At-Large Delegates

AT-LARGE DELEGATES Representative Lawrence F. Cafero, Jr. House Republican Leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk, a 20-year veteran, is serving his third term leading the caucus. Fiscal responsibility, public safety, quality education and common sense hallmarks of the House Republican agenda. His Common Sense Commitment to Connecticut agenda for running state government, a five-point plan to put Connecticut back on solid fiscal ground, resulted in the historic GOP victories of 15 additional seats in the House of Representatives in 2010. The agenda embraces reducing state spending and less borrowing, making government smaller and more responsive to its residents and achieving greater efficiencies throughout Connecticut’s bureaucracy. Larry is a graduate of Norwalk High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Connecticut and earned his J.D. from Western New England College School of Law. He is a partner with the law firm of Brown, Rudnick, of Hartford. He lives in Norwalk with his wife Barbara where they raised their three children, Jacqueline, Christopher, and Nicholas. Senator John McKinney Senator John McKinney (R-28) is serving his seventh term in the Connecticut State Senate representing the towns of Easton, Fairfield, Newtown and Weston. He was elected Minority Leader of the Senate in June 2007 and is a ranking member on the General Assembly’s Housing and Legislative Management committees. He also serves on the Executive Nominations Committee. In the Senate, John has fought to lower taxes, create jobs and eliminate wasteful government spending. In the tradition of his father, the late Congressman Stewart B. McKinney, John is a fiscally conservative, socially moderate centrist who is at the forefront of state efforts to preserve and protect our environment, increase access to affordable housing and end homelessness. John served on the Transportation Committee for nine years, leading efforts to change the state’s transportation policy to address the long-term challenges of increasing congestion and rising gasoline prices. He was instrumental in helping to pass major transportation initiatives in 2005 and 2006 that will improve I-95, replace all 342 Metro-North rail cars and create a new Metro-North maintenance facility to service them. John lives in Fairfield with his three children, Matthew, Graysen, and Kate. Representative Christopher Shays Christopher Shays was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives and represented the 4th District of Connecticut. Shays was the only Republican congressman from New England elected to the 110th United States Congress in the 2006 midterm elections In 2009, Shays was appointed to co-chair the Commission on Wartime Contracting. The commission is an independent, bipartisan legislative commission established to study wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Created in Section 841 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, this eight-member commission is mandated by Congress to study federal agency contracting for the reconstruction, logistical support of coalition forces, and the performance of security functions, in Iraq and Afghanistan. He co-chaired the government watchdog commission that identified and raised alarm over $60 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse in wartime contingency contracting and presented to Congress reforms to address this wasteful spending. Mr. Shays resides in Bridgeport with his wife Betsi. Mark Shenkman: Mark R. Shenkman founded Shenkman Capital in 1985. With offices in New York, Stamford and London, Shenkman Capital is considered one of the world’s largest high yield investment advisory firms. Mr. Shenkman has 43 years of investment experience and is considered one of the pioneers of the high yield bond and loan markets. He has co-authored textbooks and lectured throughout the world on high yield securities. His previous experience includes positions at Fidelity Management Research, Lehman Brothers and First Investors Asset Management. Additionally, Mr. Shenkman is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the University of Connecticut Foundation, and serves as a Trustee at The George Washington University. Mr. Shenkman received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Connecticut (1965) and an M.B.A. from the George Washington University (1967). Mr. Shenkman is married to Rosalind Shenkman and has three sons. Mr. & Mrs. Shenkman reside in Greenwich, CT and Old Saybrook, CT. Leora Levy: Leora Levy has served for the last year and a half on the RNC National Finance committee, the Romney for President National Finance Committee and now, their successor, the Romney Victory Finance Committee. Leora is also currently serving on Linda McMahon’s Senatorial campaign finance committee and supports current candidates on the local, state and national level, organizing events and other means of support. She has been active in Republican campaigns since 1980 and has raised substantial