Our Campaigns - Candidate - John G. Rowland

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Rowland, John G.

CANDIDATE DETAILS

Affiliation


<-	1995-01-01

Name

John G. Rowland

Address

Oronoke Road
Waterbury, Connecticut , United States

None

Website

None

Born

May 24, 1957 (67 years)

Contributor

...

Last Modifed

Mr. Matt
Dec 29, 2021 11:13am

Tags

Married - Imprisoned - Reprimanded - Catholic -

Info

John Grosvenor Rowland

John Rowland was the Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004; he is a Republican. He is married to Patty Rowland, his second wife, and the couple have five children between them. In 2004, Rowland pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

Rowland's political career began in 1980 when he was elected to the Connecticut State House. He held his seat until 1984, when he was elected to represent Connecticut's 5th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives and was reelected in 1986 and 1988.

After losing the 1990 gubernatorial race, Rowland worked as a consultant for United Technologies Corp. He was elected governor in 1994 and was reelected twice, over former Congresswoman Barbara Bailey Kennelly in 1998 and former State Comptroller Bill Curry in 2002. Rowland was the only Republican re-elected Governor of Connecticut in the past half-century and the only Governor in recent times to have won three consecutive elections. His plurality over Kennelly in 1998 was among the largest recorded for any Connecticut politician.

During the years that Rowland was in office, the state enjoyed huge surpluses. For the first time in state history, tax rebate checks were returned to taxpayers in 1998 and again in 1999.

During those years, the state invested more than $2 billion to rebuild the University of Connecticut. Major investments were also made in the Connecticut State University and Community Technical College systems; enrollments as of 2004 were at an all-time high. As of 2004, Connecticut students led the nation in performance, and the number of spaces in pre-school programs more than doubled during his term in office.

During his term, more than 455,000 acres of open space were preserved for future generations and state parks were revitalized. Rowland also led an aggressive clean-up and protection effort for Long Island Sound.

In 1998, Rowland implemented the HUSKY Plan (HealthCare for Uninsured Kids and Youth) to provide health insurance to uninsured Connecticut children. During his tenure, the budget for the Department of Children and Families more than doubled.

In the first year of Rowland's third term, rumors began circulating that contractors doing business with the state paid for and made improvements to his weekend cottage, that he benefited improperly from the sale of a condominium in Washington, D.C., that he took gifts from subordinates, and that he took partial ownership in businesses before they were granted state contracts. These led to federal investigations and indictments of some of Rowland's aides, who cooperated with investigators.

In December 2003, Rowland appeared on television and admitted that work had been done by contractors on his cottage at no charge. He claimed that since the work was done he had paid the contractors in full, but in January 2004, an official investigation began into charges of corruption.

On April 30, a special investigation panel started the impeachment process. On June 18, the Connecticut Supreme Court required Rowland to appear before the investigative panel seeking his testimony, which could have resulted in him giving evidence against himself in the ongoing criminal investigation. On June 21, Rowland's lawyers announced that he would resign. The resignation went into effect at noon on July 1. Lieutenant Governor M. Jodi Rell served out the remainder of his term and was elected to her own full term in November 2006.

On December 23, 2004, Rowland pleaded guilty to stealing honest service. Rowland was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, four months house arrest, three years probation and community service. On April 1 he entered the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto, Pennsylvania. His Federal inmate number was 15623-014. Rowland is the only Connecticut governor to have ever faced impeachment and he is the only Connecticut governor to have served prison time.

On February 10, 2006, Rowland was released from federal prison with the stipulation that he serve four months house arrest with an electronic ankle bracelet monitor.

On July 1, 2006, Rowland spoke to an association of scholar athletes in Kingston, Rhode Island, about the lessons he learned. A "sense of entitlement" and the "arrogance of power" were two of the biggest things that ended his political career, The Hartford Courant quoted him as saying.

He warned that the arrogance is very easy when you're put on a pedestal, and you "start to believe your own press releases. ... It [becomes] all about me. You start to block out what else is around you."

Rowland told the audience his future is still uncertain. He owes the Internal Revenue Service more than $35,000 and another $40,000 in fines. He said he's a volunteer counselor and hoping to find a publisher for a book he wrote called "Falling Into Grace."

In September 2006 a local TV station WTNH, reported that Patty Rowland had purchased a house in Middlebury, Connecticut and the Rowland family would be moving to that town.

Adapted from [Link]

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