Greenwich financial exec Dita Bhargava to run for state treasurer

Greenwich businesswoman Dita Bhargava is announcing her bid for the Democratic Party”™s nomination to become Connecticut state treasurer.

Dita Bhargava treasurer — Dita Bhargava in her YouTube campaign video “Challenges.”

Bhargava, a former vice chairwoman of the state”™s Democratic Party, had initially explored the possibility of running for governor before settling on the treasurer’s race. “I think the treasurer”™s position is going to be extremely important over the next several years as we navigate our state back to a fiscally and economically sustainable and vibrant path,” Bhargava said in an interview with the Hartford Courant.

The Canadian-born Bhargava worked in the financial services industry as a foreign exchange trader and portfolio manager at firms including RBS, Credit Suisse, Citibank and Citadel. She left the private sector in 2015 to co-found the nonprofit Parity Partnership of Connecticut, which focuses on gender inequality in the workplace, and ran unsuccessfully in 2016 for state representative.

If elected, Bhargava would become the first Indian-American to hold statewide office in Connecticut. Treasurer Denise Nappier, who has held the office since 1999, is not seeking re-election.