Thomas P. Gaffey is an American politician. Gaffey, a Democrat, had been a state senator from Connecticut since 1995, but left office due to criminal violations on January 5, 2011.Gaffey, a resident of Meriden, has represented the towns of Cheshire, Meriden, Middlefield and Middletown in the Connecticut Senate.Gaffey was born in Meriden and graduated from Southern Connecticut State University.