Beth Bye

Beth Bye
Member of the Connecticut Senate
from the 5th district
Assumed office
January 2011
Preceded by Jonathan Harris
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives
from the 19th district
In office
January 2007 – January 2011
Preceded by Bob Farr
Succeeded by Brian Becker
Personal details
Born Greenwich, Connecticut
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Tracey Wilson (m. 2006)
Residence West Hartford, Connecticut

Elizabeth "Beth" Bye is an American politician from Connecticut. A Democrat, she is a member of the Connecticut Senate representing the 5th district, which includes part of Bloomfield, most of Farmington, all of Burlington and all of West Hartford. Bye served two terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.

Early life and education

Bye was born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. She graduated from St. Mary's High School (that school is now Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford) in Greenwich in 1980 and from the University of New Hampshire with a master of arts degree in child development in 1989.

Professional and Political Career

West Hartford Board of Education

Bye was first elected to the West Hartford Board of Education in 2001. She is the former director of Trinity College's Community Child Care and the School for Young Children at Saint Joseph College. Bye has been involved with the development of three preschool facilities since 2000; The School for Young Children in West Hartford, The Charter School for Young Children in Hartford and The Wintonbury Early Childhood Magnet School in Bloomfield.

Bye conducts research about the impact of economic integration with Carlota Schechter. Their research was published on Early Childhood Research Quarterly in March 2007[1] and was featured in the newsletter of the National Institute for Early Education Research in July 2007.[2]

Connecticut State Legislature

A former Vice Chair of the West Hartford Board of Education, she was elected to the legislature in November 2006. She defeated Republican Barbara Carpenter, a member of the town council, by a margin of 57% to 43% and was therefore elected to succeed longtime Republican incumbent Bob Farr. Although the district had elected a Republican for the 26 years prior to her 2006 win, she nevertheless won re-election comfortably in 2008: Bye garnered 64% of the vote to her Republican opponent's 36%.[3] Her 2006 and 2008 campaigns won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

In May 2010, shortly after Sen. Jonathan Harris (D-West Hartford) announced that he would not run for another term in the senate in order to seek the Democratic nomination for secretary of the state, Bye declared her candidacy for his senate seat.[4][5] She won the Democratic nomination unopposed and easily prevailed against a Republican opponent. She took office as a state senator on January 5, 2011.

Personal life

A lesbian, Bye married Conard High School teacher Tracey Wilson on November 12, 2008. They were the first gay couple to be married in Connecticut.[6] Tracey Wilson is a West Hartford town historian and the couple live with their two children and two step-children; Brittany, Caroline, Peter, and Adam; in West Hartford. Bye is one of two openly gay members of the Connecticut General Assembly, serving alongside Sen. Andrew M. Maynard (D-Stonington).[7] Bye had been the first member of the legislature to enter into a civil union.

Electoral History

Connecticut House of Representatives: General Election 2006: 19th District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beth Bye 6,114 57.4
Republican Barbara Carpenter 4,535 42.6
Connecticut House of Representatives: General Election 2008: 19th District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beth Bye 8,457 63.1
Republican Thereas McGrath 4,936 36.9
Connecticut Senate: General Election 2010: 5th District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beth Bye 25,124 62.3
Republican Joseph Merritt 15,182 37.7

Bye ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections in 2012.

Connecticut Senate: General Election 2014: 5th District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beth Bye 22,181 58.9
Republican Bill Wadsworth 14,653 38.9
Independent Party Bill Wadsworth 804 2.1
Total Bill Wadsworth 15,457 41.1
Total votes 37,638 100
Connecticut Senate: General Election 2016: 5th District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beth Bye 30,655 60.4
Republican Mark Merritt 20,088 39.6

References

  1. ↑ http://eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ752960&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ752960
  2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20101128043558/http://nieer.org/psm/index.php?article=210. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ "Bye secures second term". New Britain Herald. 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  4. ↑ "Beth Bye announces state senate candidacy". West Hartford News. 2010-05-21. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  5. ↑ "Connecticut Democrats Choose State Senate Candidates". Hartford Courant. May 25, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Connecticut politician’s joy at her lesbian wedding, the first in the state". Pink News. 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  7. ↑ "County Fair: The Queering of Connecticut". Fairfield County Weekly. 28 February 2008. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
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