HARTFORD, Conn — The family of former Governor M. Jodi Rell has announced that she has died following a brief illness at a Florida hospital on Wednesday. She was 78 years old.
A statement from her son Michael said, "Rell was Connecticut’s 87th Governor serving from 2004 until 2011. She was only the second female governor in state history. She also served as Lieutenant Governor for ten years and as a member of the state House of Representatives for ten years, representing Brookfield and Bethel. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.
Jodi Rell came into office at a dark time in Connecticut politics, taking over for John Rowland, whose scandal-tinged third term ended with his resignation effective in July 2004. Two years later, she won the Governor’s seat by one of the largest vote totals ever seen in the state.
Born in Virginia on June 16, 1946, Rell attended Old Dominion University and left to marry Lou Rell, who became a pilot for TWA, in 1967. They moved to New Jersey and then Connecticut, settling in Brookfield. In 1969, she also attended what was then called Western Connecticut State College for a time.
Rell ran for election to the state House of Representatives in 1984. She served five terms representing the 107th District which covers Brookfield, and parts of Danbury and Bethel.
In 1994, she became John Rowland’s running mate in the gubernatorial race. They won 36% of the vote in the four-way race against Democrat Bill Curry, who won 32%, and independent candidates Eunice Groark, 18.9%, and Tom Scott, 11.3%.
The pair entered office on a promise to eliminate the controversial income tax that had been put into effect in 1991. What eventually happened was a shift from a flat rate tax to tax brackets in 1996.
The mid to late 1990s were years of growth for Connecticut. The pair ran for reelection in 1998 against 10-term Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly. Polls showed a dead heat at first, but Kennelly’s numbers slid downward in the face of Rowland’s message of success after the tumultuous Weicker years and a time of low unemployment and high economic growth. Rowland and Rell went on to win re-election with 63% of the vote vs. Kennelly’s 35%.
The lieutenant governor serves as the president of the state Senate and will cast a tiebreaking vote if needed. Rell would also be the acting governor if Rowland was out of state.
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Rell initiated the state’s annual memorial service at Sherwood Island State Park.
The Rowland administration initiated a plan to revitalize cities in the state, to make them more livable and inviting.
In 2002, Rowland and Rell ran for a third term against one of their opponents eight years earlier, Bill Curry. The GOP candidates won 56 to 44%. But from there, John Rowland’s fortunes took a turn.
In 2003, allegations started to surface regarding donations to John Rowland, and his campaign. As the months went by, more information was uncovered, and time and again, Rowland was forced to explain himself. By June 2004, Rowland faced impeachment. After a court ruling did not go in his favor, Rowland chose to resign, effective July 1, 2004.
That day, Jodi Rell was sworn in at an outdoor ceremony on the north lawn of the State Capitol as the state’s 87th governor, the second woman governor and the state’s first woman Republican governor. Viewed as a fresh start, she had approval ratings as high as 80% in the first six months of her term.
She signed into law a number of ethics reforms and the landmark 2005 legislation on campaign finance reform that restricted candidates from accepting donations from lobbyists and contractors.
Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday ordered flags to be lowered in honor of Rell. He said Rell represented the “very best of Connecticut values, expanding healthcare and childcare, and making Connecticut one of the first states in the country to recognize same-sex unions.”
When she took office, the debate over legalizing same-sex unions took the spotlight at the state capitol. Neighboring Massachusetts legalized marriage for same-sex couples in May 2004. Rell said she would be in favor of legislation legalizing civil unions but not marriage for same-sex couples. She kept her promise and in April 2005, she signed legislation making same-sex civil unions legal in the state. She was the first governor, Republican or Democrat, to sign such legislation without being forced to by the courts. Four years later, the state Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples were entitled to full marriage equality; and those marriages took place one month later. The following year, the state legislature passed a law codifying same-sex marriage, and Rell became the first governor in the country to sign it into law.
Since she moved into the governor’s office, the Senate President Pro Tempore, Kevin Sullivan, a Democrat, succeeded to the office of Lieutenant Governor. As the 2006 gubernatorial race approached, running a mixed party ticket wasn’t seen as an option and Rell chose former State Representative Michael Fedele to be her running mate. The pair went on to win over New Haven Mayor John DeStefano by a wide margin.
Rell maintained her wide popularity as she went into her full term as governor. The state, however, was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis. Personal income – which increased in Connecticut by 6% in Fiscal 2007 – was expected to grow by just 2.9% in Fiscal 2009. She ordered budget cuts of 3% to 5% at state agencies and commissions to offset an anticipated shortfall of about $150 million.
Eventually, she cut 400 state jobs. But the deficit kept growing. By July 2009, it was up to $8.8 billion through 2014.
Rell decided against running for re-election in 2010. She said after discussing it with her family, she decided, “It was time.” She left office with an approval rate close to 60%.
She stayed out of the public eye for the most part, but she did attend the 2019 swearing-in of Ned Lamont, along with other former governors Dan Malloy and Lowell Weicker.
Rell will be remembered for bringing a sense of healing to a troubled time and providing a steady hand at the head of state government after several years of her predecessor being embroiled in scandal.
The Stamford Advocate noted, “Rell will always be remembered for changing the tone of a state sickened by revelations of corruption. Rell's reformist credibility, after Gov. John G. Rowland's cronyism landed him in federal prison, was a breath of fresh air for a Connecticut eager for change.”
Doug Stewart is the Digital Executive Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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