A native of New Rochelle, New York, she was three years old when her family moved to Westport in 1958. She graduated from Massachusetts' Wheaton College with a major in American Government and a minor in elementary education in 1977. In 1978, she married Karr Winslow Farrell Jr. They have two daughters, Hilary and Margaret.
Political career
Diane Farrell served two terms as Westport's First Selectwoman, a position equivalent to that of Mayor. She was first elected in 1997 with 59% of the vote and was reelected, with 70% of the vote, in 2001. Farrell's campaign website says she was elected to office on both occasions with the support not only of her fellow Democrats, but also a significant group of independents and Republicans. A strong mayor form of government, she managed multi-million dollar budgets within the Consumer Price Index and maintained the town’s AAA bond rating at a time when significant infrastructure investment was taking place. She oversaw the construction of schools, a municipal waste water treatment plant, affordable housing, and other necessary facilities. In 2002, she was elected chair of Fairfield County's South Western Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is responsible for managing development and sprawl. As a select member of the National League of Cities Transportation and Infrastructure Steering and Policy Committee, she helped set policy goals for transportation and infrastructure initiatives in support of cities and towns across the United States. Next, Farrell served on the Board of Directors at the Export Import Bank of the United States. A Presidential appointee, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she was responsible for voting on the transactions in excess of $10 million as well as on significant policy matters. Her portfolio responsibilities included small business, India, Southeast Asia, and portions of Latin America. In addition, she was named a member of the White House Business Council. During her tenure at U.S. Exim Bank, India transactions expanded and diversified as aircraft sales and conventional and green energy projects, among others, led to India becoming the second largest country by U.S. dollar allocation in the bank’s overall portfolio. Following her tenure at U.S. Exim Bank, Farrell worked at the U.S. India Business Council. As Executive Vice President, she oversaw business advocacy policy and government relations. She most recently served as the Deputy As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia, where she was the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Global Markets on all matters concerning international economics, trade, investment, and commercial policy programs and agreements with respect to Asia. In this role, she also oversaw planning and execution of Commerce commercial diplomacy and export promotion strategies at United States Missions in Region Asia.
Congressional campaigns
2004
Farrell announced that she would challenge 17-year incumbent Republican Christopher Shays for the representation of Connecticut's fourth congressional district. She lost the seat by about four percent. However, she was widely regarded as having made considerable progress, as she won towns beside traditionally Democratic blue-collar Bridgeport. She won her home town of Westport, as well as Stamford and Norwalk, but was narrowly defeated in several others. Farrell decided against running again for the post of First Selectwoman of the Town of Westport, and filed papers with the Federal Elections Commission to raise funds for a 2006 congressional run.
2006
On November 7, 2006, incumbent Representative Christopher Shays defeated Diane Farrell by a margin of approximately 3%. The final tally was 106,558 for Shays, 99,993 for Farrell. This was comparable to the result in 2004, when Farrell also received 48% of the vote.
