Ryan Fazio

Ryan Fazio
Fazio in 2021
Member of the Connecticut State Senate from the 36th district
Incumbent
Assumed office August 26, 2021
Preceded by	Alexandra Kasser
Personal details
Born	Ryan Michael Fazio (1990-03-27) March 27, 1990 Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Domestic partner	Amy Orser
Education	Northwestern University (BS)
Website	Official website

Ryan Michael Fazio^[1] (born March 27, 1990) is an American businessman and politician who is a member of the Connecticut State Senate for the 36th district.^[2] A Republican, he won election in 2021 following the resignation of Democratic member Alexandra Kasser, and was re-elected in 2022 and 2024.

He is currently a candidate for Connecticut Governor in 2026.

Fazio was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, a son of Michael and Madeline (née Gadaleta).^[1] His father, Michael A. Fazio, has been a former long-term partner of Arthur Andersen, LLP and managing director of Houlihan Lokey.^[3] He is of Italian descent.

Fazio grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. He graduated from Greenwich High School in 2008 and subsequently earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Northwestern University in 2012.^[4]

Fazio spent most of his career in the commodities industry, with a focus on renewable fuels and agriculture. He is currently an investment advisor.

Before being elected to the state Senate, Fazio was elected to the Greenwich representative town meeting.^[5] On August 17, 2021, Fazio defeated Democratic lawyer Alexis Gevanter of Greenwich in a special election to fill the 36th district seat, which Alexandra Kasser^[6] vacated two months prior.^[7] His election ended the Democratic supermajority in the State Senate.^[6] He was re-elected in 2022 against Democrat Trevor Crow and in 2024 against Democrat Nick Simmons, former deputy chief of staff to Governor Ned Lamont. He was the Republican nominee for the same seat in the 2020 Connecticut State Senate elections. Connecticut's 36th district covers Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan.^[8]

As Ranking Senator of the state’s Energy & Technology Committee, Fazio has been a prominent voice on energy issues and critic of current state policies. In 2023, he co-authored parts of SB7, including a section requiring utilities to itemize the cost of dozens of energy and environmental programs run by the state government on residents’ monthly bills.^[9] That category, called “Public Benefits,” has become a source of debate. It includes subsidies for solar power, electric vehicle chargers, low-income households, and many other programs.^[10]

Fazio has repeatedly proposed legislation to eliminate “Public Benefits” charges from residents’ energy bills, either eliminating programs or funding them in the state budget process.^[11] Fazio’s proposal has drawn disagreement from progressive environmental groups and support among Republican legislators. In 2025, Fazio subsequently co-authored SB4, which cut over $100 million per year from “Public Benefits” charges—although it was a compromise and didn’t eliminate the roughly $1 billion of costs as Fazio originally proposed.^[12] Gov. Ned Lamont gave Fazio some "credit" for advancing the law.^[13]

Fazio has also been a supporter of expanding natural gas pipeline capacity from the Marcellus shale region and better regulatory treatment for nuclear power.^[14]

Fazio is a fiscal conservative who has supported tax cuts and opposed large spending increases over his tenure. He earned a career 100% rating from the Connecticut Business and Industry Association for his voting record in support of economic growth.^[15]

Fazio introduced a tax plan, SB602, calling for a 1.5 percentage-point income tax cut for middle-income households. It would funding the tax cut by reducing tax expenditures and state bonding. He also introduced a proposal for a property tax cap, SB556, that would cap increases in property taxes to 2 percent or inflation every year, like the law in Massachusetts.

Fazio was a loud proponent of the state’s so-called “fiscal guardrails,” which were passed in 2017 and included a spending cap, “volatility cap”, bonding cap, and revenue cap with the goal of mitigating the state’s tax increases and debt overhang.^[16]

Fazio has stated he is in favor of keeping abortion legal in Connecticut.^[17] In 2022, Fazio voted against House Bill 5414, which allows aspiration abortions to be performed by midwives or nurses without a doctor.^[18]

In 2023, Fazio, along with the majority the Republican Senate conference, voted in favor of House Bill 6820, which increases public access to birth control in Connecticut, and also protects licensed medical providers from having their licenses revoked for providing an abortion.^[19]

In 2023, Fazio co-authored a bill to expand contraception access in Connecticut by allowing certain trained pharmacists to prescribe oral contraception. The proposal was included in HB6768 and passed into law.^[20]

Fazio wrote and moved legislation to cut occupational licensing fees for workers. Legislation that Fazio introduced with several other legislators would cut all fees for workers like tradesmen, nurses, accountants, and others, to a maximum of $100. The legislation passed the Senate in 2024, SB135, but did not pass into law.

Fazio passed a law in 2025, SB1558, aimed at bringing back hundreds of millions in income tax revenue collected by New York and other neighboring states from Connecticut residents while they work from home for companies based in the other states. The law offers a 60 percent credit to any resident successfully appealing or litigating against another state in this area. It also requires the Attorney General to write a legal strategy to challenge other states taking such tax revenue from Connecticut.^[21]

Fazio has been able to author or co-author several new laws as a state senator despite Republicans’ minority-party status in the legislature:

• SB6768, Section 6, in 2023 to allow trained pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception.
• SB7 in 2023 to reform oversight of utilities and require disclosure of “public benefits” charges on utility bills.
• SB333 in 2024 to increase the ability of towns and cities to make changes to their municipal charters.^[22]
• A 2024 law to eliminate college degree requirements for most state jobs.^[23]
• SB1558 in 2025 to prove financial support and state direction to sue New York and Massachusetts for taxing the income of Connecticut residents while they work from home for New York and Massachusetts companies.
• SB4 in 2025 to cut “public benefits” costs, including cutting subsidies for EV charging stations, solar subsidies, and more.

Fazio is a resident of the Riverside section of Greenwich, Connecticut.^[26] Fazio announced his engagement to Amy Orser on August 10, 2025. ^[27]