money for the RNC as well as for congressional, gubernatorial and presidential candidates. She and her husband, Steve, have been major donors to the RNC for 10 years and active in local campaigns since moving to Greenwich in 1988. Leora’s civic and philanthropic activities include her present role as Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bruce Museum where she has been an active member and fundraiser since 1997 and a trustee since 2002. Several years ago, Leora chaired the Shelter Our Strays campaign which raised over $900,000 to relocate and build a new animal shelter in Greenwich. It was a public- private partnership between the Bruce Museum and the Town of Greenwich. She still chairs the SOS Advisory Board which oversees a fund to support the shelter. Leora graduated from Brown University in 1978 with a B.A. in International Relations and Economics. On Wall Street she was one of the few women commodity traders at the time, at Phibro-Salomon. She and her husband, Steve, live in Greenwich, Ct. where they have raised three Republican sons. Larry Lawrence Mr. Lawrence is currently retired after a 40 year career in the venture capital industry beginning in 1971 at Citicorp Venture Capital where he was President and Chief Investment Officer at the time of his departure in 1980 to establish an independent venture capital fund management company. From 1980 through 2010, he was the managing partner of a series of venture capital funds which provided startup and expansion capital for early stage growth companies. Mr. Lawrence attended Yale University and graduated from Columbia’s School of General Studies and Columbia Business School. He currently serves as a co-chair of both Columbia Business School’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee and of the Undergraduate Campaign Council, a volunteer alumni organization focused on the undergraduate portion of Columbia’s current $5 billion capital campaign. He is also a director of the Columbia Investment Management Corporation, the company which manages Columbia’s endowment funds, and a member of the Board of Visitors of the School of General Studies. Mr. Lawrence’s family lived in Riverside and Stamford, CT from 1952-1968. He and his wife, Sally, have lived in Greenwich since 1991 and also have a summer home in Madison, CT. They have four adult children and two grandchildren. Sally grew up in West Hartford, CT where her father, Stanley Peterson, was a member of the West Hartford Town Council. She graduated from Hall High School and Smith College and received an MBA from NYU. She is currently a trustee of Washington and Lee University, the Florence Griswold Museum in Lyme, CT and the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich. David Neeleman David Neeleman is the rarest of entrepreneurs, a man who has created and launched four successful, independent airlines, including the USA’s JetBlue and Canada’s WestJet. Brazil’s Azul, less than four years old, has already boarded almost twenty million customers. Born in Brazil while his father was Reuter’s Sao Paulo Bureau Chief, David has always had a deep love for the country. After his family moved to Utah while he was still a child, David would return to Brazil many times throughout his life. A dual citizen, David today relishes the dream before him to make flying cheaper and easier for Brazilians, giving access to air travel for many who have never experienced the opportunity before. Just as JetBlue in the US before it, Azul is the first airline in Latin America to offer LiveTV inflight TV programming via satellite. Azul flies 42 Brazilian-built Embraer E-190 and E-195 jets, with many more on order, all equipped with up to 118 comfortable ultra leather seats in a 2 by 2 configuration. Azul also flies twelve ATR-72 aircraft and has purchased another 14 of the aircraft, with options for 20 additional. The airline currently serves 50 destinations. Prior to Azul, David founded JetBlue Airways in New York and spent the last decade as Chief Executive Officer (1998 to 2007) and Chairman (2002 to 2008). An amazing success by any measure, JetBlue was an instant hit with travelers and was the first airline to earn $100 million annually within five years, thus becoming a “major” airline fastest. David currently splits his time between Brazil and Connecticut, where he lives with his wife Vicki. They have nine children. Donald Miller Mr. Miller is employed by Axiom International. He has been active in Republican circles for many years and is a strong supporter of Governor Romney. Mr. Miller is a resident of Greenwich and is married to Priscilla Miller who joins him in Tampa as a Guest to the 2012 National Convention. Jayme Stevenson Jayme Stevenson is serving her first term as First Selectman in Darien, Connecticut. She began her political career in 2009 when elected to the Board of Selectman. In 2011, Jayme was elected as Darien’s 43rd First Selectman and is only the third woman to hold that office.

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