Dorinda Keenan Borer is an American businesswoman and mayor of

West Haven, Connecticut West Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It is located on the coast of Long Island Sound. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 55,584. History Settled in 1648, West Haven (then known as West Farms) ...

since 2023. Borer is a former member of the West Haven Board of Education and served as a Democratic member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

, representing District 115.

Early life and education

Born and raised in West Haven, Borer received her

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Business Administration and Management at Southern Connecticut State University and her

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

from the University of New Haven.

Career

Borer founded her own management and consulting business, PureFire Executive Consulting, after working as vice president for

United Healthcare UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It offers health care products and insurance services. UnitedHealth Group is the world's seventh largest c ...

. Prior to that, she was a personnel director for the Town of Stratford and the City of

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

for ten years as well as branch administrator and bank operational auditor of Lafayette American Bank for seven. Outside of her professional work, Borer was Bailey Middle School PTA president, served on the local Board of Education from 2009 to 2013, and founded the West Haven Early Childhood Development Commission. She was also on the board of directors of the Area Cooperative Educational Services Foundation and served two years as president of the Irish-American Club. Her community activism also included serving on the Greater New Haven St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee and founding the West Haven Italian Street Festival in 2003, for which she was chairwoman until 2011. Her work in the town's thriving Irish community was honored in 2014 when she was named "Irishwoman of the Year" for the city's 23rd annual celebration of St. Patrick's Day Parade. Among those in attendance who praised her contributions were West Haven Mayor Edward O'Brien, U.S. Representative

Rosa L. DeLauro Rosa Luisa DeLauro (; born March 2, 1943) is an American politician who has been the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. The dist ...

and Senator

Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal (; born February 13, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Connecticut, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he is one of the wealthiest members of ...

. Eleven years earlier, she was grand marshal of the event's parade. West Haven has also given Borer a Community Volunteerism award. Since her election in 2017, Borer has chaired the General Assembly's Veterans' Affairs Committee, most notably passing legislation that gave tax relief to veterans. Borer also co-chairs the Women's Bipartisan Caucus. She has served as a member of the Environment Committee where she introduced legislation to eliminate and reduce the use of plastic and polystyrene, and also as a member of the Tobacco 21 Committee where she advocated for addiction resources and solutions to the vaping crisis. She's a former vice chair and current member of the Public Health committee where she spearheaded a bill to eliminate the costs of breast cancer screenings and children's oral health bills in Connecticut. Borer resigned from the Connecticut House in December 2023 after being elected mayor of West Haven.

Electoral history

In January 2017, after it was made known Rep. Dargan would be leaving his seat to take a job for a position with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, Borer was selected by local Democrats as their nominee for the seat's upcoming special election.

Personal life

Borer's ex-husband is H. Richard Borer Jr., former mayor of West Haven. They have one son, Drew, together.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borer, Dorinda Keenan Connecticut Democrats Women in Connecticut politics Spouses of Connecticut politicians People from West Haven, Connecticut American women company founders American company founders School board members in Connecticut University of New Haven alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)