1998 Connecticut State Treasurer election

The 1998 Connecticut State Treasurer election took place on November 3, 1998, to elect the Connecticut State Treasurer. Incumbent Republican State Treasurer Paul J. Silvester was appointed to the office by Governor John G. Rowland to complete the term of Chris Burnham, who resigned to work at an investment firm.

Silvester lost election to a full term to Democratic nominee Denise L. Nappier by 2,684 votes, a margin of just 0.3%. As of 2024, this was the last time the State Treasurer of Connecticut changed partisan control.

Nominee

 * Paul J. Silvester, incumbent state treasurer (1997–1999)

Nominee

 * Denise L. Nappier, Hartford City Treasurer (1989–1998), former executive director of the Hartford Riverfront Recapture, former chair of the Hartford Redevelopment Authority, and former Director of Institutional Relations for UConn Health (1981–1984)

Eliminated in primary

 * Frank A. Leece

Convention
The Democratic statewide nominating convention was held on July 19, 1998.

The nomination for Secretary of the State was at the center of the race issue during the 1998 conventions. Black Democratic leaders were urging the party to nominate at least one black candidate to an otherwise all-white ticket. Incumbent Republican Governor John G. Rowland had been touting his party as the exemplar of diversity in the state, with the Republican ticket including two black and two Hispanic candidates, much to the frustration of Democrats. In response to black Democratic leaders threatening to boycott an all-white ticket, Barbara B. Kennelly, the party's nominee for governor, endorsed black candidate Denise L. Nappier.

Early delegate counts showed Nappier trailing Frank A. Leece, but she ultimately won the party's endorsement narrowly with 51% of the vote to Leece's 49%. According to NYT, "Mr. Lecce stormed from the convention hall and said he planned to wage a primary battle against Ms. Nappier on Sept. 15, which he is allowed to do under party rules." Leece, an Italian-American, had criticized the effort to usher in a candidate based on race, saying, "That's the old, antiquated way it used to be done."

Results
The Democratic primary was held on September 18, 1998.

Libertarian Party

 * Nominee
 * Louis A. Garofalo, nominee for state treasurer in 1982

Concerned Citizens Party

 * Nominee
 * Joseph J. Ciccomascolo

Aftermath
Soon after leaving office in January 1999, both the FBI and SEC began investigating Paul J. Silvester and his close associates due to fundraising irregularities. The State Elections Enforcement Commission determined that Silvester and several of his associates made illegal contributions to Paul Silvester for State Treasurer during his 1998 campaign.

Incoming State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier discovered a scheme in which Silvester had transferred a significant portion of the State Retirement and Trust Fund into illiquid private equity investments, which disrupted the State's investment strategy and threatened long-term financial stability. Silvester was accused of diverting these funds to specific investment firms in return for kickbacks, primarily coming in the form of no-work consulting and lobbying contracts provided to Silvester and close associates. The scheme was alleged to have netted $2.25 million in false fees and kickbacks.

In 2003, Silvester pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 51 months in prison, a lenient sentence as Silvester agreed to cooperate with a larger investigation into racketeering and government corruption. Other convicted individuals included Silvester's brother, Mark Silvester, Assistant State Treasurer George Gomes, former Connecticut Senate Majority Leader William A. DiBella, and Republican nominee for secretary of the state in 1998, Ben Andrews.