On January 3, 2007, Governor M. Jodi Rell was sworn in for her own term as Governor of the State of Connecticut. She is the state’s 87th Governor and the first-ever woman Republican Governor.
Governor Rell has held elected office in Connecticut for more than two decades. She holds the state’s highest office after serving as the 105th Lieutenant Governor for over nine years. Governor Rell also represented the 107th House District of Brookfield as State Representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, where she held key leadership posts including Deputy House Minority Leader and Assistant House Minority Leader.
Bold Approach for Connecticut:
In her first 2 ˝ years as Governor, Jodi Rell’s leadership and bold approach to state government have been embraced by the people of Connecticut. Governor Rell is strengthening our economy and creating a skilled workforce by making Connecticut business-friendly and providing incentives to encourage job creation.
Governor Rell led “Team Connecticut” in saving the Groton/New London Submarine Base from closure and 31,000 jobs statewide and championed legislation to invest $100 million in stem cell research in Connecticut.
She restored faith and integrity back to state government by proposing and signing into law landmark campaign finance reforms and creating a stronger, restructured State Ethics Commission. Governor Rell’s leadership is helping to break the state’s transportation gridlock through her historic investments in our railways, busways, highways and ports.
Governor Rell made unprecedented investments – more than any other Connecticut governor – in innovative early childhood programs to ensure children begin school ready to learn. The Governor also signed into law two balanced and on-time state budgets that honored the state’s spending cap, fills the state’s “Rainy Day” budget reserve fund and invests in other critical priorities.
Leadership as Lieutenant Governor:
As Lieutenant Governor, Jodi Rell demonstrated the same leadership and vision for Connecticut.
She launched an unprecedented effort to guarantee that Connecticut’s schools and libraries have access to the best possible technology and that students are “cyber-ready” by the sixth grade. Her work resulted in the creation of the Connecticut Education Network, the nation’s first all-optical network.
She also championed initiatives to give recognition for those who served our country and communities – from veterans to firefighters. These efforts include securing funding for thermal imaging cameras used by firefighters in each of the more than 300 fire departments in the state and helping to craft a new law allowing honorably discharged World War II veterans to receive high school diplomas if, because of their military service, they left high school to serve their country.
A Community Leader:
Over the past several years, Governor Rell has served on various local, state and national organizations. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Regional YMCA of Western Connecticut and the Candlewood Lions Club. She was previously active in the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors and served as President of the National Order of Women Legislators (NOWLS).
In September 2006, Common Cause, Public Campaign and Democracy Matters recognized Governor Rell with the “Clean Elections MVP Award” for her efforts to promote democracy and restore elections to the voters of Connecticut.
The Governor also recently received the Mary Waterman Award from the Breast Cancer Alliance for her “outstanding individual achievement in the search for a cure for breast cancer”; the “Woman of Merit Award” from the Connecticut Valley Girl Scout Council; the Visionario Award from Connecticut Association of United Spanish Action (CAUSA); and the 2005 CURE Award for Excellence “for significant contribution or achievement in Connecticut bioscience.”
In 2003, she was named a Melvin Jones Fellow, the highest form of recognition conferred by the Lions Club International Foundation for representing humanitarian qualities such as generosity, compassion and concern for the less fortunate.
Governor Rell has also received special honors from the Uniformed Professional Firefighters, AmeriCares, Arthritis Foundation, Connecticut Race for the Cure, Connecticut Library Association, Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Administrators, Connecticut Preservation Council and the Connecticut Federation of Business and Professional Women.
Other Biographical Facts:
Governor Rell was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She attended Old Dominion University and Western Connecticut State University. She received honorary doctor of law degrees from the University of Hartford in 2001 and the University of New Haven in 2004.
She and her husband, Lou, have made their home in Brookfield, Connecticut for many years. They have two grown children: Meredith, her husband Matthew O’Connor and their son, Tyler Rell O’Connor; and Michael and his wife Maura Rell.
