Prague, Edith G.

First took office January 1995
Term ends January 2013

State Sen. Edith G. Prague

D, 19th District

Prague, Edith G.

Contact:

Prague@senatedems.ct.gov
Official Website
1-800-842-1420

Education:

B.S.,Eastern Connecticut State University, M.S.W., University of Connecticut

Committees:

Aging (co-chair), Labor (co-chair), Appropriations, Public Health

District Town(s):

Andover, Bozrah, Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Montville, Norwich, Sprague

Occupation:

Legislator

Quicklinks:

2010 Election

Campaign Expenditures:

$51,217. Prague did not participate in the state's public campaign financing program.

General Election Results:

Sean Sullivan (R)14,795(48.7%)
Edith G. Prague (D)14,516(47.8%)
Edith G. Prague (WF)1,081(3.6%)

Primary Election Results:

0(0%)

Election History

 Prague was elected to the Senate in 1994, succeeding Democrat Ken Przybysz, whom she beat in a Democratic primary.She previously was elected to five terms in the House, beginning in 1982. But she resigned before the start of her fifth term to accept a post in Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr.'s administration.In 2008 and 2010, she was cross-endorsed by the Working Families Party. Unopposed by Republicans in 2008, she had a close call in 2010. Without the votes she gained on the WFP line, she would have lost. 

Background

Prague left the state House of Representatives for a brief, unhappy tenure as Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr.'s commissioner of aging, fighting with Weicker over cuts to her agency and other providers of social services. Weicker fired her in 1992. Two years later, she resumed her legislative career as a state senator.

Prague is a former teacher and medical social worker whose legislative record reflects a belief that government is responsible for a safety net of social services and that business should share the burden. She has voted to raise the minimum wage, extend workers' compensation benefits and require that companies provide paid sick days.

In a questionnaire for Project Vote Smart, Prague said she would "greatly increase" spending for education, health care, the environment and transportation and maintain spending in other areas.

Prague has crusaded against drunken driven for two decades, winning praise from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the National Commission on Drunk Driving. But she stood by her constituent, political ally and fellow Labor co-chair at the time, Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville, after he was convicted and jailed on a third DUI.

Prague, whose 85th birthday came three weeks after the 2010 election, said she intends to serve as long as she is healthy.

Personal: Prague lives in Columbia. She is widowed and has four daughters and four grandchildren.


Financial Disclosure

 Prague reported extensive investments, with stock in every sector of the market. She had no debts in excess of $10,000.A note on financial disclosure: Every spring, officials are required to disclose the ownership of real estate, the source of any income exceeding $1,000 in the previous calendar year and securities worth more than $5,000. They also are required to file an addendum in which they report any debt of more than $10,000; this may by law be kept confidential. 

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