Legislator’s arrest places spotlight on drinking at Connecticut state Capitol

For decades, drinking was commonplace at the state Capitol as lawmakers and state employees attended various alcohol-related receptions and held a major party at the end of the session that often lasted until the sun rose the next morning.

While longtime Connecticut lawmakers say that the merriment has been sharply curtailed, the recent arrest of a state legislator on drunken driving charges has raised questions and increased scrutiny about drinking at the Capitol.

In previous years, organized parties featured live music and copious amounts of alcohol as the most hearty revelers remained at the Capitol until dawn on the session’s final day. Legislative receptions often featured liquor, including an annual wine tasting at the same time that lawmakers in the state House of Representatives and Senate were debating in nearby chambers. Some lawmakers would attend a reception by the beer wholesalers, for example, before heading back to the House floor to debate bills and vote.

“I’ve always had a concern about the drinking that does go on within the building,” said House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford, a lawmaker for the past 17 years. “It’s something that, culturally, should be refrained from in the building. … There needs to be soul-searching around this building on what we’re actually here to do. Our (Republican) caucus has had this conversation, and I have certainly discouraged drinking while you’re in the Capitol. It obviously goes on.”

The issue has gained increased attention following the arrest of state Rep. Robin Comey, a 55-year-old Branford Democrat who had been at a Hartford bar with three other female legislators, according to House Democrats. Comey was driving a Honda Civic in a narrow section of Capitol Avenue near the popular Red Rock Tavern when her car flipped upside down and landed on its roof.

After being handcuffed at the scene by Hartford police, Comey’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.144 and then 0.140 on the second test. The standard for being arrested for drunken driving is .08 and higher. A report by Hartford police states that Comey “reeked of alcoholic beverages and could not stay focused when being spoken to” at the scene.

“If I am with legislators that I know have been drinking all day or drinking heavily, I would hope that I would prevent them from getting into a vehicle and putting themselves into a position that Robin put herself into,” Candelora told the Courant. “I have personally been involved in this when I have seen someone drinking and prevented them from getting into a vehicle and driving. We all have a commute to go home, and we should be taking that into consideration. … At 6 p.m., to be that intoxicated is a bit early in the evening to be in that kind of position, and I’m glad that Robin is getting help.”

After her arrest that was captured by a television camera on FOX 61, Comey issued a public apology and said she was seeking treatment.

“I want to apologize to my constituents, my colleagues in the CT General Assembly, my family and friends for my DUI arrest,” Comey said in her statement. “After much reflection and with the support of my family, starting today, I will begin treatment to better understand the disease that is addiction and to get the help I recognize I need.”

Despite Comey’s arrest, legislators, lobbyists, and state employees say that drinking has been cut way back from the heights of the past. The Capitol was completely closed to the general public starting in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and there have been no organized, alcohol-related receptions for the past three years.

Deputy House Speaker Robert Godfrey, one of the longest-serving legislators, said the atmosphere is far more strict since he was first elected in 1988.

“This place is pretty sober,” Godfrey said in an interview. “I do remember the wild and crazy St. Patrick’s Day parties and end-of-session parties. No, there hasn’t been any wholesale drinking parties (recently). For St. Patrick’s Day and end of session, there was an organized effort to do a dinner and drinking and a band and dancing that sometimes went on to the wee small hours. But I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

The late-night parties were a bipartisan affair. Veteran employees remember then-Republican Gov. John G. Rowland in the crowded House Democratic caucus room singing “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie” after midnight in May 1996 as he joined hands with House majority leader Moira K. Lyons and others as a hired keyboard player banged out the famous tune.

Today, Gov. Ned Lamont, 69, remarked that he is in bed most nights by 11 p.m. as he explained his opposition to a bill this year that would have allowed some Connecticut bars in cities and casinos to remain open until 4 a.m.

“Look, you don’t drink in this building,” Lamont said in an interview outside the Capitol, pointing to the structure. “This is the people’s house. Period. If somebody goes across the street, I can’t manage that except to say, be careful and don’t drink and drive.”

Lamont added, “I haven’t talked to Robin, but you’ve got to get your health right. So I wish her the best and take care of your health, first and foremost.”

In the spirit of reduced drinking, the legislature’s transportation committee recently voted to make it easier for a motorist to be charged with drunken driving by reducing the threshold for arrest to .05, down from the current .08. The measure passed by 21-15 with Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the bipartisan issue. The measure will be subject to final negotiations before the legislative session ends in early June.

