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
The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...
from 2004 to 2011. Rell also had served as the state's 105th
lieutenant governor of Connecticut
The lieutenant governor of Connecticut is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. State of Connecticut. The lieutenant governor acts as President of the State Senate, presiding over the Senate and casting votes in the ...
from 1995 to 2004 under Governor
John G. Rowland,
and became governor after Rowland resigned from office. To date, Rell is the last Republican and last woman to serve as Governor of Connecticut.
[
Rell was Connecticut's second female governor, after ]Ella Grasso
Ella Rosa Giovianna Oliva Grasso (née Tambussi; May 10, 1919 – February 5, 1981) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 83rd governor of Connecticut from January 8, 1975, to December 31, 1980, after r ...
. She did not seek re-election in 2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and left office in January 2011.
Early life
Rell was born Mary Carolyn Reavis in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
, the daughter of Foy and Benjamin Reavis. She attended Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...
, but left in 1967 to marry Lou Rell, a U.S. Navy pilot. The couple first moved to New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, where Lou Rell took a position as a commercial airline pilot with Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...
. The family then moved to a 19th-century farmhouse in Brookfield, Connecticut
Brookfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, situated within the southern foothills of the Berkshires, Berkshire Mountains. The population was 17,528 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The t ...
, in 1969. Jodi Rell later attended, but did not graduate from, Western Connecticut State University
Western Connecticut State University (WCSU and WestConn) is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System.
WCSU consists of four schools: the A ...
.[ She received honorary law doctorates from the ]University of Hartford
The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...
in 2001 and the University of New Haven
The University of New Haven (UNH) is a private university in West Haven, Connecticut, United States.
History
The University of New Haven was founded in 1920 as the New Haven YMCA Junior College, a division of Northeastern University, which sha ...
in 2004. In 2015, she received an honorary doctorate degree of humane letters from Western Connecticut State University
Western Connecticut State University (WCSU and WestConn) is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System.
WCSU consists of four schools: the A ...
. In her early career, she tutored and did substitute work for the Hartford Public Schools.
Early career
Jodi Rell's political career began as a campaign worker for Connecticut state Rep. David Smith during several of his campaigns.[ Smith, a pilot for ]Eastern Airlines
Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...
, declined to seek re-election to a 5th term in the Connecticut House of Representatives
The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each ...
in the 1984 election.[ He encouraged Rell to enter the race to succeed him.][ Rell was elected in 1984, representing the 107th District in northwestern ]Fairfield County Fairfield County is the name of three counties in the United States:
* Fairfield County, Connecticut
* Fairfield County, Ohio
* Fairfield County, South Carolina
{{Geodis, uscounty ...
, centered on Brookfield. She served from 1985 to 1995.
She became lieutenant governor after the 1994 election as John Rowland's running mate and won re-election in 1998 and 2002, becoming governor in 2004 after Rowland resigned due to corruption.
Governor of Connecticut (2004–2011)
Tenure
In her first months in office, Rell had high approval ratings, with a December 2004 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll showing her at 80 percent, the highest rating ever measured by that poll for a governor in Connecticut. She announced in October 2005 she would seek a four-year term in 2006, and was nominated by the Republican Party in May 2006 to seek a full term of her own. Stamford businessman and former state representative Michael Fedele was nominated as her running mate as lieutenant governor.
Rell defeated her Democratic opponent, 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 ...
Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. in the 2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election. She received approximately 710,000 votes, the highest total for any gubernatorial candidate in Connecticut history. She carried all but seven towns.
Governor Rell was one of many Republicans mentioned as a potential candidate for vice president in the 2008 presidential election. The presidential nominee John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
chose Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...
as his running mate instead.
In April 2008, Rell's Lt. Governor, Michael Fedele told the media he expected Rell to run for re-election in 2010. In August 2008 she told reporters she would file an exploratory committee for a 2010 reelection bid. She announced on November 9, 2009, that she would not seek re-election. Democrat Dan Malloy succeeded Rell in office on January 5, 2011.
Abortion and embryonic stem-cell research
Governor Rell supported abortion rights
Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their p ...
