Ella Grasso

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Ella Tambusso (May 10, 1919 – February 5, 1981) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as Connecticut's 83rd Governor from January 8, 1975 to 1980, after refusing to endorse candidates for Senate and Governor of Connecticut.

She was the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state without being the spouse or widow of a former governor.

Due to her battle with ovarian cancer, she resigned as Governor. Grasso began writing and writing for newspapers as a member of the League of Women Voters and a Democratic speech writer.

She was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1952 and then became the first female Floor Leader in 1955.

She was first elected Secretary of State of Connecticut in 1958 and served until 1971.

Grasso went on to serve two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1970 to 1974.

Early life

Ella Rosa Giovianna Tambussi was born in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, to Maria Oliva and James Giacomo Tambussi, an Italian immigrant mother. Ella Tambussi learned to speak fluent Italian from her parents. She attended Chaffee School in Windsor. Although she excelled at Chaffee and was chosen the most likely to become mayor in the school year book, Tambussi said she often felt out of place as someone from a poor mill town. She continued to study sociology and economics at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she obtained her B.A. In 1940, the first census was recorded in the United States. She received a master's degree from Mount Holyoke two years ago.

Grasso served as a researcher for the War Manpower Commission in Washington, D.C., before moving to the position of assistant director of research after leaving the Commission in 1946. Susanne and James married Thomas Grasso, a school principal, in 1942; the pair had two children together, Susanne and James. The Grassos owned a movie theater in Old Lyme together. The couple will run the theater in the summers, with Ella Grasso selling tickets at the box office. During Grasso's tenure in the United States House of Representatives, her family stayed in Connecticut, although Grasso commuted home from Washington, D.C., on weekends. Thomas Grasso died after his wife became governor when he became governor.

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Career

Grasso's political debut came in 1942 when she joined the League of Women Voters in Washington. She became a Connecticut Democratic Party speechwriter in 1943. She went from Mount Holyoke College to the Republican Party in 1951 to help incumbent Governor Chester Bowles. She first encountered John Moran Bailey as a ally of the Connecticut Democratic Party and became an alligator. Bailey will continue to be a central figure in Grasso's career, recognizing her as someone who will appeal to voters, especially female and Italian voters in the state.

Grasso was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1952 and served until 1957. In 1955, she became the first woman to be elected Floor Leader of the House. Grasso, a Connecticut state representative, attempted to eliminate counties as a level of government.

She was elected Secretary of Connecticut in 1958 and 1966, and she was re-elected in 1962 and 1966. She was a drafter of the state's 1960 Constitution. Despite the trip being state sponsored, she decided not to attend the National Association of Secretaries of State in Arizona in 1961 because she thought it would be of negligible value and would only encourage other officials to attend national conventions that would benefit the state.

The Supreme Court confirmed in Baker vs. Carr that the 14th Amendment extends to state apportionment and that federal courts are open to lawsuits challenging state legislative districts, which may lead to more cases concerning redistricting. The Joint Committee on Constitutional Conventions of Reynolds v. Sims to hear plans for a constitutional convention by the Connecticut General Assembly to bring the state constitution into compliance with federal laws. A special election was held to select the eighty four delegates who would attend the convention, and Grasso was elected as one. Grasso swore in the eighty four delegates who were evenly divided among both sides and was named as the Democratic floor leader by the forty two Democratic delegates.

She was the first woman to chair the Democratic State Platform Committee from 1956 to 1968 and was the first female Chair of the Democratic State Platform Committee. She served as a member of the Platform Drafting Committee for the 1960 Democratic National Convention. She was co-chairman of the Resolutions Committee for the Democratic National Conventions of 1964 and 1968.

