BOUGHTON, BARELY
Incumbent hangs on to win historic 10th term as Danbury mayor
DANBURY — Mayor Mark Boughton survived his toughest election challenge in two decades on Tuesday by narrowly defeating Democrat Chris Setaro.
Boughton’s election to an unprecedented 10th term extends his reign as one of Connecticut’s most popular Republicans into a new decade for a city that’s growing at a stateleading pace on the strength of Latino immigrants.
“I’m just so thrilled and honored to be once again entrusted with the leadership of the community,” said
Boughton, celebrating with supporters on the city’s west side.
Boughton earned 8,598 votes to Setaro’s 7,372. This was more than Boughton beat Setaro by in 2001, powering the Republican to his first term.
Boughton, who was the city’s biggest cheerleader during the yearlong campaign, prevailed with a message that Danbury with its low unemployment and low crime is the shining star of Connecticut.
Conversely, not enough voters agreed with Setaro that the overcrowding of the city’s schools, the congestion of city roads and the underperforming Main Street corridor were entirely Boughton’s fault.
“The future of the party is going to be bright because of the experience we had this year,” Setaro told a crowd at Democratic Party headquarters on Main Street. “I wish it was different but I can tell you that we have a lot to be proud of.”
The atmosphere at Democratic headquarters was disappointed, but not grim.
“This won’t be our last campaign,” Setaro said. “The party will continue on...I’m not going anywhere.”
Setaro had emphasized his “inclusive” campaign and criticized Boughton for the Danbury 11 — a group of Ecuadorian day laborers who city police turned in to federal immigration agents in 2006.
This could have helped drum up support for the record number of Latino and Hispanic candidates running for office on both sides of the aisle. Nearly 31 percent of Danbury’s population is Latino or Hispanic. It was not immediately clear how many Latinos and Hispanics earned seats.
Three Latinos or Hispanics were elected to City Council, marking a sea change for representation of this population, which makes up nearly 31 percent of Danbury. Two Latinos sit on the council currently. On other boards and commissions, X Latinos or Hispanics were elected.
Both parties had heightened efforts to recruit candidates from this population, while Hispanic and Latino candidates said a combination of local and national forces convinced them to run.
City Council will keep its Republican majority with 11 GOP members in place and 10 Democrats. The Democrats picked up three seats. The existing council has a 147 GOP majority.
Boughton’s victory marks a political comeback from his 2018 loss to Bob Stefanowski in the Republican primary for governor. Boughton’s primary loss was particularly hard because it came during his third run for the state’s top office, after he had been endorsed by the party at its convention.
“It’s gratifying any time you get any time you get an affirmation from the voters,” Boughton said.
The fact that Boughton got as far as the party endorsement for governor was a story in itself, since surgeons had removed a lemonsized cyst from his brain in 2017, and Boughton had collapsed with seizures at a campaign event in the spring of 2018.
As a result, for the first time in three mayoral elections, Boughton’s statewide ambitions were not a campaign issue for the Democrats in 2019.
Instead Setaro focused on what he said voters notice most – congested roads, crowded schools and a Main Street corridor downtown that hasn’t been able to compete with nightlife on the west side.
Tale of two cities
Boughton and Setaro were locked in a duel for much of the year not only for campaign cash – which totaled more than $350,000 when it was all counted – but for their vision of the 7th largest city in Connecticut.
Boughton said the city’s growth is a model for Connecticut at a time when most cities and towns have population drops. Under his leadership, Boughton said, Danbury is thriving.
Setaro said the city’s growth is so unregulated that it has overcrowded the schools and overrun the roads. Because of Boughton’s poor leadership, Setaro said, the city is declining.
Setaro, an attorney, came the closest to defeating Boughton when Setaro lost by 127 votes in the 2001 election.
Setaro and Democratic leaders made early predictions that 2019 would be the most competitive mayoral race Danbury has seen in two decades.
It turned out to be true.
On paper, Danbury is a Democratic city, where Republicans have the fewest registered voters. The Xfactor is those who are unaffiliated with either major party, who make up the majority of voters in Danbury, as they do across Connecticut.
Unaffiliated voters number 18,600, according to the city’s Registrar. Democrats have 13,400 registered voters. Republicans number 8,200.
Setaro battled Boughton’s name recognition by campaigning on “kitchen table” issues of education and infrastructure, saying he would commission studies to address the city’s swelling school enrollment, and to modernize the city’s congested roads.
Setaro also said he would lead the city’s downtown revitalization effort, which he says has languished under Boughton.
Boughton stressed there were preparations already in place to revitalize the downtown, to pursue a promising plan to link the Danbury line to a more direct rail service to New York City, and to build new classrooms for city schools.