Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Connecticut

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Connecticut performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Connecticut Governor

From 1992 to 2013, there were Democratic governors in office for three years while there were Republican governors in office for 16 years. During the final three years, Connecticut was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Connecticut Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Connecticut State Senate for 20 years while the Republicans were the majority for two years. The Connecticut State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. During the last 17 years of the study, the Connecticut senate was dominated by the Democratic party.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Connecticut House of Representatives

From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Connecticut State House of Representatives. The Connecticut State House is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Connecticut, the Connecticut State Senate and the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were three partisan control changes in Connecticut during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Connecticut slightly higher than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Connecticut’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 8.48, which puts it at 6th in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that Connecticut had the highest ranking were 1992 and 1993, in which it ranked 1st.
• The year that Connecticut had the lowest ranking was 2013, in which it ranked 33rd.
• The index type that Connecticut had the highest ranking in was Personal Income Per Capita, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that Connecticut had the lowest ranking in was Tax Freedom Day, in which it ranked 50th.

Connecticut SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20	22	36
America's Health Rankings	13	6	6	6	6	8	6	6	7	6	5	7	6	5	2	3	2	7	4	4	6
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	39	37	34	38	39	42	42	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	40	35	32	41	38	44	44	44
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	31	34	35	35	39	44
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	28	31	33	35	36	35	39
Govt. Employment Share Population	3	5	6	12	12	12	12	14	14	15	17	15	13	13	14	15	15	14	13	12	13
Graduation Rate	25	16	16	12	14	19	23	20	20	26	9	22	15	11	12	13	14	13	11	12	28
Personal Income Per Capita	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Poverty Rate	5	2	19	11	22	4	12	3	7	5	5	4	16	9	3	7	3	2	2	5	N/A
Real GDP per capita	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	3	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22	21	20	18	17	20	21	24	26	26	28	29
State Govt. Spending/GDP	18	19	19	19	17	17	16	16	15	17	21	21	10	8	7	8	11	13	13	14	N/A
State & local tax burden	47	47	47	47	47	49	49	49	48	45	45	46	47	48	48	48	48	48	48	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	50
Unemployment Rate	31	26	25	28	28	26	10	2	1	2	10	22	19	24	25	32	32	28	30	33	36
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	48	48	48	N/A
Voter Turnout	6	14	14	8	8	21	21	9	9	23	23	16	16	20	20	17	17	16	16	20	20
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	18	20	9	19	16

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Connecticut state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Between the years 1992 and 2005, Connecticut ranked in the top-10 in the SQLI ranking, in the top-5 for twelve of those thirteen years, and ranked 1st in 1992 and 1993. Beginning 2005, Connecticut dropped out of the top-10 and began a trend downward until hitting its lowest spot during the period of the study (33rd in 2012). Connecticut had divided government for eighteen years before having a Democratic trifecta in 2011. The state’s greatest decline in the SQLI ranking occurred between 2011 and 2012, when Connecticut dropped fourteen spots in the rankings. Connecticut has never had a Republican trifecta between 1992 and 2012.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 26.00
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with divided government: 6.63

Chart displaying the partisanship of Connecticut government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Connecticut
• Connecticut State Senate
• Connecticut House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs