About Dan

Dan Lent grew up in a modest middle-class home, attended Easton's schools and Fairfield Prep, earned several advanced degrees, lived internationally, and became a tireless advocate for the environment before deciding to run for First Selectman.

Dan and his wife Kira, a nurse practitioner, raised their three children in Easton. His eldest son, Ian, is a math major at the University of Pennsylvania. Ian is a National Merit Scholar Finalist and former captain of the Joel Barlow High School skiing and lacrosse teams, the latter of which he led to a state championship. His daughter, Caroline, is a rising high school senior and a championship-level sailboat racer. Cutter, his youngest son, is a rising sophomore in high school, where he has earned high academic honors and is a top-level lacrosse player.

As a volunteer, Dan coached Easton Redding Lacrosse (RELAX) and ran the junior sailing and overall junior activities program (sailing, tennis, and swimming) for the Black Rock Yacht Club for ten years. He has served in nearly every volunteer position of that multi-million-dollar 503(c) non-profit organization, from permitting and building new docks to running the restaurant, drafting the employee handbook, and dealing with labor law issues. Dan was elected Commodore in 2021.

​Dan volunteered on the town's Ethics Ordinance Committee and helped draft Easton’s first ethics ordinance. Dan also served on Easton’s Conservation Commission and the Inland Wetlands Agency. Dan is also a member of the Easton Lions Club and is an avid fisherman, sailor, and skier.

Growing up, Dan lived in Malaysia and Singapore for several years and credits these international experiences in shaping his personal views about racism, pollution, income inequality, and global disparity. The discrimination, pollution, and hopeless poverty he witnessed there have remained a constant influence in his personal and professional life.

 A self-described moderate, Dan has witnessed and fought the illegal discrimination against two of his LGBTQ+ cousins in their battle to adopt and raise children within their same sex marriage partnership.

Dan holds dual degrees in Physics and English, with a minor in Finance, from Fairfield University. He earned his law degree (JD) from the Widener University School of Law. Dan is an equity partner at one of the largest patent law firms in the US, where he has worked for more than 20 years.
 

An Environmentalist and Advocate

Dan has a proven track record of fighting for Easton.

Dan is a frequent attendee of land use and zoning meetings and has built a successful legal track record of challenging the town when it has failed to protect the environment and the issues that matter most to the community.

Dan has worked in a bipartisan fashion on environmental issues and promises to continue this work as First Selectman. Notably, Dan was tapped to serve on Democrat State Senator Christine Cohen's sewage working group, an effort of the state Economic Development Committee. 

Dan is a supporter of CT169 Strong and is featured for his appearance on the Lisa Wexler radio show, where he discussed developers’ attacks on environmentally necessary septic tank regulations. https://ct169strong.org

Early Years

Dan credits his parents’ experiences of growing up during the Great Depression in the South Bronx as ones that have informed and guided his thinking.

Dan’s father's life started to change when he managed to get admission to and graduate from the renowned Bronx High School of Science. After working ten years at the U.S. Post Office, while taking odd jobs and attending night classes at City College, his father eventually became a chemical engineer. Dan’s family relocated to Easton in 1962.  When Dan was nine and a student at Samuel Staples School, his older brother, Andrew, tragically died at the age of 19 from cystic fibrosis. At the time, Andrew was a promising freshman at Yale University. 

Dan has never forgotten his parents’ hard work, their struggles, and their experiences in lifting his family out of poverty and dealing with tragic illness.