, and she was supported by the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition and The WISH List, an abortion-rights Republican PAC
Pac or PAC may refer to:
Aviation
* IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama
* Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft:
** PAC 750XL
** PAC Cresco
** PAC CT/4
** PA ...
. She supported abortion rights embryonic stem-cell research during her tenure as Governor.
Education policy
Rell supported a lawsuit in response to the federal No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...
. Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal ( ; born February 13, 1946) is an American politician, lawyer, and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from ...
filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...
to force Congress and President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
to amend the act because, Rell contended, it would compel Connecticut to spend tens of millions to meet impossibly high standards, even as the state's schools perform at one of the highest levels in the nation. The act required states to pay for standardized testing every school year, instead of every two years. Rell's State Department of Education said the extra testing would provide little new information about students' academic progress.
Rell delivered the 2008 commencement address
In the United States, a commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the ...
at Central Connecticut State University
Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut's oldest publi ...
.
Government spending
Rell supported the state's constitutional spending cap resisting pressure from groups favoring expanded state government spending which would bypass the cap. As a result, in late June 2006 the state reported a $910 million surplus for the prior year and the state's Rainy Day Fund exceeded $1 billion in deposits for the first time. In 2007 she shocked many of her supporters by proposing additional spending for education that would cause the state budget to significantly exceed the spending cap. Paying for the increased spending would require raising the state income tax. Republican legislators and a few Democrats, including (at least initially) House Speaker James Amann, as well as many others, were skeptical when Rell claimed her plan would reduce property taxes. And as public opinion polls showed steadfast opposition to an income tax hike, she changed her mind and withdrew her support for increased educational spending. Rell originally had the support of the Connecticut Education Association for her proposal, but they later switched to the Democratic plan favoring even higher state taxes and no limits on property tax increases. On May 9, 2007, Rell announced increased state revenues might make a tax hike unnecessary in 2007. On June 1, 2007, Rell vetoed a Democratic plan that increased the income tax. A compromise education plan passed both houses of the legislature in late June that did not increase the income tax, but raised the cigarette tax and did not limit property taxes. It nonetheless exceeded the state spending cap.
In 2005, Rell agreed to a plan to revive the Connecticut estate tax, applying to estates worth $2 million or more. Critics said the tax would encourage wealthy citizens to leave and take their money with them.
In 2005, Rell signed into law a campaign finance bill that banned contributions from lobbyists and would provide public financing for future campaigns. The law received support from Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
Senator John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
, who campaigned for Rell in Hartford
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
on March 17, 2006.
In June 2006, Rell intervened with New London city officials, proposing that homeowners displaced by the Kelo v. New London court decision be deeded property so they may retain homes in the neighborhood. A settlement was reached with the homeowners on June 30, 2006.
In 2007, Rell clashed with Democratic lawmakers over state bonding issues. Explaining that she felt the Democratic proposal spent too much money which the state could not afford, she called on them to renegotiate a new package with less spending. In October an agreement was reached that reduced the bond package by $400 million and the Governor signed it into law.
In September 2010, Rell was one of seven governors to receive a grade of F in the Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...
's fiscal-policy report card.
Health care
In July 2009, the Connecticut legislature overrode a veto by Rell to pass SustiNet
SustiNet is a Connecticut health care plan passed into law in July 2009. Its goal was to provide affordable health care coverage to 98% of Connecticut residents by 2014. The name SustiNet derives from the motto of the State of Connecticut: "Qui ...
, the first significant public-option health care reform legislation in the nation.
Law and order
One of Rell's first major decisions as governor was, on August 25, 2004, to end the system put into place by the previous administration of housing prisoners in out-of-state corrections facilities. "Instead of sending inmates and tax dollars out of state, we can now more fully utilize correctional facilities and personnel in Connecticut," Governor Rell said. "It makes good policy and good fiscal sense." She continued, "This approach is in the best interests of the inmates, their families and our correction system. It will keep offenders closer to their families, their communities and to the support that is so critical for their successful reintegration into society."
During Rell's administration, Connecticut carried out the first execution in New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
since 1960 when serial killer
A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone:
*
*
*
*
* (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
Michael Bruce Ross was put to death on May 13, 2005. Rell, who supports the death penalty, declined a request by Ross's lawyers to delay the execution in order for the state legislature to debate eliminating the death penalty. Legally, the Governor of Connecticut cannot commute a death sentence.
