Yesterday, Tom O’Dea officially announced that he is filing paperwork to run for re-election as State Representative to the 125th General Assembly District, which includes sections of New Canaan and Wilton.
O’Dea, a Republican, was first elected to the legislature in 2012 and is now a Deputy House Leader-at-Large for his party. He serves on the legislature’s Judiciary, Transportation, Environment and Legislative Management Committees.
“Serving as your state representative has been the most rewarding job I’ve ever had in my professional life, and I hope to have the opportunity to serve you again in the next legislative term,” O’Dea said. “New Canaan and Wilton are incredible places to live, work, and raise a family. The people in our communities rightly take great pride in our towns. I am so proud to be your voice in Hartford.”
He continued, “We dealt with many issues in the last few sessions that deeply concerned our residents including proposed regionalization, the opioid crisis, and our state’s economy and business environment. Although my colleagues and I in Hartford may not always agree on the approach to solving these problems, we do share the same goal of making Connecticut a better place for everyone. I am truly grateful for the trust you’ve placed in me and for this incredible opportunity to serve. I promise to continue working hard to earn that trust.”
O’Dea is a trial lawyer with Diserio Martin, LLP where he focuses on commercial and personal injury litigation. “I want to thank my colleagues at Diserio Martin for their continued support. Many people don’t know that I’m a practicing attorney. I’m proud to be with a such an outstanding full service firm.”
He served for 10 years as a member of the Police Officers Standards and Training Council (POST), which is responsible for overseeing all training certification of police officers in Connecticut. From 1997 to 2004, he served by appointment of the governor as a Victim Compensation Commissioner within the state’s judicial branch, responsible for adjudicating claims brought by victims of crimes. In 2004, Gov. Rell appointed O’Dea to the Judicial Selection Commission, which is responsible for recommending the appointment and reappointment of judges. He was also an elected member of the New Canaan Town Council from 2005 through 2012.
O’Dea is a graduate of Providence College and the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America.
Tom and his wife Kerry live in New Canaan where they raised and educated their three children in the public school system. Kerry is a real estate broker with William Raveis and a nursery school teacher at Toddler Time. Their eldest son is a junior at the University of Utah, their daughter is a freshman at Denison University and their youngest son is a sophomore at New Canaan High School.
Residents can email O’Dea directly for more information or to speak directly to him.