Everything seemed perfect for Jodi Rell on election night in November 2002.
The celebration was roaring for Connecticut Republicans as Gov. John Rowland had just won his third term amid high ratings in the public opinion polls. Rell, his low-key runningmate, had been swept in on the political ticket for the third straight time in a huge victory.
At that time, Rell says, she assumed that Rowland would finish out his third term and complete 12 successful years in the state's top office. Likewise, Rell would finish her term as lieutenant governor -- and would not run for governor. Instead, she would retire and walk off the stage after two decades of public service, including 10 years as a state legislator from her hometown of Brookfield.
"It's true. I thought to myself, three terms as lieutenant governor - that was something I never thought I would be doing,'' Rell said in an interview with The Hartford Courant. "I didn't really have an interest in running for governor. I thought at the end of three terms, we would go on to leave state government and do something else.''
"But,'' she added, "things changed.''
Only one week after Rowland's election, he received an ominous letter from the U.S. attorney's office that sought the records of co-chief of staff Peter Ellef and deputy chief of staff Larry Alibozek, who both eventually pleaded guilty to federal corruption crimes. Rowland resigned amid an impeachment inquiry, and Rell was catapulted into the governor's office.
Rell took her place in history as the 87th governor when she was sworn in on a hot day in July 2004. Now, 61/2 years later, the once-accidental governor is stepping down. She declared in November 2009 that she would not run for another term, setting off a huge scramble to succeed her that led to primary battles in both major political parties.
When her tenure ends Jan. 5, Rell will leave a less tumultuous political landscape from the one she inherited that summer of 2004, with the state in a political slump of historic proportions. It will be part of her legacy that she brought calm and a steady hand to the troubled state.
"I hate calling it an accomplishment,'' Rell said. "It was what was needed at the time. ... I wanted people to know that what I said I meant - that we were going to take action to restore faith and that we were going to do everything in our power to bring integrity back to the office. It was what the state needed and what I delivered. I think the public will always remember that was probably what our state needed at the time, and I was there to deliver it.'
Rell took charge of a state with raw political wounds from Rowland's departure, a dark and critical time in Connecticut's political history that was also manifest beyond the governor's office. The period was punctuated by a series of embarrassing scandals that brought federal prison sentences for Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim, Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, and state treasurer Paul Silvester, prompting critics to label the state as "Corrupticut.''
Rell's supporters say she was the best possible governor to provide political healing and help the state emerge from that bleak period.
"She follows the Ganim mess, the Silvester mess, the Giordano mess, and the Rowland mess, and she brings civility, warmth, and integrity,'' said state Rep. Pam Sawyer, a friend of Rell's. "Her timing for the healing and governing was spot-on perfect. Ten years before or 10 years after, it might not have clicked.''
In the same way that Democrat Jimmy Carter was elected president partly because of the painful hangover from the Watergate scandals, Rell emerged on the public stage as the polar opposite of Rowland. Carter eventually left the presidency as an unpopular figure, but Rell maintained high ratings despite the biggest economic troubles in decades.
Her approval rating reached its peak at 83 percent in January 2005 - the highest ever recorded for a state official in a Quinnipiac University poll. Even after the huge, long-lasting economic downturn, her approval rating was still at 60 percent in mid-July 2010.
While Rell's popularity soared to record-breaking heights, some political insiders complain that she turned out to be merely a caretaker governor who accomplished little in terms of lasting legislation or leadership. She was dismissed as a ceremonial ribbon-cutter who virtually disappeared for long periods that included "reading days'' to study issues and thus did not get much done - rarely attending the semi-annual National Governors Association meetings where she could have hobnobbed with the President and others in a position to help Connecticut in difficult times. Her detractors say she delegated far too much authority to M. Lisa Moody, who became one of the longest-serving and most powerful chiefs of staff in recent decades.
Politically, Rell also surprised Republicans and others by refusing to endorse her lieutenant governor, Michael Fedele, who this year lost the GOP convention nomination and a primary for governor. She never gave a detailed reason for not supporting Fedele, despite being asked numerous times during the campaign. The state Republican chairman and other insiders add that Rell did virtually nothing for Republican legislators running on the ticket this fall. She taped radio commercials for Linda McMahon for U.S. Senate and Tom Foley for governor, but she never used her huge popularity to play a major public role in the elections.
