Connecticut Senate Democrats marked the death of Nancy Wyman, who died at 80, with statements that framed her as one of the state’s most consequential and most human political figures. The tributes came as colleagues reflected on a career that stretched from the House of Representatives to the Senate Chamber and left a mark on Connecticut politics for decades.
Looney said he had been good friends with Wyman for 40 years and recalled serving with her in the House of Representatives for three terms before watching her oversee the Senate Chamber as lieutenant governor for eight years. He said she became the first woman comptroller in Connecticut and that she cast several important tie-breaking votes, including ones tied to the creation of an IRA for small-business employees and to decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of cannabis.
Those votes are part of why Wyman’s death matters beyond the sympathy it prompts. She was not remembered only as a ceremonial figure. She was remembered as someone who could break a deadlock, shape policy and do it without turning herself into the story.
Duff said Wyman was kind, thoughtful, generous, high-spirited and quick-witted, and that she loved to dance. He said he first got to know her during his special election to the House and remembered that she door-knocked with him in a snowstorm while wearing her trademark high heels. The image fits the contrast in the tributes: a serious policymaker who was also described as someone who never took herself seriously.
Duff said she was always genuine and authentic, that she took policy seriously but never herself, and that seeing her always brightened his day. He said Wyman never lost her Brooklyn accent or her Brooklyn heart, and called her a giver who loved everyone and was loved by everyone. The cause of death was not given, leaving the focus on what she left behind: a long record of service, a reputation for warmth and a set of votes that still define her place in Connecticut history.
