MEET THE CANDIDATES
2025 Town Council Candidates
Al Cortes
Alberto Cortes is West Hartford’s first Latino Town Council member. We’re proud of the diversity our party brings to our local government.
Al was born and raised in the City of Hartford and moved to West Hartford in 1998 with his wife Jessica Serrano where they have two boys: Gabriel, who attends King Philip Middle School, and Adrian, who graduated from the Post Secondary School in West Hartford.
Al retired from the Connecticut Department of Corrections with 20 years of service. He is a veteran of the Connecticut Army National Guard and an active member of his church.
Dr. Gayle Harris
Dr. Harris has been a resident of West Hartford for most of the last 50 years. She attended public school in West Hartford and UCONN Medical School. She raised her four children in town and has practiced medicine in town for the last 20 years working in private practice as an OBGYN.
She is active in her synagogue and religious life in town and has been a DCF mentor at the Village, as well as worked with incarcerated women and helping improve health outcomes in this population.
She is now working in addiction medicine to help our most vulnerable populations
Dr Harris has worked tirelessly for the last 4 years to improve education in the district and defend our schools against harmful policies and indoctrination
Kyle Zelazny
Kyle practices in the areas of travel law, law enforcement representation, corporate and business matters, worker’s compensation, and all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including development, leasing (including office, retail and industrial leasing), financing, title, survey and environmental matters, the sale and disposition of commercial properties and general transactional due diligence. He received his B.A. from Boston College and his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Kyle is civic-minded and enjoys volunteering at the Simon Foundation, and is actively engaged in local community groups and boards. He enjoys rooting for the New York Yankees and New York Jets alongside his German Shepherd, Ares. He currently lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.
John Lyons
John Lyons and his wife Jessica have three children and have been living in West Hartford for over 20 years.
Their children attended the West Hartford Public Schools and two of them still live here in town as adults.
John had a successful corporate career which he left in 2004 to start his own company. He then ran fundraising classic car shows which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.
John became politically active in 2016. He has a very strong online social media presence, providing weather alerts and other important information for the community.
He serves on several community boards and has been an active participate in Town Council and Board of Education meetings for many years.
Dr. Sijie Jason Wang
Jason Wang grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to Connecticut as a teenager. He earned his BS in Biomedical Engineering at UConn, and subsequently earned his MD at UConn School of Medicine. After medical school, Jason completed his residency at Dartmouth and practiced medicine in New Hampshire and Ohio.
After returning to Connecticut in 2022, Jason completed subspecialty training in addiction medicine at Rushford (Hartford Healthcare). He currently practices addiction medicine both at Hartford Hospital and at his private practice in West Hartford. He is engaged in teaching, research, and also serves as the President of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Jason’s experiences in treating addiction as well as his experiences in postindustrial New Hampshire and Ohio during the COVID era have shaped his views on the critical importance of community.
Jason lives in West Hartford with his wife, Angela, and their two children, Vivian and Arthur. He is currently a board member of the local nonprofit organization, Bike West Hartford.
Jason fights for safe streets, a fiscally responsible government, and for West Hartford to continue to be an engine of opportunity for those who work hard. He is strongly opposed to corrosive identity politics that seek to divide us or silence free speech. He believes in the importance of a traditional childhood with free play and independence. Finally, he believes government should either meaningfully improve people’s lives, or get out of the way.
Ben Lewis
Bio coming soon…
2025 Board of Education Candidate
Miriam Bleich
Miriam Bleich and her husband are the proud parents of four children in West Hartford Public Schools, one of whom has multiple disabilities. Putting the needs of children first has always been Miriam’s priority both personally and professionally.
As a parent whose children started their education in the West Hartford Public Schools Early Learning Center, Miriam has been involved over the years in learning about various aspects of public education, including: curriculum and instruction, school funding, special education and related services, and administrative policies. Miriam has been committed, as a parent and taxpayer, to understanding more about how public education operates, while also taking time to build relationships and collaborate with school administration, teachers, parents, students, service providers, and community organizations.
With a background in clinical social work, Miriam has exemplified empathy, problem solving skills, and the ability to successfully advocate for individuals and families in a variety of settings. Combining her professional skills along with her experience as a parent of four children in West Hartford Public Schools, Miriam’s top priority will always be the students and families of West Hartford.