Rudy vs. Mitt

We are officially in campaign mode for the Presidential primaries, and this is the first post of many to speculate the races.

On the Republican side, there are eight candidates, five very strong and well liked candidates, and three who really have no shot at getting the nomination. They are Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, and Ron Paul. Of the three Paul will get the anti-war Republican vote, but besides that he will probably not do well.

The top five candidates are Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee. Giuliani leads all national polls, however is down in many early primary voting states. Thompson usually places second in national polls, and Romney and McCain usually flip-flop the third place spot.

However, at this time I believe that the Republican nomination will either go to Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney, and here's why.

First, Romney is up in Iowa and New Hampshire. Though Mike Huckabee is giving him a very tough fight in Iowa, Romney still looks to be in good shape. Giuliani comes in third in most polls in Iowa, and second in New Hampshire, but not a very close second. It's very unlikely McCain can pull off an upset in his magical state of New Hampshire, and Thompson's campaign just seems to be very confusing.

After New Hampshire, comes Michigan which is where Romney's family is from. Despite this, he is locked in a battle with Giuliani there. After that comes South Carolina, which has Romney, Thompson, and Giuliani as the top three. Nevada's primary is held the same day as South Carolina, where Giuliani is managing to keep the lead. After this comes Florida, where Giuliani is doing very well.

Super Tuesday is February 5th, and will feature over twenty states. Giuliani does well in many of them, and is hoping on a strong showing. However, early momentum by Romney could make it more interesting.

So, with all that said, it is very likely that the Republican accepting the nomination will be Romney or Giuliani. There are many what ifs, and many situations to look at. The month of December should be very interesting to see if Giuliani makes up ground in Iowa and New Hampshire.

At this time though, I'm going to say Romney and Giuliani will fight it out in a tough battle. But hey - anything, and I mean anything can happen.

A Little Strange

The latest Zogby Poll shows a little shocking news. They have Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton losing to every Republican candidate running for President, that were polled. It seems a little odd that Hillary has dropped, and that Republicans are starting to gain some traction. She has been considered as the one to beat, however many say she is easier to defeat because her negatives are so high.

That could be true as the poll also showed that Barack Obama and John Edwards do well against the Republican candidates. They either lead or are tied with the GOP candidates.

Many say that Rudy Giuliani is the only one who could beat Hillary Clinton, and the Zogby poll had him up 43%-40%. He is also up in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll 46%-42%. John McCain also runs strong against Hillary. Mitt Romney seems to be a little stronger than he was, and Fred Thompson has his southern routs to count on.

It should be very interesting who gets the GOP nomination as Giuliani leads in national polls, but trails in early primary states. Also, if Iowa does not go in Hillary's favor, then the Democratic nomination could get just as interesting.

Tomorrow night at 8:00 on CNN the Republican candidates face off in the You Tube debate. Could be interesting. I'd watch for attacks from Romney and Giuliani to each other. Also, Mike Huckabee seems to be on the rise.

Boughton Explains Why Romney

If you recall, about two months ago I reported that Mayor Boughton would serve as co-chair for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in Connecticut. Boughton has now publicly talked about this on his blog, which you can read here.

First, the Mayor basically made clear why he supports the former Massachusetts Governor. He listed four reasons. The first was that Iraq was in a mess, and needed someone who was capable of coming up with a good plan to deal with the issue. The second was illegal immigration, where he feels that Romney is the only one who could truly address it. The third was that Boughton said he was sick of the usual politicians, and feels that Romney is not one of them. The fourth was that he liked the fact that Romney is a strong family man.

Now, it does seem a little interesting that Boughton has endorsed Romney, and is an official member of the campaign. Most Republicans in Connecticut have decided to support Rudy Giuliani, which Boughton himself even said in his post. The latest poll shows Giuliani with 41% in Connecticut followed by Romney with 13%, John McCain with 12%, and Fred Thompson with 7%. Many Republican state legislators are backing Giuliani, as well as former Congresswoman Nancy Johnson. Congressman Chris Shays has endorsed John McCain.

