Published July 7, 2026 at 7:29 AM EDT

CT Congressman John Larson and his three challengers in next month’s Connecticut First District Democratic Party primary made their pitch to voters in a televised forum on Monday.

Ebong Udoma

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WSHU

Luke Bronin, John Larson, Jillian Gilchrest, and Ruth Fortune face off at the 1st CD candidates forum on NBC-Connecticut on Monday July 6, 2026.

Larson assured voters that after 28 years in Congress, he’s still the most effective candidate to represent the district in the forum on NBC-Connecticut.

“I’m the only one up here who's been able to introduce legislation and get it passed. I’m the only one up here whose take on Donald Trump, whose take on Elon Musk, DOGE, who's taken on ICE,” Larson said.

His challengers, who are in their 30s and 40s, argue that voters are seeking generational change.

Luke Bronin, a former Hartford mayor, touted his endorsement by the delegates at the Democratic Party convention.

“And think that’s because Democrats in Connecticut know that if we are going to have a party that’s strong enough and effective enough to make the change we need, we’ve got to start making some changes,” Bronin said.

“My campaign is not backed by superPACs and big money interests like Larson and Bronin,” said state Representative Gillian Gilchrest of West Hartford, who won enough convention delegates to be on the ballot.

“We need to elect Democrats who come into Congress and question why and how things are working the way they are and push us in a different direction. I have that experience in the legislature, and I’ll bring that down to Washington,” she said.

“I am the only candidate in this race with personal and professional experience dealing with the economic policies that hold some of us back. Those policies that have been failing us from crib to coffin,” said Ruth Fortune, a Hartford lawyer and member of the city’s Board of Education.

“I’m the only candidate in this race who has navigated our immigration system that is broken and is being used right now to dismantle our constitutional rights,” she said.

Fortune, who was born in Haiti, qualified for the ballot through the petition process by getting voter signatures. That means she’s closer to the voters in the district, she said.

The First Congressional District Democratic Party Primary is on August 11.