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John G. Rowland (born May 24, 1957 in Waterbury, Connecticut) was the Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. He is married to Patty Rowland, his second wife, and the couple have five children between them.
Personal facts
Rowland's family has lived in Connecticut for more than 200 years. His father and grandfather each served as comptrollers for the City of Waterbury.
Rowland attended Holy Cross High School in Waterbury, where he was on the school's wrestling team. After graduating from Holy Cross, he advanced to Villanova University. He has since received honorary degrees from the University of New Haven, the University of Hartford, and Teikyo Post University.
In January of 2003, Rowland was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame after receiving the "Outstanding American" Award.
Political facts
A member of the Republican Party, Rowland's political career began in 1980 when, at age 23, he was elected to the Connecticut State House of Representatives. He held his seat until 1984, when he was elected to represent Connecticut's 5th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, where he served three consecutive terms.
After losing the gubernatorial race to Lowell Weicker, Rowland worked as a lobbyist. He was later elected governor in 1995 at age 37 (the youngest governor in Connecticut history), and later defeated Democratic challengers Barbara Kennelly (a former Congresswoman) 63%-35% in 1998 and Bill Curry, 54%-46% in 2002.
Rowland resigned as Governor of Connecticut effective July 1, 2004. Lieutenant Governor M. Jodi Rell is serving out the remainder of his term.
Spousal abuse
Rowland's first wife divorced him before he was elected governor in 1994 and filed a spousal abuse charge in June 1995. The matter was sealed immediately after it ocurred, with speculation that it was sealed so as not to affect the election results of the election. There was a request filed under the FOIA which is available at the state website (http://www.state.ct.us/foi/1995FD/19950726/FIC1994-399.htm).
Other allegations of spousal abuse against Rowland have been made but not substantiated.
Corruption scandal
In January 2004, an official investigation began into charges of corruption, and whether he should face impeachment. The allegations, which had been rumors long before they officially broke, include charges that contractors doing business with the state paid for improvements to Gov. Rowland's cottage, that he benefitted improperly from the sale of a condominium in Washington, D.C. at an inflated price, that he took gifts from his inferiors in Connecticut state government, and that he has a pattern of taking partial ownership in businesses immediately before they are granted state contracts.
The scandal was exacerbated when the Governor's wife, Patty Rowland, read a caustic/sarcastic/satiric poem (http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=1568468) deriding the media & press for investigating her husband's admitted wrongdoing.
On April 30, 2004, a special investigation panel started the impeachment process.
On June 21, 2004, Rowland's lawyers announced that he would resign. The resignation went into effect at noon on July 1, 2004. The announcement followed a decision (on June 18) by the Connecticut Supreme Court that would have required Rowland to testify before the investigative panel.
On December 24, 2004, Rowland entered a plea of guilty to stealing honest service. The Hartford Courant reported that the plea came after the assistant US Attorney Nora Dannehy was planning to convene a grand jury to investigate racketeering and conspiracy charges. Sentencing will take place shortly after the New Year.
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