M. Jodi Rell, who rose to become governor after John. G. Rowland resigned under the threat of impeachment in 2004, then pushed through ethics reforms including public financing for General Assembly and top-of-the-ticket statewide races, has died at 78 in a Florida hospital after a brief illness.
Rell’s ascension to the state’s top office brought bipartisanship back to the State Capitol after Rowland’s stormy final year in office. She became widely popular was elected in her own right in 2006, then tearfully decided in November 2009 not to seek a second full term at age 63.
“Governor Rell represented the very best of Connecticut values, expanding health care and child care, and making Connecticut one of the first states in the country to recognize same-sex unions,” Gov. Ned Lamont said, ordering that state flags be immediately lowered to half staff in her honor until sunset on the date of her burial.
“She became governor almost reluctantly and at a time of great turmoil, and she used her newly acquired authority to bring stability to state government in a way that was very much needed at the time, focusing on strengthening state ethics laws and rebuilding the trust of the residents of our state,” Lamont said. “Her style of leadership was not fabricated or manipulated in any way. The Jodi Rell that the people of Connecticut saw in public was the Jodi Rell that she was in real life: calm, rational, caring, approachable, and devoted to her family and to her state. During this time that I’ve had the honor of serving as governor, she has become a very good friend. We had a great bipartisan conversation at the Rell Center last year and had a lot of fun at the annual holiday parties at the Residence. I will miss her at the door greeting Christmas well-wishers next month. We will all miss Gov. Rell, who left the state a better place.”
A former member of the state House of Representatives from Brookfield, Rell was selected by Rowland to be his running mate in 1994, and as lieutenant governor presided over the state Senate into Rowland’s third four-year term, which was halted by a corruption inquiry that led to a House investigation and a state Supreme Court ruling that led to Rowland’s abrupt resignation in the summer of 2004. By the end of the year, Rowland pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.
In 2005, Rell was the first governor in the nation to sign a civil-union law, then in 2009 was the first governor to sign a marriage equality law, following a Connecticut Supreme Court decision in 2008.
A Republican, Connecticut’s 87th governor filled out the remaining two years of Rowland’s term, then won a four-year term of her own before declining a run for reelection in 2010, when former Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy defeated Republican Tom Foley of Greenwich. She was the second woman to be governor of the state, after Democrat Ella Grasso. Rell was the most recent Republican to serve as governor.
Michael Rell, her son who is Capitol lobbyist and the former mayor of Wethersfield, said Thursday morning that he and his sister Meredith had spoken twice to their mother Wednesday morning. “It was just sudden,” he said in a brief interview. In late 2004, Gov. Rell had surgery for breast cancer.
“I was sad to hear this news,” Malloy said in a statement. “Gov. Rell took over at a dark time in Connecticut, in the wake of former Gov. Rowland resigning as he was facing impeachment. She steadied the ship, and returned a sense of decency and honesty to state government at a time when both were sorely needed. Gov. Rell loved Connecticut, and was a dedicated, honest and kind public servant. Cathy and I send our deepest condolences to the Rell family.”
Michael Fedele, a Stamford business executive and former state representative, recalled on Thursday that he was surprised when Rell gauged his interest in becoming her 2006 lieutenant governor running mate. “I knew Jodi from my time in the legislature and I got a call from her saying she was looking at individuals, plural, to run with her for a four-year term,” Fedele said in a phone interview. “I felt very humbled. We met at the Governor’s Residence and talked about the quality she was looking for. She was looking for someone who understood the legislature, someone who could reach out to both sides in partnership with her. Next thing I knew, we were having lunch in the garden room and she said ‘If you haven’t been scared off, I would like you to run with me.'”
Fedele called Rell’s death tragic. “She was a great lady and also a great person,” he said. “That, to me, is what really translated into her being a good governor. She’d walk into a room and instantly became like everyone’s best friend. She was so approachable. She had that aura about her. People felt comfortable around her. That’s different in today’s world. The whole world of government and politics is so different now. She had a soft and guiding way about her.”
