Boughton challenger raises $25K in 2 weeks
“I’m gratified by the generosity of the contributions and our supporters.”
DANBURY — The first Democrat to file to run this year against long-time Republican Mayor Mark Boughton has posted $25,000 in contributions in his first weeks as a candidate.
Attorney and former City Council President Chris Setaro, who has challenged Boughton once before, collected 51 campaign contributions in the two weeks since he officially filed for the race just before the new year.
“I’m gratified by the generosity of the contributions and our supporters,” Setaro said. “We’re very happy that we’re off to a strong start.”
Setaro’s lightning fast start helps set the tone for what is expected to be a heated municipal election season as Democrats turn toward local offices after posting upset victories in November in a half dozen state legislative seats, some of which had been held by Republicans for decades.
Should Setaro secure the Democrats’ nomination for mayor, it would set up a rematch of the hotly contested 2001 race that elevated Boughton to the mayor’s office for the first time.
Boughton defeated Setaro by just 138 votes that year and no Democrat has come that close since.
Now Boughton plans to run for his tenth term this fall — he already is the longest serving mayor in city history — after falling short
Chris Setaro,
Democrat running for Danbury mayor
in the GOP primary race for governor last year.
Boughton plans to file in the coming weeks but has declined on the wouldbe race, saying he and city staff focused on the upcoming city budget negotiations.
Setaro’s contributions range from as small as a pair of $5 contributions to 13 contributions of $1,000, according to campaign finance statements prepared for the first Jan. 10 filing deadline. Only one third of those came from Danbury residents, however, and some came from as far away as Tampa, Florida, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Both the Danbury Democratic and Republican town committees will meet
Monday night and are expected to discuss their slates of candidates for all local offices.
Although Setaro is the only Democrat to file for the mayoral race so far, other candidates could include 2017 mayoral candidate Al Almeida and town party chairwoman Andrea Gartner.