Joseph M. Suggs Jr. (born August 1, 1940) is an American politician who served as

Connecticut State Treasurer The Connecticut State Treasurer serves the office of treasurer for the state of Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachus ...

from 1993 to 1995.

Biography

Suggs was appointed to the office of state treasurer by the Connecticut General Assembly to complete the term of Francisco L. Borges, who had resigned to accept a finance job in the private sector. Suggs lost the 1994 general election for treasurer to Republican state representative Christopher Burnham. 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 ...

, Suggs had served as mayor of

Bloomfield, Connecticut Bloomfield is a suburb of Hartford in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The town's population was 21,535 at the 2020 census, Bloomfield's highest decennial census count ever. Bloomfield is best known as the headquarters of ...

, from 1989 to 1993. He was the town's first African American mayor and the only Black mayor of a suburban Connecticut town at the time. In 1998, Suggs sought the Democratic nomination for Connecticut's 1st congressional district, losing the primary to

John B. Larson John Barry Larson (born July 22, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for since 1999. The district is based in the state capital, Hartford. A member of the Democratic Party, Larson chaired the Ho ...

. In 2018, he narrowly lost a special election for 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 ...

. Suggs worked 27 years as a laboratory supervisor for

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...

, retiring in 1993. He supported the development of

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

plastic bottles now widely used in the beverage industry. Born 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 ...

and raised in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, he served in the US Air Force and earned a Bachelor of Science degree 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 1978. He has served on the boards of the University of Hartford and Saint Francis Hospital and as co-chair of the Council of Institutional Investors. He was recognized twice by 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 ...

as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks of Connecticut. He is currently a business consultant.

Personal life

Suggs is a widower (his wife Mary died in 1989) with three children: Ronald, Rosemary, and Felicia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suggs Jr, Joseph M. Living people 1940 births People from Bloomfield, Connecticut University of Hartford alumni Monsanto employees Connecticut Democrats 20th-century American businesspeople Mayors of places in Connecticut State treasurers of Connecticut African-American people in Connecticut politics 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American businesspeople