A Blowout

Perkins Wins Primary;

Will Face McLachlan

Councilman Duane Perkins won the Democratic primary over Terry Tierney yesterday. He did so by a very wide margin earning about eighty-six percent of the vote.

Perkins received 1,007 votes compared to Tierney's 159 votes. Turnout was very low, only at around ten percent.

Perkins will now face Republican Mike McLachlan in the general election.

Democratic Senate Primary

The News-Times had a nice article on the Democratic Senate primary in the paper the other day. You can read it here.

Duane Perkins was the endorsed candidate from Democrats, receiving their backing at their May convention. He currently is a member of the Common Council in Danbury representing the fifth ward. Challenging him is Terry Tierney, who had to collect over 600 signatures to force the primary. He is a real estate developer, but also a very active Democrat.

Perkins is definitely the favorite to win. He is the only one with lawn signs, and also has TV ads up. Tierney does have good name recognition in Danbury, but that might not be enough.

Based on his strength in Danbury, Tierney may actually be the better candidate to challenge Republican Mike McLachlan, who also has very good Danbury recognition. However, it appears as though Perkins will win this race, but anything is possible.

The Italian Festival

This past weekend was the annual Italian Festival. Like usual it was a good event with delicious food. It was also a time for many local candidates to show up and try to introduce themselves to the voters. I was there on both Friday and Sunday and will report on what I saw.

Friday night started out slow, but picked up by about 6:30. The place had David Cappiello for Congress balloons scattered all over the area. Also, his headquarters is located right in front of where the festival took place, so there were many signs out for him as well. Chris Murphy had no representation that night.

Cappiello himself was not there, but many Council members were. I spotted Republicans Mary Teicholz, Coleen Stanley, Shay Nagersheth, and Phil Curran. Also Democrat Fred Visconti. Others might have been there, I just didn't see them. Also walking around was Town Clerk Lori Kaback.

As for local candidates, I saw Republican State Representative Jan Giegler, who is running for a fourth term. I also spotted Republican State Senate nominee Mike McLachlan, and Terry Tierney, who is a Democrat running in a State Senate primary to see who challenges McLachlan.

As I mentioned I was not there on Saturday night, but I have heard that State Senator David Cappiello was there along with City Treasurer Dan Jowdy and Mike McLachlan. Others were probably there I just didn't hear about them.

On Sunday, the crowd was smaller, but it was also the Democrats afternoon. Congressman Chris Murphy was there along with State Representative Bob Godfrey, State Senate candidate Duane Perkins, former Mayor Gene Eriquez, and Town Committee Chairman Joe DaSilva. The Republicans in attendance were Jan Giegler, Mike McLachlan, and Dan Jowdy.

Once again, this is only what I saw and heard, other people were probably there but I just didn't see them. Just so everyone knows, I will be continuing to analyze the Danbury House races, but I will also be writing a post on the Democratic Senate primary which is next Tuesday. Stay tuned!

The 2nd District

Jason Bartlett (D-Inc.)

vs.

Melanie O'Brien (R)

In my opinion this is going to be the best of the four house races. The reason being that Republicans want it back, and Democrats want to keep it.

Jason Bartlett is currently representing the district, after he was elected to it in 2006 by about 54%. He previously ran unsuccessful for the spot in 2002 and narrowly lost in 2004. Republican Hank Bielawa beat him both times. This year, Republicans went with Melanie O'Brien who is an attorney in Bethel.

O'Brien is a very appealing candidate and perhaps the best choice the GOP could of gone with. However, Bartlett is a strong candidate and has good name recognition. He is always in the newspaper and his name is quite known. O'Brien does not have that on her side. She does however have the ability to do well. She has a very personable quality to her that could go very far. If O'Brien does a lot of door knocking and outreach in the community, then maybe she could pull off a win.

Of course Bartlett has a slightly upper hand being the incumbent, but he is far from a shoe in. This district is made up of three towns, Redding, Danbury, and Bethel. I believe Redding tilts Republican, while Bethel tilts Democratic. However, since O'Brien is from Bethel it could make for an interesting race in that town. Also, Danbury is more of a battle ground, with probably no clear favorite.

As of right now, this race is a toss-up.

What's To Come

As I have mentioned I will be analyzing the State Senate and four State Representative races. I have decided to hold off on the Senate, and start with the House seats. After I do those, I will then write on the Democratic Senate primary, which is only a few weeks away. With the election only three and a half months away, the time has come to start closely looking at these races.

Independent Senate Candidate

Manuel Bataguas has gotten the required 150 signatures needed to get his name on the State Senate ballot this November. You can read it here.

Bataguas tried to get the Democratic nomination, but failed and did not decide to pursue their endorsement. He is now going to appear on the ballot most likely as an independent.

The 24th Senate seat has become very interesting. The Democrats are in the middle of a primary battle between Councilman Duane Perkins, who got the nomination, and Danbury resident Terry Tierney. It will take place on August 12th. The winner of that will face Bataguas and Republican Mike McLachlan.

I will have more detailed analysis on the primary and Senate races in general, as well as the local House races within the coming weeks.

Fundraising Numbers

In the race for the fifth district, both Chris Murphy and David Cappiello have released their second quarter fundraising numbers. Here is what they raised, how much they have raised in total, and how much cash they have on hand.

Raised Second Quarter
Murphy - $515,000
Cappiello - $446,000

Raised In Total
Murphy - $2.275 million
Cappiello - $1.114 million

Cash on Hand
Murphy - $1.9 million
Cappiello - $710,646