Boughton definitely explained his reasoning, and he said he will continue to post on his experiences within the Romney campaign. It should be interesting to see. I'll be starting to write on the race for President, speculating on different primary states, making predictions, and analyzing. This may very well be the best election we will ever see.

Now To '08

Now that the local election is over, all eyes have turned to the 2008 election, which features some very interesting races. Here's what to expect to see talked on this blog in the months to come.

• The race for President. The Iowa Caucus is set for January 3rd and the New Hampshire Primary is set for the 8th. From there on, we will regularly be watching different states who hold primaries, until February 5th when Connecticut along with many other states hold their primary. We will probably know by mid-February who the two candidates will be.


• The race for Congress. We should have a fairly competitive race here in the fifth district, as our State Senator is challenging our incumbent Congressman. Chris Murphy and David Cappiello are very strong candidates who will hopefully bring a lot to the public. The two do feel about the same way on Iraq, so it should be interesting how it all carries out.


• The race for State Senate. Since David Cappiello is running for Congress, he is not running for his State Senate seat. It should be very interesting who runs for this, for both the Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have held the seat for over a decade, and it has always been a strong hold for them. However, Democrats can see this as an opportunity to pick up a seat they haven't had a real shot at for many years. This race could get very interesting.


• The races for State Representatives. There are four state house seats in Danbury, and some could get fun to watch, while others could get dull. Democrats hold three district seats (2nd, 109th, and 110th). Republicans hold the other district seat (138th). The 109th was expected to be close last time, but Joe Taborsak easily won. Bob Godfrey also cruised to re-election in the 110th district. The 138th has been considered the most Republican district of the four, as Jan Giegler has managed to win impressive victories since barely winning her first term in 2002. The most interesting race could be for the 2nd district seat, which Republicans did hold until 2006.
  
  

Those are the races that we will talk about a lot within the coming months. It should be a very interesting, but fun ride until November 2008.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving and enjoys their time with family and friends. Enjoy the day!

A Teenage Politician

In The News-Times the other day there was a nice write up on Andrew Wetmore, a newly elected Republican Zoning Commission member. You can read it here.

Wetmore is only nineteen years old, and a WestConn student. Despite being so young, he managed to get the third highest amount of votes out of all the zoning candidates. He said he did not expect to win, however did work hard to get elected.

Wetmore is not new to politics, as he said he worked in the unsuccessful State Representative campaigns of Gregg Seabury, along with Congresswoman Nancy Johnson's failed re-election campaign last year. He also tried to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Education in the summer of 2006, but did not get chosen.

From the article it sounds like Wetmore intends to be very involved in politics for a while.

When asked if he would run for mayor in two years, Wetmore said,"Not in two years . . . One day, I would like that. It's very much in the distance. There are other things that are more important, like a college degree and having a family."

He could very well be a rising star in local politics. Only time will tell.

Staying Put

Susan Podhajski has withdrawn her resignation from the Board of Education. You can read the news here.

Podhajski said that she has now accepted a job within Connecticut, which will allow her to still be on the school board. Last week, she announced her resignation because she accepted a job in New Hampshire.

She is currently Chair of the board, which will have its annual meeting to elect officers on December fifth.

DeLuca Resigns

State Senator Louis DeLuca announced today that he will resign his seat, effective November 30th. You can read the article here.

DeLuca served for nearly seventeen years, but decided to resign after months of speculation of his relationship with trash hauler James Galante. A special election will be held to choose his successor.

The following was taken directly from his announcement:

"For now, I must do what is right for my family, my district and my state. I will retire from the state Senate and resign my office, effective Nov. 30, 2007. I love you, and farewell."

Hopefully our state can now move forward, and put this behind us. We'll have to wait and see.

Veteran's Day

Today we honor those who have put their lives in danger for us. People of courage and pride. God bless them and their families.

School Board Chair Resigning

Board of Education Chairperson Susan Podhajski is resigning her seat. She announced this one day after being elected to a second term on Tuesday.

