Gayle Slossberg (born May 14, 1965) is an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, Slossberg is a former seven term Connecticut State Senator having served between 2005 and 2019. A resident of Milford, Slossberg as senator represented the western suburbs of

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

in the Connecticut Senate's 14th District, which includes the city of Milford, the town of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, the town of Woodbridge, and part of the city of

West Haven West Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located on the coast of Long Island Sound. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 55,584. Hi ...

. Slossberg was born and raised in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1987, and earned a J.D. degree from

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1990. She practiced law in New York with the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton before moving to Milford. Slossberg served on the board of directors of the Milford Visiting Nurses Association, is a past president of th
Mathewson Elementary School PTA
, and is a member of the Endowment Committee for Bridges. She mentored a teen mom via “Bright Beginnings,” a Yale-New Haven Hospital program that brings together experienced mothers with teenage mothers to be. Prior to being elected to the Senate, Slossberg served on the Milford Board of Aldermen and was its Democratic minority leader from 2001 to 2004.

Legislative career

In 2004, Slossberg was elected to the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Se ...

by defeating six-term incumbent Republican Win Smith by about 1,600 votes. A bizarre incident occurred late in the campaign regarding allegations that Slossberg

lawn sign Lawn signs (also known as yard signs, bandit signs and placards, among other names) are small signs that can be placed on a street-facing lawn or elsewhere on a property to express the support for an election candidate, or political position, by ...

s were dumped at a local synagogue. A Slossberg aide claimed it was a hate crime, but no evidence in support of this charge was ever provided. In the 2005-2006 legislative sessions, Slossberg served as co-chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, on which she worked for a veterans' benefits package, which included establishing a Military Family Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to family members of people serving in both the U.S. armed forces and the Connecticut National Guard. Slossberg also created the Depleted Uranium Task Force to study the effects of toxic substances on soldiers who fought in the Middle East. In 2006, Slossberg won re-election against Barbara Lisman, the widow of former Milford Mayor Frederick L. Lisman. In the 2007 legislative session, Slossberg served as chair of the Government Administration & Elections Committee, vice chair of the Public Health Committee, vice chair of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and as a Member of the Appropriations Committee. In 2007, Slossberg proposed that Connecticut adopt same-day voter registration. Republicans charged that such systems enable voter fraud to be committed. For that reason, then-Governor

John G. Rowland John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) is an American former politician, author, and radio host who served as the 86th governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. Rowland served three terms representing Connecticut's 5th congressional distri ...

vetoed a similar bill in 2003. On December 11, 2007, Slossberg proposed ethics reforms for the Connecticut Senate in wake of the CSU bonding scandal centered around fellow Democratic Senator Thomas Gaffey. In January 2008, Slossberg opposed Governor

M. Jodi Rell Mary Carolyn Rell (née Reavis; June 16, 1946 – November 20, 2024), known as M. Jodi Rell, was an American politician who served as the 87th governor of Connecticut from 2004 to 2011. Rell also had served as the state's 105th lieutenant gov ...

's proposal to pass a

Three Strikes Law In the United States, habitual offender laws (commonly referred to as three-strikes laws) have been implemented since at least 1952, and are part of the United States Justice Department's Anti-Violence Strategy. These laws require a person who i ...

mandating life prison terms for career violent criminals. Rell had sought this reform in the wake of a 2007

home invasion A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary (or in some jurisdictions, a separately defined crime) in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching i ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. In the November 4, 2008 election, Slossberg defeated Republican challenger Vincent Marino, town attorney of

, to win re-election. Slossberg faced Marino again in the 2010 election and was re-elected to a fourth term. On April 29, 2014, she voted for a comprehensive campus sexual assault safety bill which aims to protect more people, apply to additional schools, provide on-call crisis counseling and ensure sexual assault victims' anonymity is protected when issuing a report. In 2017 Slossberg attempted to stop a $10 million improvement plan for Silver Sands State Park, but was unsuccessful. In October 2017 while discussing with UConn College Democrats her efforts to purge local school libraries of books containing offensive language, Gayle Slossberg used the "

N-word In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

" in its explicit form without euphemisms. Her use of the word was highly offensive to the group and others including the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

. Slossberg later issued an apology. In February 2018 Slossberg announced as co-chair of the education committee that she got approval for the West Haven High School to do a $130 million renovation, which will help ingrate education and enrollment in the school. On March 8, 2018, Slossberg announced that she would not be a candidate for reelection.

References

External links

Legislative website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slossberg, Gayle Living people Politicians from Brookline, Massachusetts Jewish state legislators in Connecticut Jewish American women in politics Democratic Party Connecticut state senators Cornell University alumni Women state legislators in Connecticut 1965 births 21st-century American women politicians People associated with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton 21st-century American Jews 21st-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly