Norwalk's State Sen. Bob Duff Named Majority Leader by Senate Democrats

Duff was named Senate Majority Leader during a meeting Thursday of the Senate Democratic Caucus. The No. 2 position is immediately below that of Speaker of the House of Representatives, which Sen. Martin M. Looney of New Haven fills.

Here’s the announcement from Connecticut Senate Democrats (with a quote from Duff moved up):

Senate Democrats today selected Sen. Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) to serve as the next Senate President and Sen. Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) as the next Senate Majority Leader.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the support of my peers in the State Senate,” said Sen. Duff.

“I am looking forward to working with Senate President Looney and my Democratic colleagues to make Connecticut an even better place to live, work and raise a family. The opportunity to lead the caucus would not have been possible without the support and faith of my constituents in Norwalk and Darien, so I thank them as well.”

The Democrats made their choices at a caucus in Hartford this afternoon.

Senators Joe Crisco (D-Woodbridge), Eric Coleman (D-Bloomfield), Steve Cassano (D-Manchester), Gayle Slossberg (D-Milford), Andres Ayala (D-Bridgeport) and Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain) made nominating and seconding speeches.

Senator Looney, in accepting his nomination as the highest-ranking Democrat in the General Assembly, said, “I am honored and grateful for the support and confidence of the Senate Democratic Caucus. I look forward to working with the members of our caucus, with Governor Malloy and with Republicans of good will in continuing our efforts to create jobs, expand economic opportunity and fight on behalf of middle-income families.”

Senator Looney has served as Majority Leader since 2003. He will be formally elected in January at the outset of the 2015 legislative session.

Photo: State Sen. Bob Duff, representing Darien and Norwalk (from his state office website).