Candidate Profile: Gov. Dannel Malloy And Lieutenant Gov. Nancy Wyman

By Rich Scinto.

Gov. Dannel Malloy grew up in Stamford as the youngest of eight children before graduating from Boston College in 1977 and Boston College Law School in 1980. He was the first person with a sight impairment to take the bar exam orally.

He then went on to become an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York where he won 22 of 23 felony cases, according to his biography on the governor’s website. Malloy met his future wife Cathy at Boston College and married her in 1982; the two have three sons.

He went on to become a partner at a private practice law firm in Stamford and served on the Board of Finance and Board of Education before becoming the city’s mayor for 14 years.

Malloy was elected governor during the 2010 election in what would be the closest gubernatorial election the state had seen in more than 50 years. Malloy just edged out Tom Foley by less than 7,000 votes.

One of the highlights of Malloy’s four years as governor was the gun bill passed in 2013 following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in late 2012. The bipartisan bill signed by Malloy made Connecticut’s gun laws among the most restrictive in the country.

It classified more guns as assault weapons and banned their sale and possession in the state, though previous owners were grandfathered in. More restrictions were put on the sale of ammunition and large-capacity magazine sales were also restricted. The law is a polarizing issue between those who argue for more or less gun restrictions.

Malloy has become an ally of President Barack Obama and made Connecticut the first state in the nation to pass a minimum wage increase to $10.10 an hour, which was something Obama has advocated for across the nation.

Malloy raised taxes by $1.5 billion in his first year to help close a $3.6 billion deficit, according to the Connecticut Mirror.

Malloy’s running mate Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman was an X-ray technician that got into politics in Tolland in order to have more of a say in the education of her two daughters.

She served on the town’s Board of Education and eventually became the state representative of the 53rd district.

Wyman became the first woman elected to become the state comptroller and served in the position for 16 years before being elected along Malloy in 2010.