Podhajski is accepting a job in New Hampshire, which is the reason for why she is leaving the board. The Democrats now need to find someone to fill her seat. I believe that person will then have to run in two years since she is filling a seat that has an election up before that seat's term would be up. It can get very confusing, but at least we have until 2009 to worry about it!

Republicans Come Out On Top

Top Four Incumbents Win

GOP Keeps Council

Yesterday, Republican Mayor Mark Boughton coasted to a fourth term, earning 66% of the vote. Democratic challenger Helena Abrantes lost by over 4,200 votes. This was Boughton's strongest victory as Mayor.

City Treasurer Dan Jowdy also easily won re-election beating Democrat Brian Cotter by over 3,600 votes. Jowdy earned a third term getting 64% of the vote.

City Clerk Jean Natale received 57% of the vote, and bested her Democratic opponent Eileen Coladarci by over 1,800 votes. Many expected this race to be very close as Natale only beat Coladarci by about 400 votes in 2005. However, a strong Republican turnout helped Natale win by a much larger margin than anticipated.

Town Clerk Lori Kaback was one of the few bright spots for the Democrats. Kaback beat Republican Pudgie Delohery by 1,383 votes, earning 55% of the vote. Boughton's strong showing didn't help Delohery, or at least gain her some more momentum.

The Common Council has remained in Republican control by the current 14-7 majority. All incumbents running for Council ward seats won. Six out of seven Republicans won Council at Large seats. Republican Pauline Basso lost her seat, as Warren Levy was the Democrat that beat her. Republican Bob Arconti was the top vote getter followed by Republicans Collen Stanley, Gregg Seabury, Phil Curran, Democrat Warren Levy, and Republicans Jack Knapp, and Robert Riley.

The first ward went to incumbent Republicans Louise McMahon and Shay Nagarsheth. The second ward re-elected Republicans Charles Trombetta and James Johnson. The third ward was anticipated to be the most interesting as Lynn Taborsak was trying to pick up a seat for the Democrats and take out President Joe Cavo. However, that didn't happen, as Republicans Joe Cavo and Mike Colandrino won impressive victories here. The fourth ward kept Democrats Tom Saadi and John Esposito. Democrats also kept ward five Councilmen Duane Perkins and Fred Visconti. Democrats Ben Chianese and Paul Rotello also won re-election in the sixth ward. Seventh ward voters decided to keep Republican Councilwomen Mary Teicholz and Jane Diggs. All of that results to a 14-7 Republican majority, which is no change from what it was before the election.

Republican Board of Education candidates that won were Joe Scozzafava, Louis Alosco, Irving Fox, and Richard Janelli. Democrats Gladys Cooper, Rachael Austin, and Susan Podhajski also won.

On the Zoning Commission the winners were Republicans Rob Mellilo, Andrew Wetmore, Larry Stramiello, David Manacek, Ted Farah, and Patrick Johnson. The Democrats were Anthony DiCaprio, Theodore Haddad, and Richard Jowdy. The Alternates elected were Republicans Victoria Hickey and Thomas Spegnolo. One Democrat was elected based on minority representation and that was Jaquelin Perez-Ares.

Democrats maintained their hold on the Constables keeping incumbents Michael Esposito, Paul Estefan, and Francis Kieras. The two Republicans that won were Dianne Zielinski and Barbara Kurpiewski.

That about wraps it up for the results. You can read all the exact numbers here. I think many did not expect the Republicans to have such a strong showing, reminding us a little of what they did in 2003. A very positive night for them, as the city showed that they really did not think change was needed. More to come on speculation and analyzing within the coming days. The election may be over, but that doesn't mean we have to stop talking about it.

Election Results

All four top office incumbents won today -- Mayor Boughton, Treasurer Dan Jowdy, City Clerk Jean Natale, and Town Clerk Lori Kaback. Boughton won by over 3,500 votes. No real unofficial numbers have been released on the other top races.

