District towns: East Hampton, Middletown

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Election history: Hamm was elected in 1998 by just 238 votes and has had a mix of easy and tough re-election fights in subsequent campaigns, including an 87-vote win in 2006. She was cross-endorsed by the Working Families Party in 2008, one of her easier years.

2008 general election

Gail K. Hamm (D) 5,431 57 percent Gail K. Hamm (WF) 51 1 percent David Bauer (R) 4,031 43 percent

Public financing: Hamm qualified for $25,000 in public financing for her campaign under the Citizens' Election Program. She returned $1,788.28 to the state.

Background: Hamm was a legislative aide and then a legislative liaison for the legislature's Permanent Commission on the Status of Women before opening a private law practice. She has had a special interest in juvenile justice and environmental issues.

Committees: Appropriations, Children, Education, Judiciary

Education: B.A., Western Michigan University; J.D., Valparaiso University

Occupation: Lawyer, private practice

2008 Financial Disclosure: Hamm reported outside income from her private law practice, based in Glastonbury. She also had a contract with the state to provide legal services to minor children and indigent parents on a case-by-case basis. Her husband, Alan Hurst, is chief financial officer of the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA in New Haven, which contracts with the state to provide various social services. They own a home in East Hampton, and Hurst owns a rental property in Norwalk.

They have limited stock holdings.

Hamm filed a confidential addendum to list a debt or debts exceeding $10,000. She declined to waive confidentiality, as allowed by law.

A note on financial disclosure: Every spring, officials are required to disclose the ownership of real estate, the source of any income exceeding $1,000 in the previous calendar year and securities worth more than $5,000.