 The 2nd district takes in nearly half of the state, geographically, and has long been the voice in Washington for largely rural Eastern Connecticut.The redistricting process maintained the approximate historical area of the district, despite state Democrats' hope to draw the Republican representative at the time, Rob Simmons, out of a seat by partitioning the area between the heavily Democratic districts centered on Hartford and New Haven.Since the 108th Congress, the 2nd district seeps into the eastern parts of Hartford county, reaching into the suburbs north of Hartford such as Suffield, as well as some towns to the capital's east, like Glastonbury which it shares with the 1st.