At a tense virtual nominating convention, silence instead of a buzz

That familiar, chipper, iPhone ding notifies Terrie Wood — and the world — she has a new message.

Wood is a state representative from Darien but at this moment she’s the credentials coordinator at the Republican nominating convention for Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District.

The event is “standing at ease,” to sort out some technical issues for the virtual convention — which matters, as this is a close contest with no certain outcome. Wood was the last person to speak, so the screen has stopped on a view of her, in her home, with her kitchen behind her.

Her Wheaten Terrier snoozes lazily in a soft chair visible over her right shoulder.

Anyone tuning in hears no voices, just silence.

Normally, the volume of these political nominating events grows when there’s a break in the action. Candidates and their teams work the room, lobbying for delegate votes, maneuvering inside the sorts of large event spaces that come with carpeted, mobile walls.

Some might feature a mediocre chicken dinner — remember those?

Though it’s not plainly visible, Wood looks down at her phone or at the chat feature of the Ring Central, the video conferencing application the Republican Party chose to host these virtual conventions. The app allows delegates to cast votes securely, and for this convention, that’s especially important.

The party needs to endorse a candidate to face U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, the Democrat who has represented the district since 2009, after he unseated Republican Chris Shays.

On this night, the silence comes with tension. All of the Democratic incumbents — and most of their Republican challengers — enjoyed conventions of acclamation, a formality. Only the 2nd and 4th districts on the Republican side had multiple candidates.

And only the 4th was a tossup among this week’s virtual conventions. The hopefuls included Norwalk resident Jonathan Riddle; Greenwich doctor and lawyer Michael Goldstein; and Joseph Delaney, about whom there was no information available except to those who already know him.

In the 2nd, Tom Gilmer had earned the Republican endorsement to challenge Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney by 234 to 50.

Downtime at these events, when they’re live and in person, is when ideas are hatched, alliances are formed, votes are swung and old friends who haven’t seen each other since the previous nominating convention catch up — the sort of politicking only a large gathering can generate.

But in 2020, when coronavirus has forced everyone to figure out the logistics of broadcasting from the least intrusive space in their home, that sort of backslapping and guffawing seems a remnant from the history books.

Instead, the awkward silence of a virtual convention — held via Ring Central and broadcast on YouTube via the Connecticut Republican Party’s official account — is deafening, and the ding from Wood’s phone a welcome interruption and reminder that things are happening beyond what’s captured by the camera.

For the most part the voting runs smoothly. There are the expected glitches; a few people struggle to log in to the new platform and end up calling in their vote to Rachel Michlin, the party’s executive director, who was charged with managing the technology for the convention.

After 16 minutes, 185 out of 195 delegate votes have been cast, satisfying the rules of the convention. Riddle is announced as the winner by state Rep. J.P. Sredzinski, the temporary chairman for the convention, who joined the convention from his phone.

Normally there might have been a burst of applause here, but instead just silence. Sredzinski’s background consisted of a gray wall and a partially visible decorative sign featuring, presumably, an inspirational quote, though the viewers at home are kept hanging on the second half of those words of wisdom as it stayed hidden behind his shoulder.

Riddle won with 97 votes to Goldstein’s 81.

The convention is over, 61 minutes after it started, and with no drive home, no drinks to finish and no goodbye handshakes. The screen goes black.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt