Ned Lamont Bio
Edward Miner Lamont Jr. (born January 3, 1954) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 89th governor of Connecticut since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich selectman from 1987 to 1989 and was the Democratic nominee in the 2006 U.S. Senate race. After an unsuccessful gubernatorial primary bid in 2010, Lamont won the governorship in 2018 and was reelected in 2022. His administration has focused on infrastructure, budget management, public health responses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and enacting laws legalizing recreational cannabis, sports betting, and online gambling. Lamont founded Campus Televideo and led Lamont Digital Systems after earning a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard and a Master of Business Administration from Yale.
Early Life and Background
Edward Miner Lamont Jr. was born on January 3, 1954, in Washington, D.C., to Camille Helene (née Buzby) and Edward Miner Lamont. His mother was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to parents from the U.S. mainland, and she later worked as a staffer for Senator Estes Kefauver. His father was an economist who worked on the Marshall Plan and served in the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Nixon administration. Lamont is the great-grandson of former J. P. Morgan & Co. chair Thomas W. Lamont, and a grand-nephew of former American Civil Liberties Union director Corliss Lamont. He is also a distant descendant of colonial diarist Thomas Minor, from whom he gets his middle name.
When he was seven years old, Lamont’s family moved to Laurel Hollow on Long Island. The eldest of three children, he and his sisters attended East Woods School. He later enrolled at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he served as president of the student newspaper, The Exonian. After graduating from Phillips Exeter in 1972, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Harvard College in 1976 and a Master of Business Administration from the Yale School of Management in 1980. The Lamont Gallery on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy and the Lamont Library at Harvard University are both named in honor of his family.
Path to US Politics
Lamont’s entry into public life came in 1987, when he was elected as a selectman in Greenwich, Connecticut, serving one term. He ran for state senate in 1990 against Republican William Nickerson and incumbent Emil Benvenuto in a three-way race, finishing third. After that loss, he served for three terms on the Greenwich town finance board and chaired the State Investment Advisory Council, which oversees state pension fund investments. These early roles gave him a working knowledge of municipal budgeting and state fiscal policy that shaped his later campaigns.
In March 2006, Lamont announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate against three-term incumbent Joe Lieberman, positioning himself as a stronger challenger on the Iraq War and Bush administration policies. He pledged to refuse money from lobbyists and self-funded much of his campaign, with personal contributions exceeding $12.7 million. He won the Democratic primary with 52% of the vote, becoming the only incumbent senator in 2006 to lose his party’s nomination. Lieberman ran as an independent under the Connecticut for Lieberman banner and won the general election with nearly 50% of the vote, drawing support from Republicans and independents.
Ned Lamont Career
Early Career (1977–2005)
After college, Lamont became editor of the Black River Tribune, a small weekly newspaper in Ludlow, Vermont, where he worked alongside journalists Jane Mayer and Alex Beam. After earning his MBA from Yale in 1980, he entered the cable television industry, managing the startup operation in Fairfield County, Connecticut, for Cablevision. In 1984, he founded Campus Televideo, a company that provides cable and satellite services to college campuses across the country. He later chaired Lamont Digital Systems, a telecommunications firm that invested in new media startups, and Campus Televideo remained its largest division until it was acquired by Austin, Texas-based firm Apogee on September 3, 2015.
Alongside his business career, Lamont volunteered at Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport, teaching entrepreneurship and coordinating internships with local businesses. He served as a teaching fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics and the Yale School of Management, and as adjunct faculty and chair of the Arts and Sciences Public Policy Committee at Central Connecticut State University, where he was named Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Philosophy. He also served on the boards of the Conservation Services Group, Mercy Corps, the Norman Rockwell Museum, the YMCA, and the Young Presidents’ Organization.
2006 U.S. Senate Breakthrough (2006–2008)
Lamont’s 2006 Senate primary victory over Joe Lieberman made him a national symbol of anti-Iraq War Democratic activism. During a televised July 6 debate, he pressed Lieberman on the war and energy policy, and challenged Lieberman’s ties to the Bush administration. The New York Times editorial board endorsed Lamont on July 30, 2006, and although Lieberman ultimately won the general election as an independent, the primary result reshaped Lamont’s profile inside the Democratic Party. The experience became the foundation for his later statewide runs.
Following the 2006 race, Lamont initially supported Chris Dodd’s presidential campaign and later became a state co-chair for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign after Dodd dropped out. Obama’s victory in the Connecticut Democratic primary was credited to Lamont’s ability to turn out the voter base he had built during his Senate campaign. In March 2008, he served as a state delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, his support pledged to Obama.
