Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, Connecticut was home to over 3.6 million residents, its highest decennial count ever, growing every decade since 1790. The state is bordered by Rhode Island to its east, Massachusetts to its north, New York to its west, and Long Island Sound to its south. Its capital is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Historically, the state is part of New England as well as the tri-state area with New York and New Jersey. The state is named for the Connecticut River which approximately bisects the state. The word Connecticut is derived from various anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river".
Union is a town located in the northeastern part of Tolland County, Connecticut, United States and is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region and Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor. The population was 785 at the 2020 census, making it the least populous town in Connecticut. Union includes the village of Mashapaug located in the Eastern Uplands at the Massachusetts state line. Union is located 33 miles northeast of the state capital, Hartford and 67 mi (108 km) southwest of Boston as well as 153 mi (246 km) northeast of New York City.
Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. Milford is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region and New York metropolitan area.
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, 34 miles outside of New York City. It is the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, and Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 census. It is in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk-Danbury metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the New York City metropolitan area.
Southern Connecticut State University is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is governed by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education.
The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol. The court generally holds eight sessions of two to three weeks per year, with one session each September through November and January through May. Justices are appointed by the governor and then approved by the Connecticut General Assembly.
Susan Bysiewicz is an American politician and attorney who is the 109th lieutenant governor of Connecticut, serving since January 9, 2019. She previously served as the 72nd secretary of the state of Connecticut from 1999 to 2011. She was briefly a candidate for governor of Connecticut in 2010, before dropping out to run for Connecticut Attorney General. She was disqualified from running for the office by the Connecticut Supreme Court and announced in 2011 that she was running for the United States Senate in the 2012 election to replace the retiring Joe Lieberman. She lost the Democratic primary to U.S. Representative Chris Murphy, who went on to win the general election.
Christopher G. Donovan is a former American Democratic politician who was elected to be the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. He was sworn in as Speaker on January 7, 2009, and left his post in 2013, having not sought reelection to the House. He is the first grassroots organizer to become speaker of the Connecticut House.
ConnCAN is an American state-level education advocacy group founded in January 2005 and located in New Haven, Connecticut.
Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut is an independent, nonprofit organization with offices in Meriden, Connecticut. The foundation supports the mission of its parent organization, CHART. As of 2008, the foundation had assets of approximately $30 million.
The 2010 Connecticut gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010, to elect the 88th Governor of Connecticut. Incumbent Republican Governor Jodi Rell had announced in a press conference in Hartford on November 9, 2009, that she would not seek re-election in 2010. The sites Cook Political Report and CQ Politics both rated the election as a toss-up. This was the first open seat gubernatorial election in the state since 1994. As of 2022, this is the last time the Governor’s office in Connecticut changed partisan control.
The Connecticut State Universities (CSU) are part of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities, the largest public higher education system in Connecticut, and the second largest in New England. The four comprehensive state universities enroll almost 35,000 students and 180,000 alumni. The first of the universities to be founded was Central Connecticut State University, established in 1849 as a normal school for teacher education. Over time the other three institutions were founded as normal schools and in 1959 they were converted into state colleges to reflect their expanded mission. From their founding until 1965, they were overseen by the Connecticut State Department of Education. In 1965 the General Assembly transferred control of the then-colleges to an independent board of trustees. In 1983, the four institutions were converted into universities, together constituting the Connecticut State University System.
Porter and Chester Institute is a for-profit technical school with nine locations throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts in the United States. Porter and Chester Institute features 10 different career programs.
Juan A. Figueroa is an American consultant and political activist. He is a principal with Helene Figueroa at Soltaino Consultants, a strategic planning, applied research, advocacy and health philanthropy nonprofit consulting firm recognized for authoring an in-depth study on the health status of immigrants and refugees in the U.S. state of Missouri (2019–present).
Linda McMahon, formerly CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, ran for U.S. Senator from Connecticut from September 16, 2009, to November 4, 2010. On May 21, 2010, she won a majority of support from the Connecticut Republican Party. She ran as a Republican, promising lower taxes, fiscal conservatism, and job creation. McMahon spent $50 million of her own money on the campaign, allowing her to refuse campaign donations from special interest groups. She gained name recognition and popularity over her Republican opponents, including Rob Simmons, the prior frontrunner.
Gail Lavielle is a former member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, where she represented the 143rd district. The district included parts of Wilton, Norwalk, and, following redistricting in 2012, Westport. Representative Lavielle, an Assistant House Minority Leader, was the House Ranking Member of the Connecticut General Assembly's Appropriations Committee, and served on the Transportation and Education Committees. During her 10 years in the legislature, she also served on the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee and Higher Education Committee and as House Ranking Member of both the Education Committee and the Commerce Committee.
50CAN is a nonprofit education advocacy group founded in January 2011 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States According to its website, 50CAN's mission is to advocate for a high-quality education for all kids, regardless of their address. The organization aims to find, connect and support local leaders in states across the country to help them improve educational policies in their communities.
The Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) is an independent Connecticut state agency located in New Britain, Connecticut, that was created for the purpose of advocating for all utility ratepayers in Connecticut. Since its establishment in 1975 by Connecticut Public Act 75-486, the OCC has served as an independent voice for Connecticut's electric, natural gas, water, and telecommunications consumers through advocacy and consumer education.
Lubbie Harper Jr. is an American lawyer and judge who was the third African American to become a justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, serving from 2011 through 2012. While seconded to the court in 2008, he cast the deciding vote in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, a ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut. Harper also served as a justice on the Connecticut Superior Court (1997–2005) and on the Connecticut Appellate Court (2005–2011).
Mark D. Boughton is an American politician who was the longest-serving mayor in Danbury, Connecticut's history. He served ten consecutive terms as mayor, from 2001 to 2020. He was the Republican endorsed candidate for governor of Connecticut in 2018, but lost the primary election to Bob Stefanowski. In 2020, Governor Ned Lamont nominated Boughton to serve as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.
