Cafero to Donovan: “I’m Going to Miss You, Buddy.”

Colleagues on both sides of the aisle today paid tribute to House Speaker Chris Donovan, the Meriden Democrat who is leaving the legislature to run for Congress from the 5th District.

Members waved paper fans with Donovan’s face and gave him a long standing ovation as he presided over what could be his final turn in the speaker’s chair.

As the leader of the Republican opposition, Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero has often  tangled with Donovan, a liberal and a steadfast champion of labor unions since arriving at the Capitol in 1992 .

“We battled so many things,” Cafero said.

But Cafero had only warm words for Donovan today. Despite their ideological differences, the two men have a genuine friendship, forged over long talks in the speaker’s office in the wee hours of the morning, often over a “little glass of grape juice,” Cafero said.

Cafero described Donovan as “a guy who is so comfortable in his own skin,” a true believer who is “fair to a fault” and has always treated Republicans with respect.

“I’m going to miss you buddy,” Cafero told the speaker.

Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey said Donovan was a skilled master of all the little tasks that make the chamber work.

Sharkey said Donovan is “the consummate vote-counter, someone who understood how to get things done.”

Speaking to Donovan, Sharkey said “you have sought to make this state, this chamber, a better place because of of the things you believe in.”