Denise Merrill: Secretary of the State candidate

Denise Merrill is the Democratic-endorsed candidate in the Aug. 10 primary. Her challenger is Gerry Garcia.

Denise Merrill is serving her 17th year as the state representative for the 54th District (Mansfield, Chaplin) and is the House majority leader. She previously worked as an attorney and high school teacher. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, she is the mother of two adult children.

Denise Merriill statement:

Denise Merrill is recognized for her service as the state representative from Mansfield and Chaplin, the 54th Assembly District, and is currently the majority leader of the House of Representatives.

“My real interest is still education, and particularly civic education of our electorate. In this cynical age, we need to engage the next generation of citizens to help solve problems that threaten our democracy, she says.

What made her decide to run for a statewide office after working on education, health care, the environment, and many other issues in the legislature?

“I have always wanted to be secretary of the state,” she says. “As the state’s chief election officer I could continue my work on civic engagement and bring a new tone of civility back to public discourse. We are finding it more and more difficult to engage the public in meaningful dialogue when we continue to wage politics as warfare.”

In 2008, she was chosen by her legislative colleagues as the “legislator most respected by the other side of the aisle” in Connecticut Magazine’s annual poll. She was also named “most effective” lawmaker. These are some of her most treasured awards.

Most recently, she turned her attention to the issue of job creation in the wake of the most terrible fiscal downturn since the Depression. During the last session her “Majority Leaders’ Jobs Roundtable Bill” passed both House and Senate, with bipartisan support.

“Working together we passed meaningful incentives for small businesses and job training for individuals who need skills to put people back to work, and we did it together,” she stresses.

Much more will be needed if we are to make progress in the state. Denise plans to streamline the business registration function of the Secretary of the State’s office, and reach out to small and mediu-sized businesses throughout the state as a “one-stop” shopping place to connect businesses with government services.

She also plans to introduce ideas to make it easier for voters to vote. “This recognizes the mobility in our society now. People don’t always work and live in the same town, which makes it harder for people to vote. Voting should be easy,” she says. That might include “No excuse needed” absentee ballots and online voter registration, as two examples.

“New online technologies are needed to modernize the office to both encourage voting and to encourage businesses to start and grow in Connecticut,” she says. It must be done efficiently and effectively, with transparency and accountability for everything we do. “As the one who instituted ‘results-based accountability’ into the state’s budgeting process a few years ago, I know what needs to change and how to get it done.”

Ms. Merrill has been a state board member of the League of Women Voters, the UConn Alumni Association, and the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University. She was also a member of the board of the National Conference of State Legislators and chaired the national Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education.

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