Nancy DiNardo Elected Connecticut Democratic Party Chair
History was made last night when the members of the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee elected Nancy DiNardo party chair. Ms. DiNardo is the first woman ever to hold the office, and we are very excited to work with her as we move into the 2005 and 2006 elections. Here's a brief biography:
Nancy DiNardo began her political career in 1971 when she was elected to the Trumbull Town Council, and was subsequently being elected for an additional term. She was also elected to the Trumbull Board of Finance twice and has been a member of the Board of Health and the Police Commission. She has served as the Chairperson of the Trumbull Democratic Town Committee for almost 20 years. Under Nancy DiNardo’s leadership, Trumbull voters have elected a Democratic First Selectman for 17 out of the past 21 years, despite the fact that Trumbull has historically been a Republican-leaning town.
Nancy DiNardo also ran for State Senate in the 32nd district against Dick Bozzuto when Ella Grasso ran for reelection. Last year, she served as Treasurer and Finance Chair for Diane Farrell’s congressional campaign in Connecticut's 4th District against incumbent Christopher Shays, which raised a respectable 1.6 million dollars.
DiNardo worked for 30 years as an educator in the Bridgeport school system, starting as a teacher and working her way up to Director of Psychological Services. In June 2002, DiNardo retired from her position at the Bridgeport Board of Education to devote her energies full time to politics. She has been an active member of State Central Committee since she was first elected in 1998. Nancy has attended meetings for more than 30 years as her mother, Josephine DiNardo, was on the State Central Committee for 25 years. In 2001, under Chairman John Olsen, she became the chair of the Finance Committee, a position she has filled to date.
3 Comments:
Continuing my comment from a thread where it is off-topic....
A vote does not make a democracy. USA invaded Iraq in part because Saddam Hussein's 99.9% rate of electoral victory was "undemocratic". A multicandidate vote is essential for Democracy. My understanding is there was ONE candidate for Chair. Or one viable candidate anyway. Two very prominent candidates withdrew, showing that the closed Committee was supporting its own vice chair. I look forward to CT Dems or CT Young Dems publishing the roll call vote. A State committee that manouvers competing candidates out of the way may not be inclined to encourage competition to produce the best candidate for public office, such as legislature, even though the incumbant may not be the best candidate. It may also continue to concede too many seats unopposed.
While at it, why not publish how many years each State Committee member has been on State central? As Young Dems, a respectable amount of turnover should be one of our goals.
Anonymous,
The vote for Party Chair was unanimous at the meeting last week and was done by voice vote. I did not hear any 'nays.'
I'd like explain this process so you have a better understanding of how these elections work.
First, the electorate is extremely limited. There are 72 votes, which means the winner needs 37 in order to secure a majority. In the course of these decisions it's common for members to make their decisions in advance of the actual vote by committing to a candidate once they know who the candidates are.
There were two other candidates actively running for the seat. After the candidates were announced and members made their decisions, it became apparent that Nancy DiNardo had more than the 37 votes she needed to win.
The two others withdrew from the race in the spirit of a united party. Had the vote gone through with them in the race the results would have been the same. Why put the party through it?
Your statement that the committee supported its own vice chair is also misinformed and incorrect. The sitting vice chair actually had to give up her seat as the chair and vice chair must be of opposite gender.
There appears to be a misconception of some that party politics are a closed system. While registered party members (on both sides) don't directly pick their leadership, they do have an opportunity to elect the people that represent them on the State Central Committee.
As a State Central member of only two and a half years, I can assure you that there are some new faces every two years. Come to a meeting and see for yourself, they're open to all Democrats.
Good for Nancy Di Nardo and good for CT dems. Now let's say farewell to Nancy JOHNSON.
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