Steve Johnstone has assembled quite a resume over the past several years. From being a semi-professional soccer player to now being better known as a two-term Councilman in West Haven, the 39-year-old has seemingly done a bit of everything.
Add another political run to his career resume: Steve Johnstone has thrown in his hat to be a Republican candidate for the state representative of the 117th District.
In an interview this week, he announced his bid, running in November’s statewide election. This quest to become a state official is not something new, but many may not know the history.
Life throws many curveballs. For Johnstone, he got a life-threatening one, and it sidelined any thought of state office.
At 37, Steve Johnstone suffered a heart attack. It came as a surprise for him along with his friends and family, Johnstone was in his late-30s, with an athletic build and had an average diet. The blockage stemmed from cholesterol levels that tripled since his last physical. The issue required two stents.
That day, Feb. 25 would be a day of highs and horrific lows, as some six hours prior Johnstone had submitted his name to run for the 117th District.
Johnstone would pull his name out of the 117th bid before it was officially reported he was running; due to the uncertain future he briefly faced. Only a select few people knew about his hopes the 2024 run.
Being the fighter that Johnstone is, he would end up getting out of that hospital bed, seeing the birth of his child and returning to West Haven’s City Council chambers not even a full 60-days later. Johnstone said “life goes on,” after the event he went through, which saw him get back to work only a handful of weeks later.
After being medically cleared the Councilman started receiving calls for him to run for the District 14 State Senate position. Johnstone would accept and pivoted from what would be a state rep run to what would then be a senatorial run. But in accepting, he knew there was a hill to climb.
Going up against incumbent Democrat James Maroney, in a heavy blue section, Johnstone exceeded expectations garnering 22,396 votes or 44% in a losing effort.
“I looked at it as practice,” said Johnstone, who saw it as an opportunity for him to get his feet wet. Despite being an underdog against an incumbent, Johnstone did not take a seat back in hopes that somehow a miracle would occur, and he would win.
Instead, Johnstone put himself in the seats of the voting people of his district. Steve would knock on more than 4,000 doors and even did his scheduling around sports fans. A Chiefs fan himself, Johnstone looked at the schedules of close-area teams such as the Patriots, Jets and Giants when knocking on Sundays, as he did not want to disturb family and friend time.
After the 2024 election, Johnstone decided to take a step back from politics as a whole and did not run for re-election for his council seat. He was approached this past summer to possibly run for mayor, in which he politely declined.
Johnstone, a Republican, represented the city’s 10th District, serving the last years of the Nancy Rossi administration and first term under Dorinda Borer.
“You got to be different,” said Johnstone, on his key to winning in a heavy blue section. “We are so focused on who is right, who is wrong instead of what is right, what is wrong.”
Johnstone’s history with the city of West Haven dates all the way back to when it was still known as West Farms. Johnstone is a direct descendant of the Hubbard Family, which has its family heritage dating back to the 1630s. The Hubbard’s established a farm in 1810, which took up a fifth of what is now the 117th District.
Johnstone said that it felt personally when Hartford implemented its latest tax on farmers.
“High taxes and Eminent Domain killed the farm,” said Johnstone, who also acts as the current President of the Hubbard Family.
Now, trying to pick up his original goal from several years ago, Johnstone is on the quest to be a state rep.
If elected, Johnstone said that he will be “on the front line” when it comes to helping West Haven. The 117th District includes the West Shore area along with Milford and Orange. When asked about West Haven for specific focuses, he said he would try to meet the issues that face the entire district, but he has one particular issue.
Johnstone’s direct focus will be on the incinerator.
Currently there are only four incinerators in the state and West Haven has one of them, West Haven also has the only broken one in the state as well. Johnstone said that fixing the incinerator needs to be addressed as the city loses money, having to pay to ship off our waste out of town and even out of state.
Johnstone sees profit in fixing the incinerator as it saves the city money from having to ship waste out and also can create a revenue source in having other municipalities pay to send their waste here, calling it a “millions worth of revenue opportunity.”
The estimated cost to repair the incinerator, which has been broken for over five years, is slated to be in the $30m dollar range. Johnstone also mentioned how Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is not granting new permits, so he wants to “get up in Hartford and know why.”
Johnstone also wants to get more aid in West Haven, stating that “a lot of projects in West Haven always have trouble getting to the finish line,” with his focus being on the West Shore area, saying, “Everyone thinks everything is OK in West Shore.” Johnstone talked about poor infrastructure and rushed construction leading to drainage problems and a “big” sediment issue.
Johnstone saw the sediment issue firsthand as Water Pollution Liaison, which had him examine drains and other key points to learn more on how to handle the issue. Going in person is something that Johnstone heavily prefers as it gives him the best opportunity to be educated and see first-hand.
Johnstone also wants to continue the transition of financial oversight.
West Haven exited state financial oversight in May of 2025, after nearly a decade under the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB). The move came after three consecutive credit rating upgrades and improved fiscal controls that would allow the city to get out of the state-managed Tier IV oversight, allowing West Haven to manage its own finances independently.
As a current soccer coach himself and former semi-professional player, Johnstone wants to tackle the men/boys in women’s sports. Males competing in female sports have reached the youth level and as a candidate of the “three big sports towns” (West Haven, Orange, Milford) Johnstone wants to “let girls be girls and have their own day.” Johnstone noted how having males play in female sports has led to an increase of injuries and mental health issues for the women players.
Johnstone was named as the first women’s soccer coach at Notre Dame of West Haven in 2025. Johnstone played for Christian Heritage High School in Trumbull as a four-year starter and would finish his collegiate career at Eastern Nazarene College as a three-year starter and captain, going on to play one year of semi-professional soccer with the New York Metro Stars.
Since his semi-pro days, Johnstone has coached from the youth to college levels.
Now, back in politics after a mini-year break, Johnstone now eyes winning Connecticut’s 117th District and becoming a State Representative.