William Tong

William Morten Tong (born May 2, 1973) is an American politician who is the 25th and current Attorney General of Connecticut. He took office on January 9, 2019 as the first Asian Pacific-American attorney general and constitutional officer elected statewide in Connecticut's history.

William Tong
25th Attorney General of Connecticut
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2019
Governor	Ned Lamont
Preceded by	George Jepsen
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 147th district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 9, 2019
Preceded by	Donald Sherer
Succeeded by	Matt Blumenthal
Personal details
Born	William Morten Tong May 2, 1973 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Hotchkiss
Children	3
Education	Brown University (BA) University of Chicago (JD)
Website	Government website

Prior to serving as attorney general, Tong served as a state representative in the Connecticut House of Representatives for 12 years, representing the 147th district.

From 2015 to 2019, Tong served as House chairman of the judiciary committee.

Prior to being appointed as House chairman of the judiciary committee, he previously served as House chairman of the banking committee from 2011 to 2015.

Early life and education

William Tong grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. His parents were originally from mainland China. His father Ady left China for Hong Kong during the Chinese Civil War, and his mother Nancy, immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 1960s.[1][2]

Tong graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He received an undergraduate degree in classics with honors from Brown University, in 1995. He earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, in 2000.[3][4]

Legal career

Prior to his election as attorney general, he practiced law for 18 years as a litigator in both state and federal courts, first at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, in New York City and then for 15 years at Finn Dixon & Herling LLP, in Stamford.

Public service

2018 state attorney general campaign

In late 2017, Tong formed an exploratory committee to seek the Democratic nomination for Connecticut Attorney General in the November 2018 election after incumbent attorney general George Jepsen announced he would not seek re-election.

Tong won the first contested Democratic convention for attorney general on May 20, 2018[5] with 63.3 percent of the vote, defeating three other candidates. He went on to win the first contested Democratic primary for attorney general on August 14, 2018,[6] beating two other candidates with 57.3 percent of the vote.

He defeated Republican Sue Hatfield in the general election on November 6, 2018[7] by 78,394 votes or 6 percent of the vote.[8]

Consumer protection

As attorney general, Tong is leading a coalition of 49 states in suing the major generic drug manufacturers[9] for price fixing, which Tong called the “largest private sector cartel” in history during a May 12, 2019 segment[10] on the CBS news program "60 Minutes."

Tong is also on the national executive committee of attorneys general who are leading the investigation and litigation to confront the opioid crisis, including Connecticut’s case against Purdue Pharma.

Tong was a part of a small group of state attorneys general who led the investigation against Equifax[9] relating to a massive data breach in which personal and confidential information belonging to millions of Americans was compromised, including more than 1.5 million residents in Connecticut. Equifax eventually agreed to a $700 million settlement, which includes $425 million in direct consumer relief and close to $5 million to the State of Connecticut.

"Firewall" against the Trump administration

During the 2018 campaign, Tong pledged to be “firewall” against President Donald Trump and his policies. Since taking office, Tong has joined other state attorneys general in challenging Trump, including his attempts to build a border wall,[11] to add a citizenship question[12] to the census. Tong has been a defender of the environment, taking numerous legal actions to protect clean air and water, and to confront the climate crisis.[13]

State representative

From 2015 to 2019, Tong served as the House chairman of the Judiciary Committee. As chairman, Tong was a key leader in Connecticut’s efforts to pass gun legislation.

As a freshman legislator, he wrote and passed the Lost and Stolen Firearms law[14] to fight gun trafficking. After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, he played an integral role in overhauling Connecticut's gun laws. He then wrote and passed Lori Jackson's Law, the domestic violence gun law, which requires the subject of a temporary restraining order to surrender all firearms and ammunition for at least 14 days. In 2018, Tong wrote and passed the law banning bump stocks.

During his 12 years in the House, Tong wrote and passed several laws to reform the criminal justice system, including Connecticut’s Second Chance Society law, which overhauled Connecticut's Criminal Justice Information System [15] by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug possession crimes that have resulted in the mass incarceration of young people, particularly in Connecticut's cities.

