State Rep. Andres Ayala, D-Bridgeport, and supporters like Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch have said if elected to the state Senate in November, Ayala will be the first Latino member.
I checked the claim last week with the state’s Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission and Werner Oyanadel, the acting executive director, confirmed it.
But after mentioning it in print, a reader in an email suggested late former Republican Senator M. Adela Eads of Kent beat Ayala to the distinction but didn’t advertise it.
Here’s what I found out.
According to a special legislative resolution passed following Eads’ death in 2003, she was born Mary Adela Diaz in Brooklyn, New York.
A call to her son, Gregory Eads, confirmed that his mother was half Spanish.
“It would not have been known because her maiden name was not known,” Gregory said. “Her father was 100 percent Spanish (from) the northern shore of Spain.” And mom was Scottish.
Oyanadel said, “We (the commission) focus on the representation from Latin American countries, not Spain or Europe.”
So while he called Eads “a wonderful leader in Connecticut” Oyanadel said Ayala, if elected, will be the first Latino to serve in the Senate.