2010 Gubernatorial Primary (2010)
On February 16, 2010, Lamont announced his candidacy for the 2010 gubernatorial election. Former Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy defeated him at the state Democratic convention on May 22, with 1,232 votes (68%) to Lamont’s 582 (32%). Since he won more than 15% of the vote, Lamont was eligible to appear on the primary election ballot. On August 10, he lost the primary to Malloy, receiving 43% of the vote, and Malloy went on to defeat Republican Thomas C. Foley in the general election.
2018 Gubernatorial Victory (2018)
On January 17, 2018, Lamont announced his candidacy to succeed Malloy, who was not seeking a third term. He received the party endorsement at the state convention and chose former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz as his running mate. Despite a primary challenge from Bridgeport mayor Joe Ganim, Lamont won the primary by over 130,000 votes, a 62.4% margin. He then faced Republican Bob Stefanowski and independent Oz Griebel in the general election on November 6, 2018, winning the governorship after both opponents conceded.
2022 Reelection (2022)
Lamont won reelection to a second term as governor, with Bysiewicz once again as his running mate, winning the Democratic primary unopposed. He defeated Stefanowski in a rematch of their 2018 race, winning by a wider margin and becoming the first Democrat to win a Connecticut gubernatorial election by more than five points since 1986. His second swearing-in took place on January 4, 2023, at the State Arsenal and Armory.
Governor Era (2019–Present)
Lamont was sworn in as the 89th governor of Connecticut on January 9, 2019, succeeding Dannel Malloy. His early priorities included implementing electronic highway tolls, taxing online streaming services, restoring the property tax credit, legalizing recreational marijuana, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, instituting paid family and medical leave, renegotiating public-sector union contracts, and legalizing sports betting. He also pushed rail infrastructure investments, including upgrading lines and extending the Danbury Branch to New Milford.
On June 26, 2019, Lamont signed his first biennium state budget, totaling $43 billion, which raised fees and taxes on certain businesses and prepared meals while avoiding an income tax increase, and added $2.2 billion to the state’s rainy day fund. When COVID-19 hit Connecticut, he declared a public health emergency, closed schools on March 16, 2020, shut non-essential businesses on March 20, and issued a stay-at-home order on March 23, lifting it on May 20. He signed a sweeping police reform bill in July 2020, expanded HUSKY A health insurance and legalized recreational cannabis in June 2021, and launched legal online sports betting in October 2021. In 2025, he vetoed legislation to expand housing supply, having earlier asked an aide to draft a statement supporting the bill, and ordered flags lowered to half-staff after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Lamont’s defining moments, his 2006 Democratic primary win over Joe Lieberman remains one of the most talked-about upsets in modern Connecticut politics, and his 2022 reelection marked the first time a Democrat won a Connecticut gubernatorial race by more than five points since 1986. His administration became the first state to vaccinate 50% of its adult population against COVID-19 and the 19th state to end cannabis prohibition. He also signed a paid family and medical leave program offering up to 12 weeks of paid leave starting in 2022.
Ned Lamont Career Wins
Lamont’s electoral record includes a U.S. Senate primary win in 2006, a 2018 gubernatorial victory over Republican Bob Stefanowski and independent Oz Griebel, and a 2022 reelection rematch win over Stefanowski by a wider margin. He also previously won a 1987 race for Greenwich selectman, serving one term.
U.S. Senate Highlights
Lamont’s most prominent early victory was his 2006 Democratic primary win over three-term incumbent Joe Lieberman, capturing 52% of the vote. The race became a national story because Lieberman ran as an independent and won the general election with nearly 50% of the vote, drawing cross-party support.
Gubernatorial Highlights
Lamont first won the governorship in 2018, defeating Republican Bob Stefanowski after both Stefanowski and independent Oz Griebel conceded on election night. He won reelection in 2022 by a wider margin over Stefanowski, becoming the first Democrat to win a Connecticut gubernatorial race by more than five points since 1986.
Other Wins & Achievements
Lamont was first elected as a selectman in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1987, served three terms on the Greenwich town finance board, and chaired the State Investment Advisory Council. In the business world, he founded Campus Televideo in 1984 and led Lamont Digital Systems, and in 2008 he served as a state co-chair for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in Connecticut.
Ned Lamont Family
Family Background and Lineage
Lamont is the eldest of three children born to Camille Helene (née Buzby) and Edward Miner Lamont. His father was an economist who worked on the Marshall Plan and served in the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Nixon administration. He is the great-grandson of former J. P. Morgan & Co. chair Thomas W. Lamont, and a grand-nephew of former American Civil Liberties Union director Corliss Lamont. He is also a distant descendant of colonial diarist Thomas Minor, from whom he gets his middle name. Family-named institutions include the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy and the Lamont Library at Harvard University.
Personal Life
On September 10, 1983, Lamont married Ann Huntress, a venture capitalist and managing partner at Oak Investment Partners. They have three children. The family lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, and maintains a vacation home in North Haven, Maine.