Rell faced another criminal justice issue in July 2007, when two paroled convicts were charged with the 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 ...
murders of the Petit family in Cheshire. Rell announced a panel would review the state's parole policies and create a study on the topic. She also reiterated her support of capital punishment. On July 31, 2007, she announced tighter parole policies and asked the legislature to define burglary of an occupied dwelling as a violent crime. In September 2007, she announced a moratorium on the parole of violent offenders. State Senator Sam Caligiuri had called for a full moratorium in July. Ironically, the man Rell appointed to chair the parole board, Robert Farr, wrote an op-ed for the ''Hartford Courant'' defending the state's parole system. Rell announced in September that she does not believe Connecticut needs to build new prisons, send inmates out of state or expand any of the corrections facilities.
In January 2008, Rell reached agreement with legislative leaders on a number of criminal justice reforms which were responsive to the systemic failures that occurred before the Cheshire 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 ...
. A special session in late January passed laws to toughen penalties for home invasion and to tighten parole procedures, but did not 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 ...
which Rell, Caligiuri, and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney had favored.
Rell reiterated her call for a Three Strikes law on March 31, 2008, following the kidnapping and murder of an elderly New Britain woman, crimes committed by a convicted sex offender recently released from a Connecticut prison.
LGBT policy
On April 20, 2005, Rell signed into law a bill that made Connecticut the first state to adopt civil unions
A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...
for same-sex couples
A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...
without being directed to do so by a court. The law gives same-sex couples all of the 300+ rights, responsibilities, and privileges that the state gives to heterosexual couples, including the right to adopt children, awarding state income tax credits, inheritance rights, and allowing same-sex partners to be considered next-of-kin when it comes to making medical decisions for incapacitated partners, yet does not require employers to give equal insurance benefits as they would to heterosexual couples. The bill was amended to define marriage as "between a man and a woman" after Rell threatened a veto. Rell signed the bill despite some Republican opposition to it, including from the Chairman of the State Republicans at the time.
Rell had announced that were the legislature to pass a bill establishing gay marriage in Connecticut, that she would veto the bill.
On October 10, 2008, Connecticut courts ruled that the ban of gay marriage violated citizens rights guaranteed to them by the constitution. Governor Jodi Rell responded by saying she would not fight the decision. "The Supreme Court has spoken," she stated "I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision, either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution, will not meet with success." However, on April 23, 2009, Rell signed a bill into law providing for a gender neutral marriage statute. It also provided for civil unions to be automatically transformed into marriages on October 1, 2010.
Minimum wage
In May 2008, Rell vetoed a bill to raise the minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
in the state of Connecticut. The legislature successfully voted to override Rell's veto in June 2008. The legislation raised Connecticut's minimum wage at the time, $7.65 an hour to $8.00 an hour beginning in January 2009, and to $8.25 an hour in 2010.
Electoral history
Personal life and death
An Episcopalian
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...
, Rell was married in 1967 to Lou Rell, with whom she had two children, Michael and Meredith. In April 2006, she became a grandmother. Her 2006 campaign advertisements featured her with her grandson.
Rell underwent surgery for breast cancer in December 2004.
Her husband died on March 22, 2014.
Rell died following a short illness at a hospital in Florida, on November 20, 2024, at the age of 78.
See also
* List of governors of Connecticut
The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Connect ...
* List of female state governors in the United States
As of 2025, 51 women have served as governor of a U.S. state, three as governor of an unincorporated U.S. territory, and two as mayor of the District of Columbia. In January 2025, women have been serving as governor in 12 U.S. states (13 betw ...
* List of female lieutenant governors in the United States
References
External links
*
*
Campaign contributions
for Jodi Rell and John Rowland (2002) at FollowTheMoney.org
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rell, Jodi
1946 births
2024 deaths
21st-century American women
American Episcopalians
Lieutenant governors of Connecticut
Old Dominion University alumni
People from Brookfield, Connecticut
Politicians from Norfolk, Virginia
Republican Party governors of Connecticut
Republican Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives
Western Connecticut State University alumni
Women state governors of the United States
Women state legislators in Connecticut
20th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly
20th-century American women politicians