The Common Council will stay in Republican control. The biggest news here is that Lynn Taborsak did not win in the third ward. Republican incumbents won wards one, two, three, and seven. Wards four, five, and six went to the incumbent Democrats. It appears as though Republicans won at least six out of the seven Council at Large seats. The last seat is to close to call.

The bottom line here is that the Republicans had a very strong showing, and did very well considering the attacks by the Democrats in the final weeks. Much more to come. Even though the election is over, it doesn't mean our coverage is. Check back later to see more.

Election Day!

Today is the most important day of the year. All citizens registered to vote should take advantage of the democratic process, and fulfill their civic duty to vote. If you don't know where to vote here is a list of the voting locations:

Ward 1-Danbury High School
Ward 2-Pembroke School
Ward 3-Broadview Middle School
Ward 4-Shelter Rock School
Ward 5-War Memorial
Ward 6-Park Avenue School
Ward 7-Mill Ridge Intermediate

It is sure going to be an exciting day. Who knows whats going to happen. Just make sure you make your voice heard -- go vote!

Our Endorsement For Mayor

Before reading this I hope everyone understands that this is just our endorsement for Mayor, and however you take it is up to you. Many of you may not agree with the choice, and that's okay. Whatever the case, make sure you vote on Tuesday, and take advantage of the democracy government that we have in place. Make your voice heard!

This year incumbent Republican Mark Boughton is facing Democrat Helena Abrantes for Mayor. Boughton was a former history teacher at Danbury High School, and former State Representative. He was elected Mayor in 2001 by only 139 votes, but easily won re-election in 2003 and 2005. Abrantes served on the Common Council during the 1990's, and is also a former City Clerk. She lost her bid for a second term in 2003, and since has opened a family restaurant named Atlantic Restaurant.

This year, accomplishments as well as a vision for the future needs to be what we look at when supporting a certain candidate. In his six years in office, Boughton has done a lot for the city. He has focused heavily on education, and renovating our schools. He has built a new Fire Station on the west side of our city, and has a new Police Department being built. He has presented a new plan to preserve open space, and started an impressive city call line -- 311.

Abrantes criticizes Boughton on tax breaks given to developers, higher taxes, and not doing enough to improve and attract people to the downtown area. She says she would like to do many things if elected, such as add twenty-four new police officers, preserve more open space and keep our environment clean, improve downtown, and fix traffic problems. All very bold beliefs and ideas.

Abrantes also says Boughton went the wrong direction when confronting the issue of illegal immigration. Though she has valid points, the Mayor has confronted the problem, which is a very serious problem. He has tried heavily to influence talk within the federal government to address this issue. Though it's a national issue, it may never get discussed to a great degree without the influence of local residents throughout the country. That's what we've seen in this city.

This election also needs to be about the future. We have serious overcrowding issues within our school system, who have to make traffic improvements, and attract more people and businesses to the city, as well as many others. We need to elect someone who can deal with these problems.

Abrantes has run on a message that "Danbury can do better", and of course it can. Boughton says that he wants to continue to make Danbury the “greatest place to live, work, and be educated." Though Abrantes has come up with bold ideas, it is puzzling how she would go about them, and get the funding needed to support them. Yes -- Danbury can be better, but it is not in bad shape, and not headed in the wrong direction.

Based on his record of accomplishments, and ability to get thing done, Mark Boughton has earned a fourth term as Mayor.

The Final Weekend

This weekend both Democrats and Republicans are out in full force trying to get the vote out. Driving around the city today I saw pamphlets for both sides, as it has become clear that many races will be determined by whoever wins the get out the vote effort.

So, what do you think is going to happen? This may be one of the most interesting local elections we'll see. Just three days left!

Abrantes Has TV Ad

Democratic mayoral candidate Helena Abrantes has released a TV ad. It targets Mayor Boughton, and questions his leadership. Here is a transcript of the ad:

Irresponsible development means more traffic congestion. Tax giveaways for big residential developers means more taxes for us.

