Democratic Party of Connecticut

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Democratic Party of Connecticut
Basic facts
Location:	Hartford, Conn.
Type:	Political party
Affiliation:	Democratic
Top official:	Nancy DiNardo, Chair
Website:	Official website

The Democratic Party of Connecticut is the Connecticut political party affiliate of the national Democratic Party. The group is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.

Background[edit]

Connecticut has a Democratic trifecta. The Democratic Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.

Platform[edit]

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The party's stated platform is composed of 12 main issues:^[1]

• Education
  "A quality public education is the surest path to prosperity, giving all students the opportunity to fulfill their dreams and contribute to our economy and democracy. We are committed to ensuring that every person in Connecticut has access to a world-class public education so we can make sure Connecticut continues to prepare students for the future."
• Income growth and economic security
  "The economy must serve the needs of the many, not create profits for a few. The fight for a living wage continues here in Connecticut. Today, we resolve to continue pushing our legislature and business community toward a $15 per hour minimum wage...We resolve to continually focus on lifting the working poor and working class and remain confident that all businesses will be lifted by increasing the economic security of the working people of Connecticut."
• Small Businesses and Economic Development
  "Small businesses are major drivers of our economy within communities across Connecticut. Our focus on creating a living wage and supporting the working and middle class is in direct alignment with ensuring that small businesses are provided with the tools and resources to flourish. Encouraging small business development and entrepreneurship is a major boost to “Main Street” across Connecticut and we should embraces these efforts wholeheartedly."
• Health Care
  "Connecticut is privileged to be led by one of the most experienced Democratic congressional delegations in the nation. As a result of this experience our representatives have been able to be on the front lines of legislation reinforcing the Affordable Care Act, expanding Medicaid, and protecting Medicare, to the benefit of Connecticut residents and citizens across the country."
• Environment
  "The tranquility of our landscape, from the brackish wetlands on the shoreline, to the narrow tracks of the Appalachian Trail, to the trickling waterfalls of the Quiet Corner are well appreciated by citizens on all points of the political spectrum. And so, we will continue to advocate for the preservation of our lands, forests, farmlands, and waterways, culminating in the understanding of our agriculture heritage, place in the larger environment as it pertains to the health of the Long Island Sound in our region, and clean water and air for all people."
• Criminal Justice Reform
  "The time for legalization of Marijuana has come. Doing so will raise revenue, which can be used to benefit those suffering from the disease of addiction to prescription pain medications and other opioids. Connecticut should follow “Best Practice” from other states to detect and prevent impaired driving. However, this is not enough. We must immediately move towards early release of non-violent drug offenders, starting with those incarcerated for Marijuana offenses. Connecticut should continue its progress as one of the national leaders towards reducing our state prison population. More efforts need to be made on overall sentencing reform to ensure that we are doing everything we can to avoid the channel of young men of color being sent to prison at disproportionate rates. We should also take steps to eliminate hurdles that prevent formerly incarcerated individuals from receiving adequate training, getting good jobs, and voting in our elections."
• Women's Rights, Racial Justice, and LGBTQ Rights
  "Domestic abuse and sexual abuse is a scourge upon the state of Connecticut. We shall strive to enact laws and education which better protects those most vulnerable among us. Sexual harassment and assault, both inside and outside the workplace, impacts the lives of many Connecticut families. Connecticut Democrats are resolved to continually work to support policies that protect victims. Racism is still a strong force in the United States and has become more evident under the current federal administration. Public institutions inadvertently or intentionally violate the rights of people of color. The Connecticut legislature must continually act, through law and deed, toward eliminating institutional racism. We recognize and engage the specific challenges facing women, and in particular women of color. LGBTQ rights are frequently targeted in spite of years of reflection, development, healing, and progress by members of the Democratic Party. We should continually push to knock down barriers that restrict civil rights and ensure that sexual discrimination legislation includes the LGBTQ community. As Democrats we resolve to dedicate legislative solutions and state resources to these issues and challenges."
• Guns
  "Connecticut Democrats are proud to stand behind common sense gun violence prevention measures. As a result, Connecticut has one of the lowest gun death rates in the country. Gun violence in our urban centers needs to be addressed. This can be supported through incentivized proactive measures such as buybacks, and reinforcing “no questions asked” protections where appropriate in order to get guns off the streets."
• Infrastructure and Transportation
  "Connecticut Democrats understand the important role a robust transportation system plays in revitalizing our state’s economy. We believe that there must be a forward-looking, comprehensive plan for strategic investments in infrastructure. We recognize that we will not resolve our transportation needs overnight and Connecticut’s transportation system has critical and immediate needs that must be met. That is why Connecticut Democrats led the fight to support the creation of a lockbox for transportation funding, to ensure that dollars raised for the purposes of investing in infrastructure are spent on infrastructure, for the good of our taxpayers, allies in labor, businesses, and the future of our state and economy."
• Voting Rights
  "The sanctity of our elections and voting systems must be upheld and free from malicious influence. Voting is a fundamental right that must be protected. Current voter ID laws need to remain intact. In addition, we should protect Election Day registration, continue supporting the Citizens’ Election Program, uphold our commitment to the National Popular Vote, and support No Excuse absentee and early voting."
• Immigration
  "Connecticut Democrats resolve to do everything we can to protect Dreamers, refugees, and other residents from any anti-immigration aggression. This should include stabilizing and expanding upon the 2013 Trust Act. We believe that all members of our community, including immigrants, should be treated equally, with respect and dignity in their homes, workplaces, places of worship, within the legal system, and throughout the state. We honor the valuable contributions made by immigrants over the years to the community values of hard work, innovative discovery, business expansion, and devotion to family. We also believe that undocumented immigrants, who are particularly vulnerable, should be afforded every opportunity to achieve permanent status."
• Free Press
  "The support of Connecticut’s free press to our political process has been one of the defining hallmarks of politics in this state. The press has effectively been a counter-check to power and a resource to Connecticut’s people, and we as Democrats resolve to never threaten them, even when we inevitably become subjects in their pursuit of the truth."