If approved, Connecticut would be one of only two states at .05, whereas many others are at .08.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Drinking was tolerated for decades by multiple House Speakers and various legislative leaders, but that shifted in 2021 when the same legislator who was arrested recently for drunken driving — Comey — made a halting speech on the House floor that eventually ended when she could not complete her remarks. She later said that she was suffering from anxiety, exhaustion, and too much wine at dinner.

Comey’s speech became a flash point as it gained national attention after being mentioned on  “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC.

“Republicans and Democrats have been drinking during work hours in Connecticut,” Kimmel told his national audience. “And while it is nice to see them finally agree on something, the result of that merry-making is this now-viral video of Rep. Robin Comey trying to say something.”

With the Capitol complex largely empty due to pandemic restrictions and legislators left with long stretches of free time, alcohol consumption became an issue during the 2021 session, lawmakers said. Some legislators were drinking on the top floor of the legislative parking garage as they were able to listen to the House debates on their laptop computers that were often left along the top-floor skywalk that connects the Legislative Office Building with the parking garage’s roof. The pandemic rules allowed legislators to cast votes without entering the House chamber as long as they were anywhere within the confines of the Capitol complex.

Legislative receptions with alcohol have since ended, and the traditional Irish Coffee Break on St. Patrick’s Day was recently moved off campus to the Officer’s Club for the first time in more than 30 years.

“We haven’t had those events since COVID, and I’m not sure they’re ever going to come back,” Candelora said.

Past drunken driving convictions

Multiple legislators have been arrested for drunken driving through the years — Republican and Democrat, male and female.

One of the high-profile cases involved state Rep. William Varese, a Monroe Republican who was charged with drunken driving after his Cadillac crashed into five parked cars after he left a Bridgeport strip club. Varese’s blood-alcohol concentration was measured at 0.167, and witnesses reported that he struggled out of his car before sitting down on the sidewalk and held his head in his hands. He did not seek re-election in 1998 and died in 2019.

Another case involved state Rep. Raymond V. Collins Jr., a West Haven Republican who was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in 1993 after drinking with fellow legislators at the Officer’s Club in the state armory building that has been known as a drinking spot for decades. Collins had expected to take Interstate 91 to his home in West Haven, but he ended up traveling south on Route 9, where he ran a red light in Middletown and crashed into two cars. A popular lawmaker, Collins continued to win re-election for years and died in 2017.

In another case, state Rep. Jessie G. Stratton, a Canton Democrat, served 120 days at the women’s prison in Niantic in 2008 after three drunken driving convictions. A rising star in the legislature, Stratton was a candidate for House Speaker before losing her House seat in November 2022 to Republican newcomer Kevin Witkos. Her stay in prison became news when Stratton was visited in prison by legislators and then-state comptroller Nancy Wyman as questions were raised about whether the rules were being followed when she had more visitors than the average inmate.

Like Stratton, state Rep. Kevin Ryan, a Montville Democrat, served 120 days in prison after three convictions. He was arrested for the third time in July 2001 after a Democratic fundraiser in Hartford when his blood alcohol concentration measured 0.199, police said. He lost his driver’s license and was incarcerated in late 2001 before being released on Jan. 1, 2002.

Since then, Ryan has won 11 consecutive elections — the longest-serving lawmaker in Hartford to continue following multiple arrests. He currently serves as assistant Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore. Ryan did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Motorists traditionally receive the mandatory 120 days in prison after four DUI convictions because the first conviction is normally erased from their record after completing an alcohol education program. They then receive the sentence after the next three convictions.

Part-time legislature

Historically, Connecticut has proudly touted its part-time legislature, saying the laws are often shaped with more insight because legislators have other jobs as lawyers, real estate agents, nonprofit workers and small business owners.

“We, as a legislature, are merely a reflection of society,” Candelora said. “I think the incidents that you are seeing within our House and Senate families are no different than what everybody else is dealing with because of the proliferation of drugs and alcohol now.”

In that vein, Candelora said he perceives a permissive attitude among some lawmakers about drinking and drugs, noting that the legislature voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2021 after many years of debate.

“I think there’s certainly a more casual attitude,” said Candelora, who voted against the marijuana bill. “I generally think that, culturally, we’re going through the evolution. There are studies out there that people don’t believe that marijuana use is harmful. There is a much more casual attitude right now about alcohol and drugs and driving. I think we’re seeing that in the statistics of wrong-way driving and fatalities on the road. All of that has increased, and the legislature is just a small microcosm of where we are as a society. And we need to be better examples.”

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.