Rep. Jeff Currey, D-East Hartford, who abruptly abandoned reelection plans in July to pursue unspecified “professional opportunities,” will remain at the General Assembly as the top aide to his friend and colleague, House Majority Leader Jason Rojas of East Hartford.
Rojas confirmed Wednesday what has long-been speculated: Currey, a former deputy majority leader, current Education Committee co-chair and well-regarded scion of a political family, will be his chief of staff when the the 2025-26 term begins on Jan. 8.
He will succeed Christy Scott, who is expected to become a sessional lawyer in the office of House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford. Her removal by Rojas has been the source of tension among House Democrats, in part because she is the wife of Joe Aresimowicz, the former House speaker.
The Office of Legislative Management is reviewing the circumstances of her removal and transfer, Ritter said.
“I’ve worked with Jeff for a long time and think the world of him,” Ritter said.
Scott declined comment.
Currey is finishing his fifth term representing the solidly Democratic 11th House District of East Hartford and Manchester. He was unopposed in 2022.
Returning as chief of staff was “in the range of possibilities,” but not a sure thing, when he ended his campaign and relinquished the Democratic nomination, Currey said Wednesday.
He was a key Rojas deputy, overseeing the screening of bills before they are called for votes and acting as a liaison with the Republican minority. Rojas said Currey has the skill sets for a legislative chief of staff.
Currey gave up that post two years ago to become the co-chair of the Education Committee. Before his election to the General Assembly in 2014, Currey was the chair of the Board of Education in East Hartford.
Once his term ends in January, there will be no Currey holding elective office in East Hartford for the first time since 1982. His late mother, Melody, was a state representative and mayor. His father, the current chair of the Metropolitan District Commission, was East Hartford’s elected treasurer.