Rules and bylaws[edit]

See also: Rules of the Connecticut Democratic Party

The state party is governed by a set of rules and bylaws. Typically, these give structure to the different levels of organization—local, county, and state committees—and establish protocol for electing committee members. The bylaws also typically give details on the party's process for nominating and sending delegates to the national party convention during presidential elections. The following is a selection of the Connecticut Democratic Party's rules. This selection focuses on the structure and governance of the party:^[2]

• The state central committee is the governing body of the Connecticut Democratic Party; members of the state central committee are automatic delegates to the state convention for the towns they represent.
• At-large delegates to the Democratic National Committee are elected at the state convention in presidential years.

Convention[edit]

The 2020 state convention for the Connecticut Democratic Party, when the party selects its delegates for the Democratic National Convention, took place in a virtual format on May 9, 2020.^[3]

The 2016 state convention for the Connecticut Democratic Party took place on June 7, 2016.^[4]

National convention delegate allocation, 2016[edit]

See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules

Hover over the terms below to display definitions.

Ballot access laws

Primary election

Caucus

Delegate

A political party formally nominates its presidential candidate at a national nominating convention. At this convention, state delegates select the party's nominee. Prior to the nominating convention, the states conduct presidential preference primaries or caucuses. Generally speaking, only state-recognized parties—such as the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—conduct primaries and caucuses. These elections measure voter preference for the various candidates and help determine which delegates will be sent to the national nominating convention.^[5][6][7]

The Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, the governing bodies of the nation's two major parties, establish their own guidelines for the presidential nomination process. State-level affiliates of the parties also have some say in determining rules and provisions in their own states. Individuals interested in learning more about the nomination process should contact the political parties themselves for full details.

Connecticut had 71 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 55 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state's primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state's pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide primary results.^[8][9]

Sixteen party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state's primary or caucus.^[8][10]

Leadership[edit]

As of June 2020, the chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party was Nancy DiNardo.^[11]

The website for the Connecticut Democratic Party lists the following individuals as the party's state leadership as of June 2020:^[11]

• Nancy DiNardo, Chair
• Erick Russell, Vice chair
• Audrey Blondin, Secretary
• Eloisa Melendez, Treasurer
• John Olsen, DNC Member
• Nancy Wyman, DNC Member

State political party revenue[edit]

See also: State political party revenue and State political party revenue per capita

The Democratic Party and the Republican Party maintain state affiliates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and select U.S. territories. The following maps display total state political party revenue per capita for the Democratic and Republican state party affiliates from 2011 to 2016. The blue map displays Democratic state parties and the red map displays Republican state parties. Click on a state below to view the state party's revenue per capita totals:

Total Democratic and Republican state political party revenue per capita in the United States, 2011-2016

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Connecticut Democratic Party'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also[edit]

• Democratic Party
• Connecticut

External links[edit]

• Connecticut Democratic Party Website
• Connecticut Democratic Party on Facebook
• Connecticut Democratic Party on Twitter

Footnotes[edit]

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