Gloria Schaffer

Gloria Schaffer (born October 3, 1930) was elected to the Connecticut State Senate from Connecticut's 14th Senate District (representing her home town of Woodbridge, Connecticut and several other municipalities) in 1958, serving six terms (1959-1971). She was elected Connecticut's Secretary of State in 1970, serving from 1971 to 1978. In 1976 she was also a candidate for U.S. Senator in Connecticut but lost to Republican incumbent Lowell Weicker. She was the only woman (Democrat) to run for the US Senate in that election. In 1978, she was appointed a member of the Civil Aeronautics Board by President Carter. In 1985, she was appointed a member of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission by Gov. William A. O'Neill, and then was appointed commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Affairs by Gov. Lowell Weicker in 1991. As of 2018, she was serving as a Fellow of Branford College of Yale University.