Connecticut politicians mourn death of Sherry Brown, political powerhouse and former top aide to U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman

Connecticut politicians are mourning the death of Sherry Brown-Marfuggi, a longtime top aide to former U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman.

Brown died at 75 after a long battle with cancer that spanned 30 years as she rebounded from chemotherapy following an initial diagnosis of breast cancer.

Brown was a powerhouse in her heyday in Connecticut politics due to her decades-long association with Lieberman, who served for six years as state attorney general and 24 years in the U.S. Senate. Brown played key roles in Lieberman’s run for vice president in 2000, his presidential campaign in the 2004 cycle, and the battle against upstart Democrat Ned Lamont in 2006. Lieberman lost in an upset to Lamont in the August 2006 primary and then won the general election, which boosted him to his final, six-year term in the Senate.

Brown played a particularly crucial role in the 2006 race when Lieberman ran as an independent, said Matthew J. Hennessy, a longtime Hartford political operative and Brown’s son-in-law.

“She rallied the troops. She rallied the donors,’' Hennessy said Tuesday. “That’s a part of Connecticut history.’'

Along with others, Brown worked behind the scenes to put Hartford in the national spotlight as the host of a 1996 presidential debate between Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican Bob Dole at The Bushnell Theatre near the state Capitol. She served as general manager of the debate, overseeing the day-to-day logistics of a major event with thousands of journalists and guests.

State attorney general William Tong hailed his decades-long friendship with Brown.

“I met Sherry Brown when I was 15 years old and a volunteer on then-Attorney General Lieberman’s successful 1988 Senate campaign,’' Tong said of the race against Lowell P. Weicker Jr. “I had never worked on a campaign before, and she was the campaign manager and the larger-than-life boss. But she was extraordinarily kind to me, gave me many opportunities to work and learn, and for many years helped and encouraged me in public service.’'

Tong added, “She was particularly special to me, and the office of the attorney general, because she started her career as Attorney General Lieberman’s executive assistant and rose to be one of the most powerful and respected leaders in our state. I would not be here without Sherry Brown. And I am grateful.”

After a 30-year romance, Brown married former Riverfront Recapture Chief Executive Officer Joe Marfuggi at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford in April 2018. He died later that year.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Brown is scheduled at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of St. Patrick-St. Anthony on Church Street in downtown Hartford. Lieberman is scheduled to deliver the eulogy.

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com