Edward Miner “Ned” Lamont, Jr. was sworn into office on January 9, 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut.
Lamont got involved in public service shortly after college, founding a weekly newspaper in a town hit by the loss of its largest employer. Covering town meetings and the Board of Selectmen, he helped to bring voice and transparency to a community working to recover from job losses and reinvent itself. Later, as a member of both the Greenwich Board of Selectmen and the Board of Estimate and Taxation, Lamont worked in a bipartisan effort to safeguard a multimillion-dollar budget and deliver results for constituents. For four years, Lamont also served as Chairman of the State Investment Advisory Council, overseeing a multibillion-dollar state pension fund.
Lamont started his own company, taking on the large and established giants of the telecom industry. Under his vision and stewardship, the company grew to serve over 400 of America's largest college campuses and 1 million college students across the nation.
As a volunteer teacher, Lamont sought to give back to his community by volunteering at Harding High School in Bridgeport. In an effort to spark entrepreneurship, Lamont taught students about the inner-workings of small businesses, bringing in local businesspeople to share their own experiences, and helping to place students in local internships. Lamont is on the faculty of Central Connecticut State University as an adjunct professor of political science and philosophy, where he also helped to found a popular business start-up competition. In early 2009, he helped lead an initiative to bring together Connecticut leaders from across the business, nonprofit, and labor sectors to unite in a strategy to create new jobs in the state.
As a candidate for United States Senate in 2006, he stood up for his convictions and challenged the political establishment. Taking on long-time incumbent Joe Lieberman for the Democratic nomination for United States Senate, Lamont campaigned on the platform that wars in the Middle East were draining resources and attention that could be better focused on pressing domestic issues like the economy, education, and healthcare. As a private citizen, he fought for the issues in which he believes, serving on the boards of Mercy Corps and the Conservation Services Group, non-profits which seek to make a difference in the humanitarian and renewable energy fields, respectively.
Lamont was born on January 3, 1954, in Washington, D.C. to Camille Helene and Edward Miner Lamont. The eldest of three children, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and served as president of the student newspaper, The Exonian. After graduating Phillips Exeter in 1972, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Harvard College in 1976 and a Master of Business Administration from the Yale School of Management in 1980.
Lamont married his wife Annie on September 10, 1983. They have three children: Emily, Lindsay, and Teddy.
SUSAN BYSIEWICZ
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Sworn in on January 9, 2019, Susan Bysiewicz is serving her first term as Connecticut’s 109th Lieutenant Governor.
Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz’s and Gov. Ned Lamont’s first priority is to grow good-paying jobs and investing in the state’s future.
Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz is continuing her commitment to economic growth that made her a leading voice for Connecticut residents and small businesses while she served as Secretary of the State from 1999 to 2011. As Secretary of the State, she helped thousands of businesses grow, registered thousands of voters, cut bureaucratic red tape, honored veterans, and fought to keep elections fair.
As a state representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, representing the towns of Middletown, Middlefield, and Durham, Bysiewicz wrote legislation to ban dangerous “drive-through” mastectomies and ensure that women being treated for breast cancer had proper care. She also fought political patronage and wrote the law to ban lobbyists from giving gifts to legislators.
As a business lawyer and a job creator, she has helped over sixty companies access millions of dollars in capital, expand their businesses, and create thousands of jobs in Connecticut.
Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz was raised the proud granddaughter of immigrants who came to Connecticut from Poland and Greece with nothing but hopes for a better future. After many years of factory work, they saved enough to buy a farm in Middletown that became Bysiewicz's childhood home. Growing up and working on the farm, she and her siblings learned the values of hard work, education, and persistence.
Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz graduated from Middletown High School, Yale University and Duke Law School. She is the author of Ella: A Biography of Ella Grasso, Connecticut’s 83rd governor.
Bysiewicz and her husband David Donaldson reside in Middletown.