As our mayor Helena Abrantes wants to restore vision, hope, respect, and results for Danbury.

Helena Abrantes: leadership, experience, respect for community, respect for family.

Elect Helana Abrantes Mayor. Danbury can do better.

With only four days to go, this race, along with many others are going to be very interesting to see the outcome of.

News-Times Endorses Boughton

The News-Times endorsed Mayor Mark Boughton for a forth term today. You can read it here.


Boughton's accomplishments seemed to be why the chose him, as they mentioned them. Here is probably the biggest reason behind the endorsement of the Mayor:

Schools have been expanded. Construction has begun on a new police headquarters. Construction has been completed on a westside firehouse. The ugly battle between Boughton and the police union over a contract has been resolved.

However, they did criticize Boughton's leadership skills, but in the end said he was best qualified. Remember, this Sunday we will be making our endorsement for Mayor.

Very Important Voting Information

Get ready for one of the most confusing posts you will ever read. However, it's also probably one of the most important one's you'll ever read too. This post is going to explain the ballot for this year's election, and explain how the votes for different races are really counted.

To begin with, the four top races for the office of Mayor, City Treasurer, City Clerk, and Town Clerk are all the same. Like many would expect the candidate with the most votes of the two wins. It's simply by popular vote.

Now onto the somewhat confusing races. The Common Council at Large consists of seven elected members. There are six Democrats and seven Republicans running. The way this works is the top seven people that earn the most votes, of the total thirteen candidates, are elected. For example, all seven Republicans could win, or five Democrats could win and only two Republicans.

Okay, that's not that confusing, right? Well, it's only going to get more fun! When it comes to electing candidates for the Council by wards, many people get confused about who wins. As many know, each ward gets two Council members. Each party runs two candidates, for a total of four candidates. The top two candidates with the most votes win. Many believe that a ward has to elect both Republicans, or both Democrats, but that is not true. In fact, the first ward used to have one member from each party representing them. This doesn't happen often, but if you have two well known candidates running from opposite parties, that are well liked by the public then it is definitely possible. Currently, each ward has two Council members from the same party, but that could very well change this year.

The Board of Education can get very confusing, especially this year. Democrats hold a 6-5 majority, which they will still hold this year because they have three seats up for bid, and the Republicans also have three seats up. However, there is also one more seat up for grabs because of the death of a former Republican school board member. The Republican who filled the seat at the time, Richard Jannelli, is running for it this year. He will win automatically because the Democrats did not run anyone for that one seat. Like mentioned earlier, each party has three open seats. The Democrats chose to run just three candidates, and they will all win because they only have three spots to fill. The Republicans nominated six people (the most they can for the school board) to fill their three seats. So, actually the Republicans will be running against each other because the top three vote getter's of the six will win the three open seats. Just to note the Republicans can't try to earn the majority because each party has the same number of seats up for grabs. They had the chance in 2005 when each party was guaranteed two seats, and the fifth seat was up for grabs. Republicans could have won the seat by earning more votes than the Democrat, but they did not. This can only happen when a Republican Mayor is running for re-election.

The Zoning Commission elects nine people. The majority can only be a 5-4 member ratio, which Republicans currently have. The top four candidates of each party will win. The ninth seat is filled by comparing the Republican with the fifth highest votes to the Democrat with the fifth highest vote. Whoever has more votes, wins the seat, giving their party the majority. It is slightly similar to the Board of Education.

The Zoning Commission Alternates are also chosen like the regular Zoning members are. However, instead of nine members, there are only three. Each party definitely gets one person, and the third person is decided by putting the second highest candidate of each party's results up against each other. Whoever has more votes win the seats, and gives their party the majority.

Constables are also elected this way. There are five of them. The top two of each party win, and then head to head results are compared between the next closest candidate of each party. The one with more votes win, and gives their party the majority.

To wrap it up, though some candidates have their names placed above and below each other, they are technically not solely running against them. The only ones that do truly run against each other are the races for the top four offices.

Gee, it sure can get confusing, but it's very important information to know!