Delaware Gov. Markell, Friend of Gov. Malloy, Named Chairman Of National Gov. Association

One of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s best friends among governors – Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware – has been named as the new chairman of the National Governors Association.

In his new post, Markell will head the national group that represents all 50 governors, who meet twice a year as a full body and other times throughout the year in regional conferences on public issues of shared interest.

Malloy and Markell have appeared together on the campaign trail in the North End of Hartford – as well as in a much longer trip to Kuwait and Afghanistan.

It’s a friendship that goes back at least to 1998, and it has developed to the point that the two Democratic governors were traveling partners in a high-profile visit to U.S. troops in Kuwait and Afghanistan in November 2011.

Many governors had the chance to join the trip at the invitation of the Department of Defense, but only Malloy and Markell made it, finding time to pile even more events onto their crowded calendars.

On a whirlwind schedule aside from his full-time duties as governor, Markell has visited Hartford on both political and governmental trips during the past two years. He traveled to a hotel in downtown Hartford in October 2011 and sat at the same table with Malloy during a National Governors Association regional summit to discuss creative ways to generate jobs.

When they met, Markell was Delaware’s treasurer and Malloy was Stamford’s mayor. They stayed in touch, and Markell eventually moved up to the influential position of chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.

In that role, Markell came to Hartford in October 2010 when Malloy was in the thick of a tough race against Republican Tom Foley — a battle he later won by one half of one percentage point. Markell and Malloy toured a home under construction on Earle Street in Hartford’s North End to demonstrate a “net zero” building, one in which the homeowners would potentially pay nothing for their energy costs. That would be accomplished through the solar panels on the roof, the thick walls and the extensive insulation.

The Democratic Governors Association contributed at least $700,000 on Malloy’s behalf, including a biting TV commercial that ripped Foley for his dealings with The Bibb Co. in Georgia, a hot issue at the time in the campaign.  Nationally, Markell broke fundraising records for a Democratic governor as the association spent about $50 million on 24 races, including Malloy’s.

A wealthy business executive, Markell was on the cutting edge of technology, and his official biography says that he coined the name “Nextel” as the 13th employee hired at the now well-known technology company.