his cab, and the conversation changed his life forever. A week later, Needleman was working on a factory line for the man's company. Four years after that, he launched his own pharmaceutical business, Tower Laboratories. 

The company has been based in Essex for over 30 years and employs more than 150 people in Connecticut. Needleman is still the CEO, working alongside his two sons. As a leading CEO in the region, he serves on the board of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce. 

Needleman lives in Essex with his partner Jacqueline Hubbard, the Executive Director of the Ivoryton Playhouse. His two sons also live in Essex, allowing him ample time to spoil his grandchildren.