Connecticut Democrats drop Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson from dinner name

Under pressure from the NAACP, the state Democratic Party will scrub the names of the two presidents from its annual fundraising dinner because of their ties to slavery.

Party leaders voted unanimously Wednesday night in Hartford to rename the Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinner in the aftermath of last month’s fatal shooting of nine worshipers at the historic black church in Charleston, S.C.

The decision is believed to be unprecedented and could prompt Democrats in other states with similarly-named events to follow suit.