Interesting article on Susan Bysiewicz:
the following are some quotes from an article on CTCentral.comThe Plan"Bysiewicz, who has traveled a similar path from state representative to secretary of the state to possible governor, announced her gubernatorial plans back in October and has already raised more than $500,000 towards her campaign."
The Reason"Bysiewicz met Grasso as a high school student attending a Youth in Government Conference at the capitol and still remembers the awe and attention her entrance drew. It even inspired her to write "Ella: A Biography of Ella Grasso" in 1984 and, when she decided to run for secretary of the state in 1998, the perfect spot for the announcement was under the two-story-tall Grasso statue at the capitol."I was impressed with the way she was dedicated to her job," said Bysiewicz in an interview with The Middletown Press. "I thought maybe someday I’d like to be in public service.""
Early Career"Born and raised in Middletown, Bysiewicz grew up in the Westfield section of town the daugh-ter of farmers. Her grandparents on her father’s side, immigrants from Poland, had saved all their money from working at a slaughterhouse in Chicopee, Mass. and moved to the state for its oppor-tunity.A business lawyer by trade, Bysiewicz was inspired by Grasso, but did not really feel the need to get into public service untilshe saw how much public policy was going to affect her own life. "I was home with my daughter on maternity leave. I was just starting to think what the schools were going to be like when my daughter goes," Bysiewicz said. "I thought I should just stop worrying about these issues and start doing something about them." In 1992 she ran for the state representative 100th district seat representing Middletown, Dur-ham and Middlefield. "
Running for State RepresentativeAlthough not endorsed by her own party, Bysiewicz won the Democratic primary by an overwhelming 70 to 30 percent and eventually won the general election, serving a total of three terms.During that election, Bysiewicz employed a strong presence in the area, knocking on every door in the district and letting all voters know her name and face."The thing I loved about running for state representative is that literally you could go meet every person in the district," according to Bysiewicz. "You could literally go to every house in the district and I did that."When she ran for the secretary of the state, Bysiewicz said she had to slightly adapt her strategy, which she intends to use for the governor’s race." For statewide office you can’t go to every home. I feel if I was able to knock on every door in the state then I could win the governor’s race," according to Bysiewicz. "Unfortunately in a state-wide campaign, you have to have a two-part system, a grass roots strategy and a media strategy."In 1998 once again Bysiewicz lost her party’s endorsement, but was unwilling to let down the people that supported her."I had so many people around the state that wanted to help me in each town that we were able to put together a very strong grass routes campaign," said Bysiewicz.
Secretary of the StateUsing her daughter in ads, Bysiewicz once again overcame the odds and made history as she became the first person in the state ever to win the secretary of the state primary and general election as an unendorsed candidate. Now, as the governor’s office is calling, Bysiewicz once again says it is because of her daughter that she is running." She just turned 13 in December and she said to me, "In five years I’m going to college." I thought to myself we have a lot of work to do, very quickly, to make this state a place that has opportunity for young people." According to Bysiewicz, more than half of Connecticut students that go to college out of the state never come back. For her, the reasoning behind this phenomena is easy and must be reversed." Over the last four years we have lost 64,000 jobs in this state. "
article is a little datedSusan Bysiewicz has always seemed to be an X-factor to me. She doesn't keep a high profile, and the Democrats don't exactly parade her around. I always find it interesting to read articles about politicians' pasts, as you find out information you never would have expected. For example, Bysiewicz is always running "because of her daughter." Give me a break. Her own daughter could make up something better than that.
