Eunice Groark (b. 1938) was elected the first female lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1990. Groark ran on a ticket with Lowell Weicker, both of whom were members of "A Connecticut Party" (ACP). Weicker won with 41% of the vote, making ACP a "major party" in Connecticut. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the year. ... Lowell Palmer Weicker, Jr. ...

Prior to her election as Lieutenant Governor, Groark served as Corporation Counsel of the City of Hartford from 1987 to 1990. Before that, she was a Republican member of Hartford's City Council. When Groark was 6, she was trapped in the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire which killed 168 people. Groark said even 60 years later she still could not be in large crowds. Nickname: The Insurance Capital of the World, New Englands Rising Star Official website: www. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... The Hartford Circus Fire, which occurred on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, was one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States. ...

In 1991, Weicker introduced an extremely divisive plan to balance the state budget by implementing an earned income tax. When the vote on the income tax plan was tied 18-18 in the state Senate, Groark, as President of the Senate, cast the tie-breaking vote in favor. Groark also broke a Senate tie on the assault-weapons ban proposed by Governor Weicker. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1994, Weicker retired from public office and endorsed Groark for governor on the ACP line, against former Republican congressman John G. Rowland and Democratic state Comptroller Bill Curry. Talk-radio host Tom Scott also ran as an independent. Groark picked Commissioner of Social Services Audrey Rowe as her running mate; Rowe was the first and only African-American candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Connecticut history. The Groark/Rowe ticket was also Connecticut's first and only all-female ticket. In Connecticut, the incumbent governor's party is listed on top of the ballot. Despite her ballot position and the endorsement of the Hartford Courant, Connecticut's largest newspaper, Groark was unable to overcome the unpopularity of the income tax and the natural disadvantages of a third-party candidacy; she received only 19% of the vote to Rowland's 36, Curry's 33, and Scott's 11. John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) was the Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. ... Bill Curry is a sports analyst with ESPN. He was an American college football coach at Georgia Tech, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Alabama. ... The Hartford Courant is Connecticuts largest daily newspaper, and the only morning newspaper for most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury. ...

Groark's portion of the vote was not sufficient to maintain major party status for the ACP, ending its influence in Connecticut politics. Some Democrats, especially in light of the many corruption scandals that led to John Rowland's resignation in 2004 after nearly ten years as governor, blame Groark for siphoning votes from Bill Curry and throwing the election to Rowland. In a two way race, it is likely virtually all of the votes cast for hard-line conservative Tom Scott would have gone to Rowland, however. It should also be noted that Groark's support in 1994 was heavily in suburban and rural towns in northern Connecticut that supported Rowland's re-election bids by wide margins.