Nancy S. Wyman (born April 21, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who was the 108th

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 2011 to 2019. She was state comptroller 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, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

from 1995 to 2011 and was the first woman elected to that office since it was created in 1786. She served as the Chairwoman of the Connecticut Democratic Party from 2019 to 2020.

Early life

Wyman was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family and grew up in

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, New York, where her father worked as an accountant and supplemented his income by delivering the ''

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''. She earned an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

in radiological technology from

Long Island College Hospital University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital (or LICH) was a 506-bed teaching hospital located in the Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. The hospital was founded in 1858 as Long Island Coll ...

Early career

Wyman began her career in public service as vice chairperson of the Tolland

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

. She served in this post for four years but was on the board serving in other roles for five additional years. In 1986, she was elected as the State Representative from the 53rd district of Connecticut, serving in this capacity from 1987–1995.

Comptroller (1995–2011)

In 1994, Wyman became State Comptroller upon defeating Republican Gene Gavin, a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

. She succeeded William E. Curry Jr., who did not run for re-election in order to run for governor. As comptroller, Wyman was the chief fiscal guardian for the State of Connecticut. She oversaw the state health plan for 200,000 state employees, retirees, and their dependents. Despite the high popularity of Connecticut's last two Republican governors, Wyman easily won re-election. In 1998 she was challenged by Republican

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Christopher R. Scalzo. In 2002, 28-year-old

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 ...

Republican Justice of the Peace and City

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

Steven Mullins presented an easy challenge to Wyman. Mullins, a real estate manager by profession, was chosen by then-

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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 ...

to challenge Wyman the week of the state Republican Convention. He is the only African-American nominee for state comptroller, Democrat or Republican, in Connecticut history. After being endorsed by three of Connecticut's major newspapers, seven term Groton Republican

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Cathy Cook lost to Wyman in 2006.

Lieutenant Governor (2011–2019)

Democratic candidate for Governor

Dan Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. In Jul ...

chose Wyman to be his

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

in the 2010 gubernatorial race. After defeating primary opponent Mary Glassman on August 10, 2010, Wyman became the official 2010 Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Malloy and Wyman won a narrow general election. Wyman was sworn in on January 5, 2011, succeeding Republican

Michael Fedele Michael Fedele (born March 30, 1955, in Minturno, Italy) is an Italian-American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 107th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 2007 to 2011. As of 2024, Mr. Fedele is the last Repub ...

. She was succeeded by former Secretary of State

Susan Bysiewicz Susan Bysiewicz ( ; born September 29, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 109th lieutenant governor of Connecticut since 2019. She previously served as the 72nd secretary of the state of Connecticut from 1999 to 2 ...

on January 9, 2019.

Political advocacy

In 2006, Wyman co-chaired Joe Courtney's campaign for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

against incumbent U.S. Representative Rob Simmons in Connecticut's second Congressional District. Courtney defeated Simmons by a narrow margin.

Issues

Wyman is liberal when it comes to social issues. In March 2007, she testified at a public hearing of the State Legislative Judiciary Committee in support of Bill #7395 – "An Act Concerning Marriage Equality." In her opening statement before the committee, she stated, "To violate the rights of a few is to violate the rights of all." The bill supports

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

rights in Connecticut. In 2008, same-sex marriage became legal in Connecticut by court order.

Personal life

Wyman is married to Tolland Democratic Registrar of Voters R. Michael Wyman. They have lived in Tolland since 1973.

Electoral history

*Wyman was also nominated on the

A Connecticut Party A Connecticut Party was a political party formed by former Republican senator and gubernatorial candidate Lowell Weicker in 1990. Weicker subsequently won the 1990 gubernatorial election and served a single term as governor of Connecticut. T ...

line.

References

External links

Official site of Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman
* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyman, Nancy S. 1946 births 20th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century Connecticut politicians 21st-century American women politicians Connecticut comptrollers Jewish state legislators in Connecticut Jewish American women in politics Democratic Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Lieutenant governors of Connecticut Living people People from Tolland, Connecticut School board members in Connecticut Women state legislators in Connecticut State political party chairs of Connecticut 21st-century American Jews