Mary Glassman, left and Dan Malloy, rightAccording to her mother, as a little girl Mary Glassman used to bring her a flower each day when she came home from school.“She always studied hard, worked hard,” Glassman’s mother, Frances Sinkiewicz, said Tuesday night at the Hartford Hilton as she watched the returns for her daughter’s race for Lt. Governor. “God bless her.”
Further, Sinkiewicz said that as a teenager, her daughter made good decisions and was quite conservative compared to today’s young people. “She would always call if she was going to be late,” she said.
Glassman’s mother, Frances SinkiewiczThen came college, a job as a reporter at the New Britain Herald, law school, a position at the Pepe & Hazard law firm, an upset victory for the First Selectwoman’s office in her town of Simsbury, jobs with the Judicial Branch, CCSU, and later several jobs working with top Democrats at the state capitol.And, as it became clear Tuesday night that Glassman had easily won the nomination for lieutenant governor with about 57 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Scott Slifka, Glassman’s aunt, Adeline D’Angelo, threw in her two cents: “You never know what a person can do,” said D’Angelo, who with her husband, Edward, has helped Glassman over the years with her campaign efforts.Sinkiewicz agreed with D’Angelo and said, “I don’t know how she does it with three kids. And one’s going to college.” Well, there may be no telling what Glassman might do. She is now just a November day at the polls away from taking over Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan’s job. Sullivan is the guy who fired Glassman as his chief of staff the moment he found out she’d sided with Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy in his bid for the governor’s office.It should be pointed out here that Sullivan received a loud round of booing from the crowd of more than 200 at the Hilton when his face appeared on the big screen during a live interview from DeStefano’s headquarters in New Haven. There was plenty of booing and at least one high-volume barrage of barely intelligible Flintstones jokes. And at that point, it wasn’t even clear that Malloy had lost. But Tuesday’s victory was even more special for Glassman, because of the day it occurred. Family members said Tuesday was 46 years to the day that their father, Angelo, died at age 41. They didn’t offer details in the busy ballroom, but they did say that Glassman, who has three brothers, was 4 at the time. Her younger brother, Hartford Courant Photographer Richard Messina, was 2.Messina, who had the evening off to enjoy the festivities, said Aug. 8 is a tough day for the whole family—in particular for their mother. Based on that, is it a surprise that Glassman, as a young girl who’d recently lost her father, used to bring a flower home to mom each day? Was Glassman showing early signs of the capacity for empathy that voters seem to sense in her now?Possibly. Malloy spoke highly of her during his concession speech, calling her an outstanding candidate.“She greatly honored me by accepting my invitation to join this ticket,” Malloy said. “She has comported herself as a true professional. She is an outstanding individual. She deserves all the credit which should go to someone who has done what she’s done tonight and had a resounding victory in her office.“Glassman also showed she can be humble. Asked if she was surprised at her margin of victory Tuesday, Glassman said, “It hasn’t sunk in yet.“She added: “You know, we worked so hard, and I’m so proud of Dan, so proud of the race and the opportunity he’s given me. And I’m just very grateful to the voters of Connecticut for electing me their lieutenant governor candidate and I’m looking forward to a great November.“Asked if she thought her dad might have been looking out for her Tuesday, Glassman said, “I think so. There’s something special about that. I hope so. I hope he’d be proud.”