HEADS OF STATE As we vote for governor this month, we are reminded that it’s an office steeped in history. The first (and mostly forgotten) governor of Connecticut Colony was John Haynes, who was elected in 1639 after already having served as governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and was so well liked that he was elected nine more times to office. The most popular governor may have been the state’s first official governor, Jonathan Trumbull, who was elected shortly after Connecticut was officially declared a state in 1769 and then was re-elected to 13 more one-year terms, also making him the longest-serving governor. Samuel Huntington was elected president of the Continental Congress in 1779 and following the American Revolution became the first president of “The United States in Congress Assembled.” Huntington then returned to Connecticut and in 1786, became governor, which in a way was a step down given his national stature—ironic, seeing how many use the governor’s office as a platform to step up. By the Numbers 68: Governors of Connecticut since the U.S. declared independence. 2: Female governors (Ella Grasso and M. Jodi Rell). 14½: Consecutive one-year terms served by Jonathan Trumbull; longest run in state history. 1: Day served as governor by Hiram Bingham III, the shortest term in state history; in 1925, Bingham was elected to the U.S. Senate one month after winning the governor’s office to fill a vacancy, and chose that office instead. Key Dates in Connecticut’s Gubernatorial History April 11, 1639: John Haynes elected first governor of Connecticut Colony. Oct. 1, 1769: Jonathan Trumbull takes office as Connecticut’s first independent governor. Nov. 5, 1974: Ella Grasso is elected the first female governor in U.S. history “in her own right,” meaning she wasn’t the wife or widow of a former governor. July 1, 2004: John Rowland resigns as governor after being implicated in a corruption scandal; he later pleads guilty and becomes the only governor in state history to serve prison time.