Malloy Takes the Reins

Dannel P. Malloy took office today as Connecticut's 88th governor and its first Democratic chief executive in 20 years, assuming responsibility for a state with a stagnant economy, a historic deficit and an appetite for change at the start of a new decade.

Under a vast skylight in the drill shed of the State Armory in Hartford, the 55-year-old former mayor of Stamford told an audience of about 2,800 that he begins his four-year term "humbled by the sense of history that lives within the soul of our great state."

Dan Malloy is greeted by well-wishers as he arrives at the Armory to take the oath of office

But Malloy struck a direct, blunt tone in his inaugural address, the first of two speeches he is to deliver today, as he prepares to erase a deficit of more than $3.5 billion with tax increase and spending cuts.

"Today I see an economic crisis and an employment crisis, both fueled by an unfriendly employer environment, a lack of educational resources, a deteriorating transportation system, and an enormous budget crisis of historic proportions. All coddled by a habit of political sugarcoating that has passed our problems onto the next generation," Malloy said in remarks prepared for delivery.

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