The 3rd Annual Eileen Daily Community Awards Dinner

Help us celebrate the legacy of the late Senator by joining us at our
fourth annual Eileen Daily Community Awards Dinner on
​Saturday, September 26th, 2024, at 6:00pm at the Clinton Country Club.
See details on our homepage!

Remembering the Late Senator Eileen Daily

Eileen Meade Daily was a dynamo! She played many roles: wife, mother, sibling, neighbor, and friend among them. Each one performed with energy, wit, candor, and compassion. Fiercely proud of her Dorchester roots, Eileen brought the energy of Boston politics to Westbrook when she and Jim arrived in the 1970’s. It wasn’t long before she was elected to the Board of Education in 1976 and her passionate service to her new community began.
 
Her recognition began to grow over the course of the six-year BOE term. She received the nomination for First Selectman from the Democratic Town Committee in 1983. Being a Democrat here in those days lent new meaning to the word minority. No Democrat had secured the First Selectman’s job since the 1920’s. Eileen knew how to run a successful race. No ordinary campaigner, she and an enthusiastic group of neighbors and friends blitzed the town and carried the day in November.
 
Her practical, common-sense approach made her a highly successful and productive leader for our small, Shoreline town. Eileen was also Westbrook’s best advocate when state funds were on the table. She became a knowledgeable voice when dealing with leaders of surrounding communities. The next step seemed logical.
 
In 1992, Eileen Daily became state Senator for the 33rd District. Representing a huge area with 12 towns all the way from Clinton to Colchester and East Hampton. Senator Daily served ten terms and rose to be chair of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. Her influence in Hartford was legendary. Her ability to make things happen– renowned. Simple, direct and supremely prepared, Eileen delivered results for not only the 33rd, but for Connecticut, too.
 
Senator Daily retired in 2012 but would be active as the Governor William A. O’Neill Chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics at Central Connecticut State University. After a long battle with cancer, Eileen Daily passed away in 2015.

---

More on Eileen

Eileen Daily - Ballotpedia
 
Eileen M. Daily (March 3, 1943 - July 29, 2015) is a former Democratic member of the Connecticut State Senate, representing District 33 from 1993 to 2013. She was Assistant Minority Leader from 1995 to 1996, Assistant President from 1997 to 1998 and Senate Deputy President Pro Tempore. Daily passed away from cancer on July 29, 2015.[1]
Daily was on the Board of Education for the City of Westbrook from 1976 to 1983, First Selectman for the City of Westbrook from 1983 to 1989 and on the Board of Selectmen for the City of Westbrook from 1989 to 1991.
 
Biography
Daily earned her B.A. from Northeastern University in 1966 and attended the Barney School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Hartford and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her professional experience included working as a Service Representative for Connecticut Blue Cross from 1964 to 1969, Sales Manager for PK Association from 1981 to 1983 and Executive Assistant for the State of Connecticut Department of Revenue Services from 1990 to 1992.
​
Former Sen. Eileen Daily, long a force in state finance, dies at 72 (ctmirror.org)
 
“I’ve never met anyone that I admired more than Eileen Daily,” Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said. “She had just an extraordinary sense of serenity and purpose. When we lost our focus, Eileen would often be the one to draw us back to our purpose, to do the right thing for the people of Connecticut.”
 
Daily became good friends with Gina McCarthy, who was Connecticut’s commissioner of environmental protection in the mid-2000s, and now serves as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
 
“I not only admired her, but I was a little in fear of her,” said Guilford Democrat Patricia Widlitz, a former representative who co-chaired finance with Daily from 2011 through 2014. “She was a strong chair and she ran the committee well.”
 
Rep. Vincent J. Candelora of R-North Branford, a veteran member of the finance committee, also noted Daily’s ability to reach across the political aisle.
 
“For decades, she was a tenacious fighter for her constituents and a committee chair who wielded enormous respect among colleagues – and she did it with a smile on her face,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. “Eileen was one of the toughest elected officials in the state, yet her jovial disposition always made those around her feel at ease.  She represented the best of public service and politics.  She was tough, loyal, hardworking, knew the issues, and her word was always her bond.  This is a loss for all of us.”
 
Eileen Daily Obituary - Old Saybrook, CT (dignitymemorial.com