State Rep. Andres Ayala has filed paperwork for an exploratory committee that sets him up for a possible run for Connecticut’s 23rd State Senate seat. The State Elections Enforcement Commission’s candidate committee list shows Ayala has filed the exploratory paperwork with Pilar Gonzalez as treasurer of the committee. Former State Senator Ernie Newton has already declared his candidacy for his old seat currently occupied by Ed Gomes who has not announced if he will seek reelection.
Ayala told OIB on Monday he’s not made a final decision about running for State Senate. The exploratory paperwork provides him flexibility to seek reelection to his State House seat. Numerous city pols say Ayala have told them he’s running for State Senate.
Ayala served as president of the Bridgeport City Council during the John Fabrizi mayoral years. He is well regarded in his safe East Side district seat but largely unknown throughout the rest of the city. Ayala is one of those pols who chooses sides carefully, ostrich-like, according to his critics. His standing among political operatives of Mayor Bill Finch is bit chilly these days. Ayala, they say, ducked when he had the opportunity to support the mayor in his Democratic primary win over Mary-Jane Foster who has had a friendly relationship with Ayala through the years.
Ayala is the nephew of former City Councilman Tito Ayala who’s embroiled in a March 6 primary for control of Democratic Town Committee seats on the East Side. Andres and Tito have been up and down politically through the years. Tito, himself, says his nephew does a pretty good dance when it comes to taking sides. “Sometimes, in this business,” says Tito, “you have to take sides.”
That’s the business of politics. If you don’t take sides sometimes you can be sideswiped when you least expected it. Pols keep score, and Andres Ayala’s lack of weighing in could cost him support if he does in fact run for State Senate. The 23rd State Senate District covers about three quarters of the city and a small portion of Stratford. State Senator Anthony Musto represents the western portions of the city in Connecticut’s 22nd State Senate District.
If Ayala does run for State Senate it sets up an intriguing multple-candidate August primary.
Check out a map showing the division between the two State Senate Districts in the city here.
The first thing he needs to do is look senatorial … and push himself away from the table once in a while. That photo is quite unflattering.
m.ctpost.com/connpost/db_43468/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=H8n9ktF4
I guess they didn’t see this guy coming!
Bob–saying Ayala needs to push the table in order to look senatorial is stupid … He is not overweight, but he doesn’t look like he’s anorexic either, unlike Newton …
At the end of the day, although Ayala’s hide ‘n’ seek ways are disappointing when it comes to political issues, I’d much rather have him be our Senator and not a former drug addict felon like Newton who thinks he deserves a second chance, yet never feels remorse nor admits to wrongdoing …
Celia, I know Andres. He’s a good guy and a much better person, by far, than the convicted felon. But he needs to give the perception of authority and that means to look senatorial. He looks like a slob in the photo with Malloy. And Malloy looks like what he is, an executive.
We’ll support anyone who is not beholden to Mario Testa. That leaves out Ernie Newton. Sorry Ernie, but you crossed too quickly to the other side. Almost feels like they bought you out.
Lennie, it’s not as simple–for Andres Ayala– as forming an Exploratory Committee. Are you sure the purpose is to explore a run for State Senate? If it is, shouldn’t we be calling it a Joint Exploratory Committee? If Andres decides to run for the Senate, is he not going to run for State Rep. any longer? Is he allowed to run for both a House and Senate seat–especially if he is primaried for his State Rep. seat? There’s a Speedy type of idea/political strategy. What would Andres do if the Blacks put up a candidate–even a Hispanic one–to challenge Andres for his State Rep. seat and force him to either drop his State Rep. spot and run for the Senate risking losing both? Will Andres have the ‘pantalones’ to run for both seats simultaneously to the odds of winning one, both or none? Sounds interesting eh? I can assure OIB this didn’t even cross Andres’ mind let alone that of the Bridgeport Machine. Only an expert at breaking down the machine can see its weaknesses and strengths. For real political advice, contact Joel Speedy Gonzalez. You hear that? That’s JSG sounding the alarm!
For someone who promulgates himself to be the go-to guy for “real political advice,” you are asking far too many hypothetical questions rather than providing answers. Not that it really matters, it’s unlikely anyone would seek opinions from you. Someone who self-mutilated himself to prove a political point isn’t exactly considered capable of providing sound advice to anyone.
Godiva, you are still stuck in 1994. The questions are food for thought. Andres needs to think before taking the “Senate Plunge” or Andres can listen to his Go(to)diva-like people who will only tell him do what I and other OIB posters suggest. If Godiva takes the time to go to the OIB archives and read some of my comments posted before Mary-Jane Foster challenged Finch, she would realize the Finch camp used the exact issues and points I had posted months before.
You may not feel “it really matters,” but I was told Andres heard about this posting and took an interest in it. For the record Godiva, I don’t give sound advice–just the flip side of a coin dated 1994.
Forget about the coin, Joel, it’s you that’s flipped.
*** Might as well, everybody else is, no? *** HOW ABOUT YOU? ***
No, sorry, not I. I never claimed I could or would give political advice to any person seeking office.