He also helped write and pass legislation to protect homeowners in foreclosure in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis; hold teachers and school officials accountable for failing to report instances of abuse and sexual misconduct by teachers and administrators involving students.

2013 Stamford mayoral campaign

In February 2013, Tong announced his bid for Mayor of Stamford after then-Mayor Michael Pavia announced he would not seek re-election. He lost the Democratic Primary to David Martin by less than 200 votes.

2012 U.S. Senate campaign

Tong announced he would seek the Democratic nomination in May 2011 for the U.S. Senate[16][17] seat being vacated by then-U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). He faced Susan Bysiewicz, former secretary of state and now Connecticut's lieutenant governor, and Chris Murphy, and eventual winner, in the Democratic primary. He dropped out of the U.S. Senate race a year later and endorsed Murphy.

The Tong campaign raised more than $550,000 in the quarter ending June 30, 2011.[18] The final Federal Election Commission contribution tally was $1,063,993 for Team Tong.[19]

Consideration for U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut

On March 7, 2009, it was reported that Tong was being considered by a panel assembled by former U.S. Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman to screen candidates for United States Attorney.[20] On November 14, 2009, the Hartford Courant reported that the panel assembled by Dodd and Lieberman had forwarded four names to the White House and President Barack Obama for consideration; Tong was a finalist on that list.[21]

References

1. Preovolos, Chris (February 10, 2010). "Celebrating Chinese New Year with a little dim sum". Connecticut Post. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
2. Bowles, Adam (November 26, 2006). "Legislature Gains an Asian-American Face". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
3. Kei-Rahn, Jordan (November 25, 2018). "Tong '95 elected Connecticut's first Asian-American attorney general". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
4. "William Tong, '00, Appointed Cochairman of Connecticut General Assembly's Judiciary Committee | University of Chicago Law School". www.law.uchicago.edu. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
5. "Tong wins endorsement for AG, faces three-way primary". The CT Mirror. May 19, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
6. "Tong wins Democratic nod for attorney general". WTNH.com. August 15, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
7. Mahony, Edmund H. "Tong Gets Victory In Attorney General Race; Wooden Wins For Treasurer, Lembo And Merrill Re-Elected". courant.com. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
8. "Democrats win attorney general and underticket". Connecticut Post. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
9. "TONG LEADS LAWSUIT AGAINST GENERIC DRUG MANUFACTURERSIN CONSPIRACY TO FIX PRICES FOR OVER 100 DRUGS". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
10. "Sweeping lawsuit accuses top generic drug companies, executives of fixing prices". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
11. "AG Tong and 15 Other States File Lawsuit Challenging President Trumps National Emergency Declaration". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
12. "AG TONG FILES BRIEF CHALLENGING TRUMP ADMIN ATTEMPT TO ADD CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO 2020 CENSUS". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
13. "CT SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER CLEAN CAR STANDARDS ATTACK". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
14. "Connecticut HB6131 | TrackBill". trackbill.com. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
15. "News of William Tong, 26 November 2007". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
16. Kim, Elizabeth. "With potential to make history, Tong enters race for U.S. Senate". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
17. "A new face in the Senate race... – Norwich, CT – The Bulletin". Norwichbulletin.com. March 15, 2011. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
18. Catanese, David. "Tong's half-million-dollar statement in Conn". POLITICO. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
19. "Campaign finance data". FEC.gov. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
20. "Committee formed to select U.S. attorney for Connecticut – Norwalk, Stamford, Westport, Weston and Wilton Connecticut News, Sports, Business, Obituaries and Advertising – The Hour – Norwalk's Newspaper". The Hour. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
21. "Finalists." Archived October 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (Publisher) (November 14, 2009) Retrieved March 7, 2019.

External links

• Government website
• Campaign website

• Profile at Vote Smart
• Connecticut General Assembly profile (archived)
• Finn Dixon & Herling bio (archived)
• Legislative testimony (archived)