DENISE W. MERRILL
SECRETARY OF THE STATE
Denise W. Merrill was elected to her third term as Connecticut's 73rd Secretary of the State on November 6, 2018. As Connecticut's chief elections official and business registrar, Merrill has focused on modernizing Connecticut's elections and improving business services and access to public records.
Secretary Merrill is focused on both civic engagement and fostering business enterprise. Since taking office, she has supported and expanded democratic participation, ensuring that every citizen's rights and privileges are protected, and that every vote is counted accurately. Secretary Merrill has worked to expand voter participation through Election Day Voter Registration, Online Voter Registration, and Automatic Voter Registration through the DMV. She has also improved Connecticut's democratic accountability and integrity with a series of rapid response processes to Election Day problems. She was the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, serving for the 2016-17 term.
As Connecticut's business registrar, Secretary Merrill has made it easier for businesses to interact with the office by increasing online functionality, improving response times, and connecting businesses with government resources. She has partnered with the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Export Assistance Center, the General Services Administration, and the Small Business Development Administration to distribute information about business assistance and educational events being offered by these agencies. Secretary Merrill also launched an award-winning online business startup tool to help entrepreneurs navigate through various state and federal agencies. She led the development of Connecticut's e-Regulations system, an online platform that provides access to all agency regulation-making records with real-time updates.
Prior to her election as Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill served as State Representative from the 54th General Assembly District for 17 years, representing the towns of Mansfield and Chaplin. First elected to the General Assembly in 1994, Merrill rose to the rank of House Majority Leader from 2009-2011. She also served as the House Chair of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee from 2005-2009, as vice-chair of the Education Committee from 1994-1999, and as a member of the Government Administration and Elections Committee from 1995-1997. In a 2009 poll done by Connecticut magazine, Majority Leader Merrill was named by her colleagues in the legislature as "Most Respected by the Other Side of the Aisle" and "Most Effective Legislator."
Secretary Merrill is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, is licensed to practice law in the state of California, and is a classically trained pianist. She lives in Hartford. Her family includes husband Dr. Stephen Leach and his two sons, her three grown children, and five grandchildren.
SHAWN T. WOODEN
TREASURER
Shawn T. Wooden was elected State Treasurer on November 6, 2018, following a successful 21-year career as an investment attorney specializing in public pension plans. He was sworn-in as Connecticut’s 83rd State Treasurer on January 9, 2019.
Most recently, Treasurer Wooden was a Partner in a major law firm where he led its public pension plan investment practice and was a member of the Investment Section of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys.
Early in his legal career, he worked in the AFL-CIO's Office of Investment in Washington, D.C.
From 2011 to 2015, Treasurer Wooden served as President of the Hartford City Council.
He also was a member of the Connecticut Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board, which interprets and enforces the state’s ethics laws and oversees the Connecticut Office of State Ethics.
Treasurer Wooden’s passion for public service began at home.
He was born and raised in the north end of Hartford as the youngest of six children.
From a young age, his parents taught him the importance of a good education, hard work and giving back to your community.
His father owned a television repair and record shop. His mother was a teachers’ aide in a program to prepare preschool-aged children for school, and later worked at the Community Renewal Team as part of their lead poison prevention and energy assistance programs for low-income families.
As a child, Treasurer Wooden participated in a de-segregation busing program and attended Manchester Public Schools, where he graduated high school with honors.
He went on to earn a four-year academic scholarship to Trinity College in Hartford, where he now serves as a member of its Board of Trustees.
Upon college graduation, Treasurer Wooden worked for the Mayor of Hartford and then as Connecticut Director of Project Vote, a national voter registration and education program. He also served as a key aide for the Connecticut Commissioner of Social Services.
He later attended New York University School of Law before beginning his career at Day Pitney.
Super Lawyers magazine designated him a Connecticut Super Lawyer for Securities and Corporate Finance, Business/Corporate.
Pensions and Investments named him one of the "Twenty-Five Investment Professionals to Watch.”
Savoy magazine named him as one of the most influential black lawyers in the country.
