William Tong

In late 2017, Tong formed an exploratory committee to seek the Democratic nomination for Connecticut Attorney General in the November 2018 election after incumbent attorney general George Jepsen announced he would not seek re-election.

Tong won the first contested Democratic convention for attorney general on May 20, 2018[5] with 63.3 percent of the vote, defeating three other candidates. He went on to win the first contested Democratic primary for attorney general on August 14, 2018,[6] beating two other candidates with 57.3 percent of the vote.

He defeated Republican Sue Hatfield in the general election on November 6, 2018[7] by 78,394 votes or 6 percent of the vote.[8]

As attorney general, Tong is leading a coalition of 49 states in suing the major generic drug manufacturers[9] for price fixing, which Tong called the “largest private sector cartel” in history during a May 12, 2019 segment[10] on the CBS news program "60 Minutes."

Tong is also on the national executive committee of attorneys general who are leading the investigation and litigation to confront the opioid crisis, including Connecticut’s case against Purdue Pharma.

Tong was a part of a small group of state attorneys general who led the investigation against Equifax[9] relating to a massive data breach in which personal and confidential information belonging to millions of Americans was compromised, including more than 1.5 million residents in Connecticut. Equifax eventually agreed to a $700 million settlement, which includes $425 million in direct consumer relief and close to $5 million to the State of Connecticut.

During the 2018 campaign, Tong pledged to be “firewall” against President Donald Trump and his policies. Since taking office, Tong has joined other state attorneys general in challenging Trump, including his attempts to build a border wall,[11] to add a citizenship question[12] to the census. Tong has been a defender of the environment, taking numerous legal actions to protect clean air and water, and to confront the climate crisis.[13]

From 2015 to 2019, Tong served as the House chairman of the Judiciary Committee. As chairman, Tong was a key leader in Connecticut’s efforts to pass gun legislation.

As a freshman legislator, he wrote and passed the Lost and Stolen Firearms law[14] to fight gun trafficking. After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, he played an integral role in overhauling Connecticut's gun laws. He then wrote and passed Lori Jackson's Law, the domestic violence gun law, which requires the subject of a temporary restraining order to surrender all firearms and ammunition for at least 14 days. In 2018, Tong wrote and passed the law banning bump stocks.

During his 12 years in the House, Tong wrote and passed several laws to reform the criminal justice system, including Connecticut’s Second Chance Society law, which overhauled Connecticut's Criminal Justice Information System [15] by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug possession crimes that have resulted in the mass incarceration of young people, particularly in Connecticut's cities.

He also helped write and pass legislation to protect homeowners in foreclosure in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis; hold teachers and school officials accountable for failing to report instances of abuse and sexual misconduct by teachers and administrators involving students.

In February 2013, Tong announced his bid for Mayor of Stamford after then-Mayor Michael Pavia announced he would not seek re-election. He lost the Democratic Primary to David Martin by less than 200 votes.

Tong announced he would seek the Democratic nomination in May 2011 for the U.S. Senate[16][17] seat being vacated by then-U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). He faced Susan Bysiewicz, former secretary of state and now Connecticut's lieutenant governor, and Chris Murphy, and eventual winner, in the Democratic primary. He dropped out of the U.S. Senate race a year later and endorsed Murphy.

The Tong campaign raised more than $550,000 in the quarter ending June 30, 2011.[18] The final Federal Election Commission contribution tally was $1,063,993 for Team Tong.[19]

On March 7, 2009, it was reported that Tong was being considered by a panel assembled by former U.S. Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman to screen candidates for United States Attorney.[20] On November 14, 2009, the Hartford Courant reported that the panel assembled by Dodd and Lieberman had forwarded four names to the White House and President Barack Obama for consideration; Tong was a finalist on that list.[21]