Wyman Out as State Democratic Chair, Will Take Seat on DNC. DiNardo Returns to Scene of Record Fine as Resurrected Chair.

Popular Democratic party chair and former lieutenant governor Nancy Wyman will leave her post leading the state party organization. Wyman will take one of Connecticut’s spots on the Democratic National Committee. Wyman will be replaced by Nancy DiNardo, who served as state party chair during the Malloy years.

The DiNardo years were marked by state Democrats being tagged with the the largest campaign finance violation fine in the state’s history. DiNardo was said to have been marginalized in her role by enforcers doing Dannel Malloy’s bidding, though the same could not be said of her executive director, Jonathan Harris. Harris, launched a sputtering campaign for governor in 2018 and currently serves in the Lamont administration.

Wyman became the state party chair in 2019. She replaced Nick Balletto, who had led state Democrats to sweeping victories in 2018. Wyman was a compromise choice after Lamont declined to support U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy’s choice for the position.

Lamont is said to be supporting DiNardo’s return as party chair. The position has long been considered in the gift of the governor. The late Ella Grasso, was the rare exception. She wanted political operator Peter Kelly to serve as party chair in the mid 1970s. State party committee members dealt Grasso a rare defeat when they chose instead a state legislator from East Hampton, Bill O’Neill.