Susan Hatfield

Susan Hatfield, a state prosecutor from eastern Connecticut who was a Donald J. Trump delegate in 2016 and once worked in Washington as a young policy aide to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, opened an exploratory campaign Monday for the Republican nomination for attorney general.

The GOP currently has one declared candidate for the office: former Rep. John T. Shaban of Redding. Democrats have two declared candidates, Chris Mattei and Clare Kindall, and three others with exploratory committees, Reps. William Tong of Stamford and Michael D’Agostino of Hamden and Sen. Paul Doyle of Wethersfield.

Hatfield, who lives in Pomfret with her husband, a recently retired state trooper, and their two children, has taken a leave of absence from the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.

She has a B.S. in nursing from American International College, a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law, and a master’s in taxation law from Georgetown University Law Center. Before becoming a prosecutor in 2005, Hatfield was a public finance attorney with Hawkins, Delafield and Wood in New York City.

Hatfield was an early volunteer for Trump in the quiet corner of Connecticut, making hundreds of calls and delivering 800 lawn signs on his behalf.

“When Trump came into the picture, just like many, many people all across the country, I became interested in this candidate who was outside the establishment,” she said in an interview in May 2016, likening Trump to Gingrich. “He’s really like my former boss: he thinks outside the box.”