She was nominated for greater statewide or federal office during the 1970 election cycle. Senator Thomas J. Doddd was censured in 1967 and Ella was considered a potential candidate for the 1970 Senate election by the Democratic Town Committees of Windsor Locks, Glastonbury, and New Milford, who voted in favor of her in the event. Thomas L. Loy, the Republican nominee who ran for governor in 1962, requested her to run for governor. Stephen Minot, a novelist who served in Congress in 1966, has asked for the Sixth House District. Thomas Meskill, the sitting Sixth District senator, left his district open, and Ella announced on March 17, 1970, that she would run for the Democratic nomination for the district. Grasso defeated Republican Richard Kilborn in the general election and barely defeated him by 4,063 votes.

She served on the Veterans' Affairs and Education committees during her tenure. In December 1971, she and other House representatives sent a letter to President Nixon, pledging Operation Linebacker II and requesting to stop all bombing in Vietnam; Grasso was the only Connecticut representative to sign the telegram.

With 140,290 votes to his 92,783 votes, she was re-elected to the House of Commons in 1972 against John F. Walsh.

Grasso was expected to defeat incumbent Governor Meskill by 46% to 39 percent in 1973, according to a gubernatorial poll conducted by the AFL–CIO, although Grasso hadn't announced her intention to run. She declared on January 8, 1974, she declared her candidacy and filed with the secretary of state.

In order to vote for the gubernatorial nomination, a candidate will need to receive the support of 607 of 1,213 delegates to the state convention, with multiple primaries being held beforehand to select the delegates. She was involved in a difficult primary against Attorney General Robert Killian, who was given the blessing of multiple political parties, but after narrowly winning the seventy delegates of Hartford by two thousand votes, she effectively guaranteed the nomination with her pledged delegates. John Moran Bailey, the party leader, preferred Killian as the party's leader and hoped to prevent a primary that would hurt the Democratic nominee's chances in the general election. Bailey convinced Killian to drop out in exchange for the lieutenant gubernatorial nomination. All of her opponents had dropped out by the time of the gubernatorial nomination election, except for Norwalk Mayor Frank Zullo, who dropped out during the convention, and no one was able to win more than half of the delegate votes. Delegates with acclamation proclaimed her on July 20, 1974, she was granted the Democratic nomination by the delegates on July 20, 1974. Robert Steele, a Republican congressman who was defeated by 200,000 votes, was her opponent. Grasso became the first woman to be elected governor of the United States who was not the wife or widow of a former governor.

Connecticut had a $80 million budget deficit when it was first elected, so Grasso promised fiscal responsibility. She sacked 505 state employees in 1975 and reduced her threat of federal revenue sharing funds to $6 million, giving the state treasury a $7,000 increase.

During the 1976 presidential race, she endorsed Senator Henry M. Jackson and was positioned as a possible vice presidential nominee for the Democratic Party with the Young Democrats of Connecticut, but local politicians refused to endorse her as a possible vice presidential nominee, although municipal officials reacted angrily after she said she was not concerned. She served as co-chair of the national convention later in life.

Following John Moran Bailey's death, there was no longer someone brave enough to fend off a significant challenge between Grasso and Lieutenant Governor Robert K. Killian. In December 1978, Killian declared his gubernatorial bid, but Grasso was re-elected in 1978 despite no difficulties against Representative Ronald A. Sarasin.

Her decisive role in a particularly devastating snowstorm in February 1978 was a high point in her career. This storm, nicknamed "Winter Storm Larry" and now known as "The Blizzard of 78," dropped 30 inches of snow around the state, closing down highways and making virtually all roads impassable. She "Closed the State" by proclamation, forbaded any public roads by employers and residents, and closed all businesses, effectively ending all citizens in their homes. This relieved the rescue and cleanup teams from the need to support the growing number of stranded vehicles while still providing clean-up and ambulance services for shut-ins. On the third day, the crisis came to an end, and she has been recognized in all state sectors for her leadership and courage.

She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in March 1980 and resigned as governor on December 31. The mayor and city council of Torrington, Connecticut, received a proclamation shortly after her resignation as governor, secretary of state, and representative.

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