Treasurer Wooden is the proud father of two boys.
KEVIN LEMBO
COMPTROLLER
Kevin Lembo is currently serving his third term as Connecticut state Comptroller. Having never previously run for any elected office, Lembo had an unconventional path to public service. He spent decades working as a public health advocate before his first successful election for state comptroller in 2010. Lembo is the first openly gay statewide elected official in Connecticut.
As a young adult, Comptroller Lembo served as program director for an AIDS education, prevention and primary care program and helped develop an innovative long-term home care program for all in New York that successfully prevented premature and permanent admissions to nursing facilities. After moving to Connecticut more than 20 years ago, Lembo served as assistant comptroller and then as the state's first healthcare advocate.
As state comptroller, and administrator of the state health plan, Lembo has worked to develop innovative preventive care and wellness programs that reduce costs and improve care quality. As the state's chief fiscal guardian, he is an independent voice in reporting on the state's financial outlook and has implemented fiscal policy initiatives to tame Connecticut's revenue volatility and achieve financial predictability.
Those initiatives include a law to build the state's budget reserve fund, while ensuring that Connecticut only spends what it can reasonably afford. Relying on data and actuarial best practices, Comptroller Lembo also developed a pension funding reform plan to help make pension payments more predictable and manageable over time.
Lembo's open government initiatives include "Open Connecticut," an online hub of state financial data, and he successfully advocated for greater openness and analysis involving hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development initiatives.
As a member of the state bond commission, Comptroller Lembo has advocated for an economic development strategy that emphasizes infrastructure investment - devoting state resources to roads, bridges, ports, public transportation, high-speed broadband, and workforce training - because those priorities benefit all businesses, and particularly middle-class job growth.
Comptroller Lembo is helping to implement a voluntary retirement savings program that will serve up to 600,000 Connecticut workers in the private sector who currently have no workplace retirement savings option.
Comptroller Lembo continues to advocate on behalf of the LGBTQ communities, adoptive and foster families, and parents and individuals affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 2004, Lembo was commissioned a "Kentucky Colonel," the highest honor awarded by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, in recognition of his advocacy on behalf of children in foster care.
Comptroller Lembo holds a Master of Public Administration from California State University and is a member of the Pi Alpha Honor Society. He has been recognized as a "champion of transparency" and received awards from organizations including AARP, GLAD and Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information for his work in public policy, health care, retirement security, and open government - and was named a Toll Fellow of the Council of State Governments.
Comptroller Lembo lives in Guilford with his spouse of more than 30 years, Charles Frey. They have three sons.
WILLIAM TONG
ATTORNEY GENERAL
William Tong is the 25th Attorney General to serve Connecticut since the office was established in 1897. He took office on January 9, 2019 as the first Asian American elected at the statewide level, in Connecticut.
Before his election as Attorney General, Tong served for 12 years in Connecticut’s General Assembly representing the 147th District, which includes North Stamford and Darien. Most recently, Tong served as House Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In this position Tong was responsible for all legislation related to constitutional law, criminal law, civil rights, consumer protection, probate, judicial nominations and the Judicial branch, and major areas of substantive law.
During his service in the legislature, Tong helped to lead passage of landmark legislation, including the Connecticut Second Chance Act, Domestic Violence Restraining Order Act, Lost and Stolen Firearms Act, the Act Protecting Homeowner Rights, and the Act Protecting Schoolchildren.
A Connecticut native, Tong grew up in the Hartford area and attended schools in West Hartford. He graduated from Phillips Academy Andover, Brown University and the University of Chicago Law School. He has practiced law for the last 18 years as a litigator in both state and federal courts, first at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, in New York City and for the past 15 years at Finn Dixon & Herling LLP, in Stamford.
Tong is the oldest of five children, and grew up working side-by-side with his immigrant parents in their family’s Chinese restaurant. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Stamford with their three children and too many pets. Elizabeth is Vice President of Tax for North America for Diageo Corporation.