In the shadow of Connecticut’s Legislative Office Building, Edward “Ned” Lamont Jr. on Wednesday afternoon will take the oath of office, swearing in the Democrat as the state’s 89th governor.
The 65-year-old Greenwich businessman, who started a telecom business in the 1980s, is expected to be sworn in at 12:30 p.m. at Hartford’s State Armory.
Lt. Gov.-elect Susan Bysiewicz is scheduled to be sworn in at 10 a.m. in the Capitol’s Senate chamber.
The inauguration ceremony is free and open to the public beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the armory at 360 Broad St.
Following the ceremony, an inaugural parade will leave the armory and continue east on Capitol Avenue past the Capitol. The procession will turn north on Trinity Street and conclude at the intersection of Trinity and Elm Street, which at the corner of Bushnell Park closest to the Capitol.
The parade, however, will be met by more than fanfare for Lamont and his newly minted administration.
A Stamford group on Monday said it will protest Lamont’s inauguration parade by lining the Hartford streets, holding signs airing their opposition to highway tolls.
Lamont campaigned last year on supporting highway tolling for tractor-trailer trucks. However, a transportation working group he formed made headlines recently after recommended a broad tolling policy that would include all vehicles.
The group, Say NO to CT Tolls, has more than 2,400 followers on Facebook, where organizers are urging protesters to join the rally with signs.
At 2:30, Lamont is scheduled to deliver his first State of the State address to a joint session of the Connecticut General Assembly at the Capitol, which will officially kick off the 2019 legislative session, which runs to June 5 (barring any special sessions).
Wednesday evening, Lamont and Bysiewicz will attend the 2019 Inaugural Ball at downtown Hartford’s Connecticut Convention Center. Tickets for the event, which begins at 8 p.m., cost $200 (and half price for young professionals).
Lamont, the father of three adult children, and husband to Annie, a venture capitalist, is succeeding Gov. Dannel P. Malloy after narrowly defeating Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski in November’s election. The race, decided the morning after Election Day, marked Connecticut’s largest voter turnout in decades.
He first cut his teeth in the political arena in 2006, defeating incumbent Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary for Senate, before losing to the three-term senator who ran as an independent in the general election.
Lamont then lost to Malloy, the former mayor of Stamford, in the Democratic primary for governor in 2010.
Malloy bids farewell
Malloy, 63, has spent recent weeks shaping his legacy, citing his improvements to the state’s healthcare and education systems, and other successes in workforce development, prison reform and transportation investment.
In a letter to Connecticut residents Tuesday, Malloy reflected on his two-term governorship calling it the “best, hardest, most rewarding job” he’s held.
The outgoing governor reminded people that “our common interests and beliefs far outweigh the differences between us,” and that everyone wants “paved roads, beautiful parks, a clean environment and basic services for those in need.”
“All of these things come at a cost to you, the taxpayer; it’s a balance we strike, a spectrum of decisions on spending and revenue that becomes our budget each year,” Malloy said. “However you feel about any given budget item, I hope you’ll remember that as a state we all generally agree that we should collectively pay for these things.”
Malloy said he’s optimistic about Connecticut’s future, as the state produces some of the “best-educated, healthiest, and safest people in the country.”
“It is for all these reasons that I am so thankful to be from Connecticut, and that I will be glad to call it home for the rest of my life,” he said . “I hope when someone asks you where you’re from, you will say Connecticut, and you’ll say it with pride.”
