Eunice Groark

Eunice Barnard Strong Groark (February 1, 1938 – May 8, 2018)[1] was an American politician who became the first elected female lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1990.[2] Groark ran on a ticket with Lowell Weicker. They were both members of A Connecticut Party. The Weicker/Groark ticket won with 41 percent of the vote.

Eunice Groark
104th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
In office January 9, 1991 – January 4, 1995
Governor	Lowell Weicker
Preceded by	Joseph Fauliso
Succeeded by	Jodi Rell
Personal details
Born	Eunice Barnard Strong February 1, 1938 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	May 8, 2018 (aged 80) Bloomfield, Connecticut, U.S.
Political party	Republican (before 1990, 1995–2018) A Connecticut Party (1990–1995)
Alma mater	Bryn Mawr College University of Connecticut, Hartford

Biography

Prior to her election as the 104th Lieutenant Governor, Groark served as Corporation Counsel of the City of Hartford from 1987 to 1990. Before that, she was a Republican member of Hartford's City Council.

When Groark was six, she was trapped in the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire which killed 168 people. Groark, who narrowly escaped with her life, said, even 60 years later, she still could not be in large crowds.[3]

In 1991, Governor Weicker introduced a controversial plan to balance the state budget by implementing an "earned income" tax. When the vote on the plan was tied 18–18 in the state Senate, Groark, as President of the Senate, cast the tie-breaking vote in favor. Groark also broke a Senate tie on the assault-weapons ban proposed by Governor Weicker.

In 1994, Weicker retired from public office and endorsed Groark for governor on the ACP line, against former Republican congressman John G. Rowland and Democratic state Comptroller Bill Curry. Conservative talk-radio host and former state senator Tom Scott also ran as an independent. Groark picked Commissioner of Social Services Audrey Rowe as her running mate. In Connecticut, the incumbent governor's party is listed on top of the ballot. Despite being far outspent by her rivals, Groark won nearly, but not quite, 20 percent of the vote in a five-way race. Rowland won with 36 percent. Democrat Curry came in second with 33% while anti-income tax, independent-conservative Tom Scott came in fourth with 11%. Another third-party candidate came in last with 1 percent.

Because Groark failed to gain 20 percent of the vote to retain major party status for the ACP, its influence ended in Connecticut politics. Some Democrats, Curry among them,[4] blamed Groark for siphoning votes from Curry and throwing the election to Rowland. On the other end of the spectrum, Jonathan Pelto, a former political director of the Connecticut Democratic Party, told The New York Times that had Scott not been on the ballot, it would have been a landslide victory for Rowland.[5] She died in Bloomfield, Connecticut on May 8, 2018.[6]

See also

• List of female lieutenant governors in the United States

References

1. Election 1994
2. "SOTS: Governors & Lieutenant Governors". State of Connecticut. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
3. AllHeadlinesNews Archived November 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
4. http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2001-08-26-0108260037-story.html
5. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/10/nyregion/1994-elections-connecticut-governor-now-comes-hardest-part-repealing-that.html
6. http://www.courant.com/obituaries/hc-obituary-eunice-groark-20180511-story.html

• Appearances on C-SPAN