While many of the Victory Fund’s endorsed candidates are running for the first time, Connecticut state Rep. Mike Lawlor seeks his twelfth term representing District 99.

The East Haven Courier profiled Lawlor as he marks his 22nd year as a legislator.

Prior to his election to the legislature in 1986, Lawlor served as a state prosecutor. During his 11 terms in the House, he’s served on various committees and has chaired the House Judiciary Committee since 1995. According to Lawlor’s website, during his tenure he has been instrumental in passing two amendments to the state Constitution: the first establishing rights for crime victims and the second eliminating the county sheriff system.

“He has also been a leader in enacting a number of workable gun control laws, rewriting and toughening the state’s domestic violence laws protecting women and children, reforming and strengthening the juvenile justice system, addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system, passing laws ending discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and addressing recidivism and prison overcrowding,” Lawlor’s site states. “He also played a key role is establishing and now modernizing Connecticut’s Sex Offender Registry.”

Lawlor approaches his office pragmatically, outlining three skills required of a successful state legislator.

“[First] I have to understand the issues voted in the legislature and how they affect my constituents in East Haven. [Second] I have to lobby for East Haven at the capital and [third] I have to solve individual constituent’s problems with state government.”