In the central Connecticut towns of Manchester, Southington and Bloomfield, Nov. 4 municipal elections shape up as chance for incumbents to keep power or extra-motivated challengers to change things up.
Manchester Republicans are looking to win what’s become a Democratic stronghold since 2009, while Southington Democrats believe they’ve got the best shot to win control of the Town Council since voters gave the GOP a majority six years ago.
And in Bloomfield, both parties are running full slates for the town council, but both tickets have rifts and divisions and a high-profile deputy mayor is waging a write-in campaign in hopes of preventing what he’s called “more of the same” leadership.
In all three communities, this year’s races are especially tumultuous, often with caustic accusations and criticisms.
Manchester
A rendering of the new public library that Manchester is building on Main Street. (Courtesy of Town of Manchester)
The Manchester Republican Town Committee is banking heavily on voters being dissatisfied with Democratic rule, and are publicly slamming the downtown revitalization plan with warnings that traffic rotaries on Main Street, bike lanes and a road diet will hurt businesses and ruin the vibe of the historic town center.
But local Democrats counter that the town has done well under their leadership, and cite the new 70,000-square-foot, three-story library being built downtown as evidence of growth. They vigorously defend the downtown plan; the current street layout is dangerous and designed for the mid-20th century, they say, and businesses will flourish when overdue improvements are put in.
Democrats hold a 6-3 majority on the board of directors, and all six incumbents are seeking re-election: Mayor Jay Moran, Deputy Mayor Sarah Jones, Secretary Pamela Floyd-Cranford and councilors Jerald Lentini, Dennis Schain and Jessee Muñiz Poland.
Republican incumbent Zach Reichelt is challenging Moran for mayor, and incumbents Peter Conyers and Ed Boland are running along with newcomers Leslie Frey, Robert Cormier and David Willis.
Southington
In a reverse of the Manchester race, Southington Republicans are looking to hold onto their 6-3 town council majority while Democrats think they’ve got a solid chance to flip it to their favor.
Political discourse has grown bitter in town during the past couple of election cycles and this year continues the trend. Social media is packed with people hitting the local GOP as radically conservative apologists for the MAGA movement while others attack town Democrats as unAmerican ultra-leftists.
The Back Nine at the Southington Country Club, where the town bought development rights several years ago. (file photo)
Democrats complain town government has become secretive under GOP rule, and are still attacking the town’s 2021 multimillion-dollar purchase of development rights to the Southington Country Club as evidence of failed financial leadership. This fall they’ve raised questions about the outflow of town employees and contend Republicans in power are deliberately ignoring municipal problems because the election is approaching.
The council’s GOP leadership rebuffs questions about high employee turnover, contending it’s the result of changing rules on pensions that made it lucrative for workers to leave this year. They argue Democrats raised the matter as a last-minute political ploy before the election. The GOP also notes that the Southington Country Club deal was approved by voters at a public referendum.
Republican council Chair Paul Chaplinsky Jr. and Vice Chair Jim Morelli along with fellow incumbents Jennifer Clock, Michael DelSanto and Tony Morrison are running with challenger Joshua Serafino.
The Democratic ticket includes incumbent Chris Palmieri and challengers Kristen Marie
Guida, Shawn Grindle, George Doherty, Charles E. Green Jr. and David Zoni.
Bloomfield
Both Democrats and Republicans are fielding full slates of candidates for the town council, but both tickets have internal divisions.
Democrats hold a 6-3 majority, but just went through their second deeply divisive primary in two years. Voters chose most of the town committee-endorsed candidates, but also selected former Mayor Suzette DeBeatham Brown, one of the best-known names from the challenge slate.
Mayor Anthony Harrington is running in the general election along with fellow incumbents Michael Oliver, Darrell Goodwin, Cindi Lloyd and Todd Cooper. DeBeatham Brown completes the ticket.
Republicans are fielding incumbents Shamar Mahon, Joseph Merrill and Elizabeth Waterhouse along with newcomers Thomas Moore, Vivilyn Smith and Seth Pitts.
Bloomfield Town Hall. (Don Stacom/The Hartford Courant)
But that ticket, too, has a rift: Mahon was an outspoken critic of former Democratic Mayor Danielle Wong, going well beyond his two GOP colleagues in the frequency of his challenges to her. Ultimately, he had a falling out with Merrill and Waterhouse, and there was some uncertainty this summer about whether Mahon would get the Republican endorsement.
Another factor in the race is former Deputy Mayor Rickford Kirton, another sharp critic of Wong and her administration. Kirton organized the challenge slate for the primary, and is now pursuing a write-in run saying voters need an alternative to another two years of the team that Wong led.
Transparency, political civility and budgeting are three of the issues on the table: Candidates opposing Harrington’s administration contend it is to blame for the bad will and mistrust that marked decision-making about the 2025-26 budget. But Harrington and his fellow incumbents say Bloomfield did well under Wong’s tenure, and cite the new library in the town center as part of the proof.
