Eunice Groark

Eunice Groark
104thLieutenant 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 (1938-02-01)February 1, 1938 Sharon, Connecticut,U.S.
Died	May 8, 2018(2018-05-08)(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 School of Law

Eunice Groark(February 1, 1938 – May 8, 2018)was anAmericanpolitician who was the first woman electedlieutenant governorofConnecticutin 1990.Groark ran on the ticket ofA Connecticut Party(ACP) withLowell Weicker,winning the election with 41% of the vote.After Weicker declined to run for a second term, Groark ran for governor on the A Connecticut Party ticket but lost the election to Republican candidateJohn G. Rowland.

Early life and education

Groark was born inSharon, Connecticut,and was raised inHartford.She was descended from Hartford's founder,Thomas Hooker,and her father, Henry Barnard Strong, was a state legislator.When Groark was six, she was trapped in the 1944Hartford Circus Fire,which killed 168 people. Groark, who narrowly escaped with her life, said that even 60 years later, she still could not be in large crowds.

Groark earned a Bachelor of Arts degree fromBryn Mawr Collegein 1960 and a J.D. from theUniversity of Connecticut School of Lawin 1965.After years of private practice, she served as executive director of the Connecticut Bar Foundation from 1977 to 1981 and then served as aRepublicanmember ofHartford's City Council from 1981 to 1985. Groark served as Corporation Counsel of the City ofHartfordfrom 1987 to 1990.

Political career

In 1990, formerU.S. SenatorLowell Weickerrecruited Groark to run as lieutenant governor on his third-party ticket. Groark agreed, switching parties toA Connecticut Party.Weicker and Groark went on to win the election.

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 theConnecticut State Senate,cast the tie-breaking vote in favor.In 1993, she broke another Senate tie to pass a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons in Connecticut.

In 1994, Weicker retired from public office and endorsed Groark for governor on the ACP line. Groark selected Commissioner of Social ServicesAudrey Roweas her running mate. Outspent by her rivals, Groark lost the1994 Connecticut gubernatorial election,winning 19% of the vote in a four-way race. Former Republican congressmanJohn G. Rowlandwon the election with 36% of the vote.DemocraticState ComptrollerBill Currycame in second with 33%, while conservative talk-radio host and former state senatorTom Scott,who ran as an independent, came in fourth with 11%.

Because Groark failed to gain 20% of the vote to retain major party status for the ACP, its influence ended in Connecticut politics. Some Democrats, Curry among them,blamed Groark for siphoning votes from Curry and throwing the election to Rowland. Conversely,Jonathan Pelto,a former political director of theConnecticut Democratic Party,believed had Scott not been on the ballot, Rowland would have won in a landslide.

Personal life

Groark died inBloomfield, Connecticut,on May 8, 2018.She was survived by her husband, Thomas Groark, a prominent Hartford-based attorney to whom she had been married for 54 years. Other survivors included their three daughters: Eunice, Marie, and Virginia.

See also

• List of female lieutenant governors in the United States

External links

• AppearancesonC-SPAN