In February, Edwin Gomes was elected to District 23 of the Connecticut State Senate in a special election. He became the first candidate in the nation to win a state legislative office running solely as a nominee for the Working Families Party. Gomes defeated Richard DeJesus (D), Quentin Dreher (R), and the non-affiliated Charles Hare and Kenneth H. Moales, Jr. in the special election on February 24. However, Senator Gomes previously served the district as State Senator as a Democrat and caucused with the Democrats upon assuming office.