Feb. 22 is the date for a special election to fill Chris Caruso’s state rep seat, according to Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill. Major parties have until Jan. 18 to endorse candidates. The line of pols to fill Caruso’s seat is long and decisions must be made within the next 10 days to endorse candidates and those seeking the petition route for ballot qualification.
“In order to qualify to get on the ballot, petitioning candidates must turn in a number of signatures equivalent to 1% of the total number of voters who cast ballots for that seat in the previous election, and signatures must be from registered voters in the district,” says Merrill.
Merrill: Special Elections to Fill Nine Legislative Vacancies Set for Tuesday February 22nd
Secretary of the State Has Signed Writs of Writs of Special Election from Governor Dannel Malloy; Major Parties Have until January 18th to Endorse Candidates
Hartford: Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today announced that special elections to fill nine legislative vacancies will take place on Tuesday February 22, 2010. Specifically, the special elections will take place in State Senate districts 6, 13, and 27 as well as districts 20, 25, 36, 99, 101, and 126 in the Connecticut General Assembly. These vacancies were created by the resignations of State Senators Andrew MacDonald of Stamford, Don DeFronzo of New Britain, Thomas Gaffey of Meriden, and State Representatives John Geragosian of New Britain, David McCluskey of West Hartford, James Spallone of Essex, Deb Heinrich of Madison, Mike Lawlor of East Haven and Christopher Caruso of Bridgeport. These vacancies were created on Wednesday January 5, 2011 and today, Secretary Merrill received and signed Writs of Special Election issued by Governor Dannel Malloy as required by Connecticut state law. By law, these special elections must be held 46 days after the Writs of Special Election are issued, which falls on Tuesday, February 22nd.
“We have a sea change in state government with a significant number of state lawmakers leaving the legislative branch to serve the Malloy administration,” said Secretary Merrill, Connecticut Chief Elections official. “The timetable for these special elections is very compressed: major parties now have until January 18th to endorse candidates for these State Senate and House seats. Petitioning candidates must also turn in nominating petitions to town clerks offices or the Secretary of the State’s office by that same day. I urge eligible voters in these districts to register as soon as possible so you can cast a ballot and choose someone to represent you in Hartford. The deadline to register is Monday February 21st, the day before the special elections.”
Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on February 22, 2011 in the following communities for the special elections: State Senate district 6, covering Berlin, New Britain, and part of Farmington; district 13, covering Meriden, Middlefield, and parts of Cheshire and Middletown; and district 27, covering parts of Darien and Stamford. Special elections will also take place in the following General Assembly Districts: district 20 covering part of West Hartford, district 25, covering part of New Britain, district 36, covering the towns of Chester, Deep River, Essex and Haddam, district 99, covering part of East Haven, district 101, covering the town of Madison and part of Guilford and District 126, covering part of Bridgeport.
In order to qualify to get on the ballot, petitioning candidates must turn in a number of signatures equivalent to 1% of the total number of voters who cast ballots for that seat in the previous election, and signatures must be from registered voters in the district.
Lennie I have confirmed that Mark Trojanowski did put in a call to Democratic Party Chairman Mario Testa to let him know that he is very interested in running for Caruso’s old seat. The spotlight is on Mario now. Will he allow his Town Committees to endorse a candidate with a fiscal record of failure who has fallen short on voter expectation? None of the current members of the Bridgeport City Council should apply except Bob Walsh and Andre Baker who is totally different from Holloway. I know they don’t live in the district, but they could move in if they win and if they don’t they wouldn’t be the only State Reps living out of the district. If Mario and the TC endorse Mark Trojanowski, they will have a Trojan Horse to defeat other opponents who will lack the firepower they will get if any of the other candidates I’ve heard mentioned are endorsed. What if Mario passes on Mark and Caruso supports him? I’d suggest that The Trojan Horse talks (like Mr. Ed) to Chris Caruso too and further suggest that Caruso listens to him. THE ROMANS ARE COMING!
Joel I will have no vote in who gets endorsed for the position. The 138th has 6 delegates who can vote and I imagine the other part of Caruso’s district has a number of members. I hear Caruso has a hand-picked replacement.
TC do you think Caruso has 50% plus 1 number of supporters in the in Town Committees? I doubt he does! One thing that struck me in an odd way was that Chris never took an active role at trying to take control (at least in his district) of the Town Committee. I called him in 2008 when I was getting ready to challenge the 130th. and there were at least half of the districts getting challenged. I never got a return call. Danny Roach did the same. I figured since Chris Caruso ran on the corruption platform in which he also included the Democratic Town Committee, he would then work to try and take some control of it. He obviously wanted the Big Prize by doing it his way. If Caruso has a hand-picked replacement, I bet he is assuming the TC (not you) will endorsed one of the current Council members which will give him some firepower, as I strongly believe that in a district like the 126th he will be a weak and vulnerable candidate. I still think The Trojan Horse should still talk to Caruso or call him and get no return call–it shows courtesy. TC do you know if Silva talked to Caruso? I believe I had read somewhere that he had in the past.
Hey Lennie what’s going on with the City of Bridgeport website? Could it be that The Romans shut it down with a Trojan Horse?
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.5
Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:50:00 GMT
Connection: close
It’s working again now.
Lennie did you hear about the shooting of some politicians in Arizona?
And still many think that cutting off one’s own finger was a sick, crazy thing to do. Where and when will this type of horrible act end:
www .msnbc.msn.com/id/40978517/ns/politics
Rep. Gifford (D) from Arizona was shot while meeting with her constituents in a Safeway parking lot. First they said she was killed. Now they say she is in surgery in critical condition. Many others were shot. Five confirmed dead. Say a prayer.
Somebody better closely watch the Capitol.
blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2011/01/former-stamford-employee-sente.html
Let’s get relevant–this topic is on-target for this type blog.
www .ctpost.com/local/article/Bridgeport-Milford-benefit-from-loan-program-946399.php <—
Despite what The Connecticut Post says, Local Eyes thinks Bridgeport and other municipalities are making a mistake by funding pensions with assets that have already been dumped on The Fed by bailout-taking institutions who describe them as declining assets (their words, not mine). Local Eyes thinks you’re buying assets that have been labeled as garbage by S&P 500 companies!
Replace your current advisers tomorrow because free money is very expensive.
(wink)
TC
Chris’s handpicked replacement has not a snowball’s chance in hell. Unless of course my boy makes a deal with the devil. Maybe buying off his endorsement?
Mr BPT, TC (the blogger) understands Chris Caruso’s choice may not have a chance at getting the nomination. “… not a snowball’s chance in hell …” What do you mean by this? Do you mean no chance in getting the TC endorsement or winning the special election? In most cases the person getting the endorsement ends up winning the election or primary. This case is different for anyone to call. If Caruso’s choice is not endorsed by the TC and Caruso is successful petitioning his man onto the ballot, then we can see if Caruso’s endorsement has more weight than a TC endorsement if his man wins the special election. That’s why my position is if Mario’s TC is going with their choice, it better be a clean candidate. There will most likely be a Republican candidate and a WFP candidate as well.
*** What’s the difference, in the 138th district now that Caruso’s gone, same song different tune in the end, no? *** HERE WE GO! ***
Mojo for the 138th there is no difference. We are on the fringe of Caruso’s power base in the North End just like we are on the fringe for Clemons. The same holds true for our 2 senators who split up our district. We were carved up by Alvin Penn when he wanted to move to a house on Evers street.
*** Now that Caruso’s gone, just whom of the remaining legislators will step up to the plate to really support their district & the city of Bpt? *** The more things change, the more they stay the same, no? *** FORGETABOUTIT ***