HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — There are 32 Republican and 18 Democratic state house speakers in the nation. Connecticut’s Democratic speaker is among them.

At age 38, Representative Matt Ritter was sworn in as speaker — the youngest in Connecticut’s modern history.

His father, Thomas Ritter, served as a speaker from 1993 to 1998. He gave Matt the oath of office last year.

Politics is a part of life.

“Sometimes you have to slow down to get where you wanna go,” Ritter said from his Capitol office.

News 8 recently sat down with Ritter to see what he learned in his first year. Upon reflection, it was clear he does not operate at a slow speed.

“I have my list everyday and I like to cross them off and unfortunately it doesn’t always work well when you have to lead a body of 151 people,” Ritter said.

Of the 151 members in the House of Representatives, 97 of them are Democrats. It is a caucus with divergent views.

“Sometimes people wonder why the legislative process takes time because there’s a lot of peaks and valleys associated with it,” Ritter said.

In his first year, a bipartisan no new tax budget was passed. Lawmakers expanded gaming.

One of the most protested debates was the ban on religious exemptions for childhood vaccines. It passed despite a massive protest.

Additionally, a special session was called to pass adult use of cannabis. All the while, COVID is literally in the air.

“It was a proud session. We got a lot of stuff done that had not been done for a long time,” Ritter said.

A Democrat from Hartford, Ritter was first sworn into office as a freshman legislator at 28 years old, at the time joining a unique club. The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates only 5% of state lawmakers are under the age of 30.

Now, at the ripe old age of 39, Ritter has time to decide his political future. Instead, he is focusing on his love of family and UConn basketball.

While Ritter is Connecticut’s youngest modern-day speaker, the state of Maine recently named a 28-year-old man as speaker. He is the youngest speaker in the country and in recent history.