Chair Nancy J. DiNardo, the first woman to serve as the state’s Democratic State Chair and the first to be re-elected to the post in a separate term, has a long record of service and success with Connecticut Democrats at the local, state and federal levels.
In her first term as State Chair, DiNardo lead the state Democrats through two successful Presidential election cycles in 2008 and 2012, leaving in 2015. She was elected to the Democratic National Committee in 2016, and continues to serve as chair of the DNC’s Eastern Region Caucus. In 2020, she was re-elected State Chair.
She started her political career in 1971 when she was elected to the Trumbull Town Council. For almost 30 years, she served as chair of the Trumbull Democratic Town Committee. During most of her tenure, Democrats held the First Selectman’s seat.
As Trumbull DTC Chair, Nancy worked to build coalitions with other town chairs, committees and Democratic activists in the 4th Congressional District to defeat former Republican US. Rep Chris Shays, an effort that paid off in 2008 with the election of U.S Rep. Jim Himes.
While working tirelessly for the Democratic Party. Nancy worked for 30 years as an educator in the Bridgeport school system, starting as a teacher and working her way to Director of Psychological Services. In June 2002, she retired to devote her energies full-time to politics.
Vice Chair Jimmy Tickey grew up in Shelton, CT and continues to call the Naugatuck Valley home. He graduated from Fordham University in New York City with a degree in Business Administration and Economics. Tickey served as Community Campaign Chair for the Valley United Way for 3 consecutive years raising $3m for the Lower Naugatuck Valley which assisted over 110,00 people in need. Tickey serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut’s League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Southern New England and Griffin Health.
Tickey, along with fellow small business owners, started Celebrate Shelton – an organization providing high quality community gatherings and seasonal concerts that improve arts engagement in the community. Tickey served as Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s (CT-3) Campaign Manager for eight years; and as a Senior Advisor to Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, overseeing Connecticut’s 2020 Census preparedness and outreach to municipalities. Since 2019, Tickey has led the Connecticut offices of Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) as District Director. Tickey has been elected to the City of Shelton’s Planning & Zoning Commission for 3 consecutive terms; the highest local Democratic vote-getter in Shelton on record. Tickey formed the LGBTQ Caucus of the Connecticut Democratic Party in 2020. Tickey was named to Connecticut’s Top 40 under 40 at the age of 27.
Secretary Audrey Blondin has been a member of the Democratic State Central Committee since 2002, representing the 18 towns of the Northwest Corner, and is also currently the longest serving woman member of the Committee. She was one of the Committee’s first women attorneys and has served as a delegate to four Democratic National Conventions. She became involved in politics in 1979 on the Torrington mayor’s race, and served on the Democratic Town Committee there before moving to Litchfield in 1986, where she became local chairman and was elected to the Board of Selectmen, serving for ten years. She currently resides in Goshen where she serves as a member of the Board of Assessment Appeals. She and her daughter have Litchfield County’s only mother-daughter law firm and practice primarily real estate, business, bankruptcy, probate, elder and estate planning law, as well as assisting her husband and son-in-law in Blondin Shea Eyecare. She also holds a Masters in Public Health degree from the University of Connecticut and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Haven teaching Law & Public Health.
Party Treasurer Edwin Camacho