| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT
September 26, 2023 Garnet McLaughlin 860-304-2319
SENATOR SLAP VOTES FOR A NEW SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, AN EARLIER PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DATE, AND OVERSIGHT OF BRIDGEPORT ELECTIONS
HARTFORD – In a special session of the General Assembly held today, state Senator Derek Slap voted to approve Attorney Nora Dannehy for a seat on the Connecticut State Supreme Court, to move Connecticut’s presidential primary date up four weeks from April 30 to April 2, and to spend $150,000 over the next two years for an independent election monitor to oversee elections in Bridgeport.
“Today my colleagues and I came into a special session to vote on a number of important provisions,” said state Sen. Derek Slap. “Attorney Dannehy has a long reputation of being an incredible attorney who consistently demonstrates integrity and intelligence, and she will make a great addition to the State Supreme Court. Additionally, I’m proud to vote to make Connecticut more relevant on the national political stage by moving our presidential primary earlier, and to fund an election monitor in Bridgeport to ensure the integrity of our elections.”
Attorney Dannehy is being named to fill the seat most recently held by the Honorable Maria Araújo Kahn, who resigned earlier this year after being confirmed to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Attorney Dannehy earned a B.A. in political science and French from Wellesley College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She has served in several roles with the U.S. Department of Justice, as Connecticut’s Deputy Attorney General, as Associate General Counsel for Global Ethics and Compliance for United Technologies Corporation, as Counsel to the U.S. Attorney, and as General Counsel to Governor Lamont from 2021 until January 2023.
The change in Connecticut’s presidential primary date will align us with presidential primary dates in New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Delaware and could give Connecticut more influence in helping determine the ultimate nominees for the general election.
The legislature also voted today to move funding earmarked in June from the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) to the Secretary of the State’s office, in order to hire an election monitor for the Bridgeport municipal elections in 2023 and 2024. The election monitor’s purpose is to detect and prevent irregularity and impropriety in how the municipality manages the election administration procedures and conducts the elections. |
