As State Treasurer Denise Nappier has announced that she will not seek re-election in the 2018 state elections, New Britain Democratic Party offered her thanks for her years of service, and her close relationship with people in New Britain.
Nappier, a Democrat, recently announced that the conclusion of her current term will end her service as State Treasurer as, “the longest tenure in modern Connecticut history.” By the end of her term, she will have served two decades in the important statewide elected office. The State Treasurer is responsible for being the lead manager of the state’s financial assets and public financing.
“Though she will not be on the ballot this year,” New Britain Democrats said, “Nappier’s trailblazing political career for women and African-Americans can be an inspiration to others in the state and nation.”
Democrats recalled that former State Senator Joseph H. Harper, Jr. and the city’s Black Democratic Club had supported Nappier when she ran for State Treasurer, “giving her crucial delegates and support against a better financed, establishment candidate.”
“A former City of Hartford Treasurer,” the New Britain Democrats said, “Nappier ran an upstart campaign in a tight contest at the 1998 Democratic convention and went on to become the first African-American woman to serve as a state Treasurer in the United States.” As Nappier’s office pointed out, she is also, “the first African-American woman elected to a statewide office in Connecticut, and the first woman elected Treasurer in state history.”
After she, “defeated a Republican incumbent who was subsequently convicted for corruption,” New Britain Democrats said, she succeeded in, “Restoring and maintaining integrity in the Treasurer’s office.”
In announcing that she will not seek re-election, Nappier’s office described the success of her tenure as,
Connecticut’s pension plans and trust funds, invested by the Treasurer’s Office, have grown from less than $19 billion to more than $34 billion during the Nappier administration, an all-time high. In fiscal year 2017, Connecticut had one of the ten best investment performances among its peers in the nation and during the length of the Nappier administration, the Treasury has achieved investment returns that meet or exceed the average performance of its peers while taking on less risk.
Democrats thanked Nappier using her role as the lead manager of the state’s investments, including in corporate stocks and other securities, to be a national leader in promoting corporate responsibility.
She has consistently worked for corporate reform on issues such as executive compensation, separating the roles of CEO and Board Chair, independence and diversity of board members, disclosure of financial risks of climate change, and urging companies to refrain from engaging in international business practices that condone human rights violations.
Nappier said that, in her work, she has consistently used, “the financial clout of the Treasury to expand economic opportunity not just for a few, but for all people.”
“For nearly 19 years,” Nappier added, “this office has promoted the protection of shareholder value and the rights of consumers and workers by strengthening accountability and pursuing prudent and responsible business practices. The results are striking.”
New Britain Democrats remember Nappier’s close ties to New Britain and support for local Democratic candidates, saying she has been, “a frequent visitor to New Britain in her own campaigns and in support of local Democratic candidates in their races.”
