Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation member Joe Kelly is running for the 36th state Senate District seat as a Republican. The district covers Greenwich, New Canaan and part of Stamford.

Kelly, who also holds the Independent Party endorsement, said he entered the race because his decades of running Connecticut businesses and serving on local boards prepared him to tackle energy costs, taxes and zoning policy in Hartford.

The seat is open because incumbent state Sen. Ryan Fazio is running for governor. Fazio won the Republican gubernatorial nomination on May 16 with 92% of delegates, and no August primary followed. Kelly announced his candidacy on March 6. He faces Democrat Jill Oberlander, a former Greenwich selectwoman and BET member, in the Nov. 3 general election.

"Too many families and employers are leaving because of high electric bills, high taxes, and rising housing costs," Kelly said in a questionnaire response to Surround Sound News. "Connecticut should be a top 10 state for doing business."

Candidate information

Full name: Joseph "Joe" Kelly

Party: Republican. Also endorsed by the Independent Party.

Office sought: Connecticut State Senate, District 36

Election date: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026

Residence: Greenwich. Kelly and his wife, Jill, moved to Greenwich from London about 30 years ago.

Family: Married 37 years to Jill Kelly, a Greenwich Representative Town Meeting (RTM) member. They raised four children in Greenwich and welcomed three additional children into their home as foster parents and legal guardians.

Education: Archbishop Molloy High School, Queens, New York. Bachelor of Business Administration, Iona University, New Rochelle, New York.

Experience and public service

Kelly said he spent 25 years in fixed income, working in New York City, Tokyo and London. He was a managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald and a senior managing director at Liberty Eurasia, according to his questionnaire response.

He is CEO and founder of Uranium Markets, a commodities brokerage he has run for 20 years. He is also president of Forestland Development. He said he has worked in power generation for almost 20 years and has been a property developer and home builder in Connecticut for decades.

In Greenwich government, Kelly serves on the BET, including its Budget Committee, and is a justice of the peace. He previously spent four years on the Board of Education, one year as chairman. The board elected him chair unanimously, 8-0, on Dec. 15, 2022, after two tie votes on the evenly split board. The outgoing Democratic chair nominated him.

"Not always will we be able to give everybody what they want," Kelly said after the vote, according to the Greenwich Free Press. "In a 4-4 board, compromise is necessary."

He chaired the Labor Negotiations Committee on the Board of Education. He also served on the RTM, where he was district chair for two years.

Kelly chaired the Cardinal Stadium Building Committee from planning through construction. The stadium was finished in 2021. He also served on the Central Middle School and Julian Curtiss School building committees and is a trustee of the Havemeyer Building.

Kelly said he coached Greenwich High School rugby to nine championships over a decade. He said he received the 2025 Greenwich Sentinel Award, a community honor the Sentinel has given since 2016.

On the issues

The following positions are drawn from Kelly's questionnaire responses to Surround Sound News and his campaign website.

Energy costs and taxes: Kelly said Connecticut needs to become a top-10 state for business. He said he wants to lower energy costs and cut taxes, citing his experience running businesses in the state for more than 25 years. He supports tax incentives aimed at attracting businesses to Connecticut.

Local zoning control: Kelly said he would defend local control of zoning regulations and work to return zoning authority to towns.

Fiscal discipline: Kelly said he supports maintaining fiscal discipline to prevent tax increases and protecting budget guardrails.

Experience as qualification: Kelly pointed to his BET budget work, his Board of Education tenure and his experience chairing the Cardinal Stadium Building Committee as evidence he can manage budgets, build consensus and deliver results in Hartford.

At the May 21 Republican convention at Greenwich Town Hall, Fazio nominated Kelly and New Canaan First Selectman Dionna Carlson seconded. The vote was unanimous. Fazio said Kelly "puts community ahead of politics" and "builds bridges," according to the Greenwich Free Press.