Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s second term as Connecticut’s 88th governor began Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. as Andrew McDonald, the state Supreme Court’s first gay justice and the governor’s former legal adviser, administered the oath of office in the canvernous drill shed of the State Armory.

Asked if he would swear to uphold the duties of the office, Malloy raised his right hand and replied, “I most assuredly do.”

The crowd was smaller than four years ago, when Malloy became the first Democrat in 24 years to take the oath as governor, facing a $3.6 billion deficit, a stagnant economy and the high expectations of a party that could win every office except the one that mattered most.

“These four years now behind us were not easy,” Malloy said. “We had contentious debates, even among friends.”

Malloy glossed over the past four years, prompting applause when he mentioned increasing the state’s minimum wage, which jumped to $9.15 last week and will rise to $10.10 in two years.

At 4 p.m., he was to deliver a policy address to a joint session of the General Assembly, many of whose members filed into the armory as a group to watch Malloy, Attorney General George Jepsen, Comptroller Kevin Lembo, Treasurer Denise Nappier and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill take their oaths. Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman was sworn in Wednesday morning by Malloy.

He was preceded to the microphone by his wife, Cathy, who made remarks she had hoped to share on election night, but postponed after Republican Tom Foley declined to concede until the following day. They met while Malloy was a student at Boston College in the 1970s.

“As a Massachusetts girl would say, ‘He’s wicked smaht’,” she said.

Lowell P. Weicker Jr., a governor who faced a similar deficit upon taking office in 1991, was in the audience. He skipped the inaugural in 2011.

When Malloy introduced him, the crowd rose and applauded.

“Lowell, that’s everyone standing,” Malloy said. “Not just your wife.”

Mark Pazniokas is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (www.ctmirror.org). Copyright 2014 © The Connecticut Mirror.

mpazniokas@ctmirror.org