The congressman from the 2nd District is Joe Courtney, a Democrat elected in 2006. Courtney was raised in West Hartford, the youngest of five boys. He studied at Tufts University, graduated from the University of Connecticut law school and went into private practice. In 1986, he won the first of four terms in the state House, where he served as chairman of the public health and human services committees. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1998, and then unsuccessfully against Republican Rep. Rob Simmons in 2002. Simmons, who earned two Bronze Stars in Vietnam and later served as a CIA operations officer, had defeated 20-year Democratic Rep. Sam Gejdenson two years earlier. Courtney ran on the Democratic themes of Social Security restructuring, better prescription drug coverage for seniors and opposition to President Bush’s tax cuts. The environmental group Friends of the Earth gave Simmons a boost, saying that he had the most pro-environment record of the freshmen Republicans. Simmons won 54%-46%. Courtney stepped aside for Democrat Jim Sullivan to take on Simmons in 2004, but Sullivan lost by the same 54%-46% total. Read More

The congressman from the 2nd District is Joe Courtney, a Democrat elected in 2006. Courtney was raised in West Hartford, the youngest of five boys. He studied at Tufts University, graduated from the University of Connecticut law school and went into private practice. In 1986, he won the first of four terms in the state House, where he served as chairman of the public health and human services committees. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1998, and then unsuccessfully against Republican Rep. Rob Simmons in 2002. Simmons, who earned two Bronze Stars in Vietnam and later served as a CIA operations officer, had defeated 20-year Democratic Rep. Sam Gejdenson two years earlier. Courtney ran on the Democratic themes of Social Security restructuring, better prescription drug coverage for seniors and opposition to President Bush’s tax cuts. The environmental group Friends of the Earth gave Simmons a boost, saying that he had the most pro-environment record of the freshmen Republicans. Simmons won 54%-46%. Courtney stepped aside for Democrat Jim Sullivan to take on Simmons in 2004, but Sullivan lost by the same 54%-46% total.

Courtney came back for a rematch with Simmons in 2006, getting his campaign under way early in 2005. Democrats worked diligently to nationalize the race by exploiting voter anger over the Iraq war and GOP ethics scandals in Congress. Simmons was attacked for donating $1,000 to the legal defense fund for Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who was caught up in dual ethics and fundraising investigations. After DeLay left Congress in disgrace, Democrats sought to tether Simmons to the increasingly unpopular Republican president. Simmons touted his independence by pointing to votes he took on partial-birth abortion and same-sex marriage in opposition to the administration’s positions. He also touted his successful lobbying to keep the district’s submarine base off the 2005 base-closing list.

On Election Night, Courtney held a slim 167-vote lead, a margin that was small enough to trigger an automatic recount. A week later, Courtney’s lead was cut in half, but official results gave him a winning margin of 83 votes out of the more than 242,000 cast. He was the survivor of the closest House race of the 2006 elections.

In the House, Courtney’s new colleagues gave him a nickname, “Landslide Joe.” But he also got a seat on the prestigious Armed Services Committee, where he could more effectively lobby for more money for the Navy’s shipbuilding program at Groton. In 2007, he worked with other Connecticut and Rhode Island lawmakers to successfully secure an extra $588 million in the Defense appropriations bill for submarines, paving the way for the Navy to double its submarine production from one a year to two a year. Democratic leaders were eager to help the rookie representative secure his hold on the district. Courtney was able to get Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., to visit the district, and both of the powerful chairmen backed improvements at Electric Boat.

In 2008, Courtney won enactment of a bill giving environmental protection to 25 miles of the Eightmile River, bringing it under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. He was the only member of the Connecticut delegation who voted against the $700 billion Wall Street rescue, which he said focused too much on “a square mile of New York City.” He worked with a bipartisan group of House and Senate members on expanding the “Troops to Teachers” program, which gives soldiers bonuses for agreeing to teach in schools with low-income students, and on raising the maximum amounts available in Pell grants for college students. During the 2009 health care debate, Courtney led House Democratic opposition to a proposed “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health insurance plans, which he said would harm millions of middle-class people. He helped change it to a 3.8 percent tax on unearned income.

In 2008, Republicans put up Sean Sullivan, former commander of the Groton submarine base, against Courtney. Sullivan depicted him as a lockstep loyalist for Democratic leaders. Courtney cited his accomplishments and said he had been elected to “stand up to Bush’s policies.” He won 66%-32%, establishing a firm grip on this formerly competitive seat. Two years later, his GOP opponent was Janet Peckinpaugh, a former television news anchor who was able to raise just over $215,000 for her campaign without getting the national GOP support she had hoped for. Courtney collected $1.7 million and cruised to victory 60%-39%.