How to Run for Office in Connecticut — Planning Region Guides

Pick your planning region to see what running for office takes.

Most guides to running for office in Connecticut start by telling you about your county. Connecticut has not had county government since October 1, 1960, when 1959 Public Act 152 abolished it and vested every county power in the state. There is no county commission, no county clerk, no county assessor and no county treasurer to run for. There is no county sheriff either -- the voters repealed the office by constitutional amendment in 2000 and it was replaced by appointed State Marshals. And there is no county district attorney, because Connecticut's State's Attorneys are appointed and organised by 13 judicial districts. In 2022 the Census Bureau retired Connecticut's county codes altogether and replaced the eight counties with nine PLANNING REGIONS, so that is how these guides are organised. Each one tells you what you can actually run for: the towns, the probate district each town sits in, the regional school boards, and the legislative seats that cross the region. Local office here is an odd-year event and the next one is Tuesday, November 2, 2027. The only door still open for 2026 is the write-in, and it shuts at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, October 5, 2026. Click the map or use the list.

All 9 Connecticut planning regions. Click any planning region for its guide.

All 9 Connecticut planning regions

Alphabetical. Each links to that planning region’s “how to run for office” guide.

Statewide rules, filing basics and official links: how to run for office in Connecticut.

Capitol Planning Region Greater Bridgeport Planning Region Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region Naugatuck Valley Planning Region Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region Northwest Hills Planning Region South Central Connecticut Planning Region Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region Western Connecticut Planning Region

The 2027 ballot in Connecticut.

These 2027 dates are confirmed against the state's own published calendar or statute. Anything our research could not confirm is left off this page rather than estimated.

November 2, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Municipal election in 168 of Connecticut's 169 towns (one small town votes in May instead): mayors, first selectmen and selectmen, town councils, boards of aldermen, boards of education, town clerks, treasurers, tax collectors, boards of finance and planning and zoning commissions, among other town offices.
Candidate filing: opens Jul 21, 2027, closes Aug 4, 2027.
Source

2027 dates can move, and a municipality can change its own election date by ordinance. Which seats are on a given ballot depends on when each was last filled. Confirm anything you are relying on with the county election office before you act on it.

Running somewhere in Connecticut?

Motion51 does not hold a Connecticut voter file and we do not request one on anyone's behalf. Bring the file you obtained and we will run your doors on it. Connecticut sells the statewide file for a flat 300 dollars on written request to the Secretary of the State, and the official request form carries no affidavit and no purpose statement. Read Public Act 26-1 before you buy, because the law changed in March 2026 and most published guidance predates it. Section 96 of that act rewrote Conn. Gen. Stat. 9-50d so that voter registration information may only be used for election-related, scholarly, journalistic, POLITICAL or governmental purposes, and may not be used for any personal, private or commercial purpose. Political stands on its own in that list, which is about as clean a campaign carve-out as any state has written. Set your expectations on two things. Date of birth is now the YEAR ONLY, not month and day, so age targeting gets coarser here than in most states. And driver's licence numbers, identity card numbers and Social Security numbers stay confidential under 9-50d(b). The penalty for misuse is civil only, capped at two thousand dollars per offence. One practical warning: the online statute compilation at cga.ct.gov has not yet folded the March 2026 amendments into 9-50d, so read the act itself rather than the statute page. The free tier costs nothing to try.

Try the free tier