Lieutenant Gov. Susan Bysiewicz recalled Thursday that she first met Rell while representing her hometown of Middletown in the House of Representatives, then later as secretary of the state when Rell was lieutenant governor then governor. “When I got to the legislature she was very well liked and admired by her colleagues and that was because she was smart, hard-working and worked very well with people on both sides of the aisle,” Bysiewicz said. “Our state has lost a trailblazing political leader and treasured public servant,” Bysiewicz said, calling 2004, in the lead-up to Rowland’s resignation “a tumultuous” period.
“She restored the public trust in and brought stability to state government,” Bysiewicz said, adding that Rell was an advocate for veterans, military families and the Connecticut National Guard . “I believe a big part of her legacy will live on in our state’s public-financing program, which she supported because it took special interest money out of campaigns. I admired her because she brought compassion and integrity and civility to public service.” During her years as lieutenant governor, then governor, Rell would always prompt thunderous applause when formally entering the House chamber. “She treated people with dignity and respect and in return people loved her back.”
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said Rell’s death was a shock. “We have all lost a dear friend and wonderful human being,” he said. “But we can be heartened by the warm memories we shared of Jodi Rell, who served her beloved state and hometown of Brookfield with dignity, class and honor. Her sunny demeanor and outlook will be missed but never forgotten. As a freshman state representative elected in 1984 she rose the ranks in her caucus and was recognized quickly for her ability and dedicated work to make Connecticut a better place to live for all.”
Candelora recalled that when Rell was formally introduced as the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor at the party convention in 1994, “Pretty Woman” was played on the public address system. “She was that in the eyes of everyone,” Candelora said.
“Governor Rell was a gracious, compassionate and intelligent leader for many years, guiding Connecticut and reassuring its citizens after the resignation of John Rowland,” Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said in a joint statement Thursday morning. “We always found her to be thoughtful, bipartisan, hardworking, and dedicated to improving the lives of Connecticut citizens. We extend our sympathies to her family and friends and encourage them to take comfort in the shining legacy that she has left the people of Connecticut.”
In 2011, the University of Hartford founded The Governor M. Jodi Rell Center for Public Service to promote values that Rell exhibited including “integrity in government and public service and responsible participation in public life” including ethics, civil discussions and public involvement while encouraging students to pursue public service careers.
“Jodi Rell loved Connecticut, she loved public service, and she served our state with dignity and grace,” Senate Republicans said in a joint statement. “As our 87th Governor, she had an incredible connection with Connecticut residents that helped her lead us through some very difficult days. She was the genuine article. She emphasized transparency in government. She was a leader and a role model for all our citizens.”
Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto reflected Thursday that Rell “was a dynamic lady who was exactly what the State of Connecticut needed at exactly the right time.”
Proto, who served as chief counsel to the House Republicans during much of Rell’s tenure in the legislature, also recalled a woman who was gracious and easy to get along with. One occasion he recalled was when Rell dropped by Proto’s hometown of Stratford for a fundraiser during the gubernatorial campaign of 2006. This was two years after Rell had undergone successful treatment for breast cancer and Proto’s 13-year-old daughter, Caroline, had recently completed a school project about the disease and was eager to meet the governor. Proto brought Caroline along with him to the event and when Caroline was introduced to Rell in the room full of donors, a news photographer was nearby to capture the moment.
“That was the photo that they ran of the governor being in Stratford for a fundraiser — it drove everyone nuts!” he said with a laugh.
Thomas D. Ritter, a Hartford lawyer who was speaker of the House from 1993 to 1998, said Rell was “an extraordinary human being,” who avoided many of the trappings and aspirations of elected office. “Half the people in the General Assembly think they’re going to be president of the United States, and she never expected any of it,” Ritter said. “She never changed.”
A native of Norfolk, Va, Mary Carolyn Reavis left Old Dominion University in 1967 and married Lou Rell, a Navy pilot who then joined the former Trans World Airlines who died in their Florida home at age 73 in 2014.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized.
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