About Dan

Assistant Senate Republican Leader Dan Champagne was elected to the State Senate in 2018 and is currently in his second term serving the 35th State Senatorial District; he has also served as Vernon’s Mayor since 2013. Sen. Champagne was born and raised in Vernon, where he also served for 22 years as a police officer.

Sen. Champagne is the Ranking Member of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Public Safety and Security Committee, which has cognizance of all matters relating to (A) the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, and (B) civil preparedness and homeland security, state police, the state-wide organized crime investigative task force, municipal police training, fire marshals, the fire safety code, the state building code, and legalized gambling. He also serves on the Education, Judiciary, and Planning and Development Committees.

Before being elected Mayor, he served on the Vernon Town Council from 2005-2011 and is a past member of the Vernon Drug and Alcohol Council and the Vernon Youth Services Advisory Council. He graduated from Rockville High School and holds an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from Manchester Community College, a B.A. in Sociology from Eastern Connecticut State University and a Master’s of Public Administration from UConn.

Sen. Champagne served our nation in the Army National Guard from 1987-1992 and served as a police officer for 22 years in Vernon. He received the Distinguished Service Award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2010. He also received the Meritorious Service Award in 2004 and 2005.

Sen. Champagne and his wife Karen are the proud parents of daughters Emily and Melissa. Sen. Champagne represents Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington, Hampton, Pomfret, Stafford, Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, and Woodstock.