William Tong
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William Morten Tong (born May 2, 1973) is an American lawyer and politician who is the 25th and current
Attorney General of Connecticut The Connecticut Attorney General is the state attorney general of Connecticut. The Attorney General is elected to a four-year term. According to state statute, eligibility for the office requires being "an attorney at law of at least ten years' ...
. Born in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, Tong attended
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
and the University of Chicago Law School. He began his career as an attorney with the law firms
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is an international white shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions, with over 1,000 attorneys in 11 offices worl ...
and Finn Dixon & Herling. In 2006, Tong entered politics upon winning election to the Connecticut House of Representatives to represent the 147th district, which includes most of
North Stamford North Stamford is an affluent section of Stamford, Connecticut, United States, north of the Merritt Parkway. Mostly woody and hilly, it is the least densely populated, and highest income section of the city with a 2018 median household income of $2 ...
. He served six terms in the House from 2007 to 2019. During this period, Tong chaired the banking committee from 2011 to 2015 and the judiciary committee from 2015 to 2019. In 2018, Tong was elected 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.


Early life and education

William Tong grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. 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. Tong graduated from
Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...
in Andover, Massachusetts. He received an undergraduate degree in classics with honors from
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
in 1995. He earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2000.


Legal career

Before his election as attorney general, Tong practiced law for 18 years as a litigator in both state and federal courts, first at
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is an international white shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions, with over 1,000 attorneys in 11 offices worl ...
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 2018 election after incumbent George Jepsen announced he would not seek reelection. Tong won the first contested Democratic convention for attorney general on May 20, 2018, with 63.3% of the vote, defeating three other candidates. He went on to win the first contested Democratic primary for attorney general on August 14, beating two other candidates with 57.3% of the vote. Tong defeated Republican nominee Sue Hatfield in the general election by 78,394 votes, 6% of the total. According to the attorney general's office, he became the first elected Asian-American statewide official in Connecticut upon taking office.


Consumer protection

As attorney general, Tong is leading a coalition of 49 states in suing the major generic drug manufacturers for price fixing, which Tong called the “largest private sector cartel” in history during a May 12, 2019 segment 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 relating to a massive data breach in which millions of Americans' personal and confidential information was compromised, including more than 1.5 million residents of Connecticut. Equifax eventually agreed to a $700 million settlement, including $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 a “firewall” against President Donald Trump and his policies. He joined other state attorneys general in challenging Trump, including his attempts to build a border wall and to add a citizenship question to the census. Tong has been a defender of the environment, taking numerous legal actions to protect clean air and water and to confront climate change.


State representative

From 2015 to 2019, Tong chaired the House Judiciary Committee. As chair, he was a key leader in Connecticut’s efforts to pass gun legislation. As a freshman legislator, Tong wrote and passed the Lost and Stolen Firearms law 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, a domestic violence gun law that 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 by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug possession crimes that have resulted in the mass incarceration of young people, particularly in Connecticut's cities. Tong also helped write and pass legislation to protect homeowners in foreclosure in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and to 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 Mayor Michael Pavia announced he would not seek reelection. He lost the Democratic primary to David Martin by less than 200 votes.


2012 U.S. Senate campaign

In May 2011, Tong announced he would seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Joe Lieberman. He faced Susan Bysiewicz, former secretary of state and now Connecticut's lieutenant governor, and Chris Murphy, the eventual winner, in the Democratic primary. He dropped out of the race a year later and endorsed Murphy. The Tong campaign raised more than $550,000 in the quarter ending June 30, 2011. The final Federal Election Commission contribution tally was $1,063,993 for Team Tong.


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. Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman to screen candidates for United States Attorney. On November 14, 2009, the ''
Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'' reported that the panel assembled had forwarded four names to the White House and President Barack Obama for consideration; Tong was a finalist on that list."Finalists."
('' Publisher'') (November 14, 2009) Retrieved March 7, 2019.


References


External links


Government website

Campaign website


(archived)
Finn Dixon & Herling bio
(archived)
Legislative testimony
(archived) , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tong, William 1970s births 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Hong Kong descent American politicians of Taiwanese descent Brown University alumni Connecticut Attorneys General Connecticut lawyers Living people Democratic Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut Simpson Thacher & Bartlett University of Chicago Law School alumni Asian-American people in Connecticut politics