Interesting races for Election Day
O n Wednesday night, as a gale was blowing through the area, I found myself driving in a pelting rain to Wheeler Library in North Stonington. There I would be moderating a debate in the first selectman's race.
“We'll be lucky to get 10 people,” I thought as the gusts of wind and blinding rain made the journey over the Gold Star Bridge, always daunting, downright terrifying.
I need not have worried. About the turnout, I mean, not my driving.
While too busy moderating to take a head count, the turnout was impressive, particularly for a night like that. Residents filled every seat in the second floor meeting room of the beautiful old library, and there were plenty standing.
It was like that everywhere as The Day and the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut presented a series of debates in local elections across the region. In an age of deep cynicism about politics at the national level, that was encouraging.
The race in North Stonington will be one to watch come Tuesday. After leading the town for the last three decades, First Selectman Nicholas H. Mullane II is not seeking re-election. The Republican, however, is running for selectman with who he hopes to be his successor, Shawn P. Murphy.
Selectman Robert L. Testa, who has repeatedly tried to unseat Mullane, may have his opening. Failing to get the Republican nomination, Testa and his running mate, Timothy O. Main II, are running as petitioning candidates. But who gets elected could prove controversial. The town attorney on Friday ruled that the lone Democrat running for selectman, Mark S. Donahue, is guaranteed getting his seat back due to minority representation rules because all the other candidates are considered Republicans, whether petitioned onto the ballot or nominated.
My bet is that Mullane's popularity transfers to Murphy and they both win seats. A legal fight could then ensue over the minority representation rule and who gets the third chair.
Another contest that should provide suspense is the race for Waterford first selectman. Republican Daniel M. Steward, having served 10 years, is seeking a fifth term. He is facing a serious challenge from Peter W. Davis, a former selectman and the director of planning in Norwich.
Both men are from Waterford families that go back several generations. Davis has put heat on the incumbent unlike anything he has faced before. In the end Davis, the Democrat, may be pulled down by his party's unpopularity due to the tax increases and continuing budget problems in Hartford.
In Norwich, the Republican slate of council candidates, led by former mayor and state representative Peter Nystrom, has done a good job of tying the recent hefty tax hikes passed by the Democratic majority on the City Council with the unpopular tax increases approved by the Democratic majority in the state legislature.
Discontent among voters could help Republicans make inroads on the Norwich council, but gaining the majority is a long shot in that Democratic city. Republicans are running five candidates for six available council seats. Democrats have six candidates. That means four of the Republican candidates have to finish among the top five vote getters for them to grab the majority. The seventh voting member of the council is Mayor Deberey Hinchey, a Democrat, who is not up for re-election.
I do think Nystrom wins a council seat, putting him in position to launch a mayoral rematch with Hinchey in 2017. She unseated him in 2013.
Finally, I would expect former Republican Congressman Rob Simmons to return to elected office as first selectman of Stonington. It is a lot to ask of incumbent Democrat George Crouse to fend off the kind of political firepower Simmons represents. He is a pure campaigner, while Crouse comes across as a reluctant one.
“All politics is local,” the late Democratic Speaker Tip O'Neill once famously observed. On Tuesday, politics is strictly local. Don't be a bystander — vote.