Latest news with #caucus
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mansfield Republicans surprised by some caucus results
MANSFIELD — The Mansfield Republican Town Committee held its caucus, and candidates for the upcoming November election were nominated. Committee chair Alfred Fratoni said he was a little surprised by the turnout and the results of the caucus. 'That's the thing about caucus, when you go into them, you can have a slate all set and then all of a sudden it gets changed,' Fratoni said. 'That's what happened.' Fratoni said the endorsed list is a combination of newcomers and incumbents. 'It's basically a whole new Town Council slate from our current one,' Fratoni said. 'The rest of it is pretty much people returning, with a couple of new people. It's wonderful and we think it's a good slate.' Republicans endorsed for Town Council (two-year terms) include Aaron Bowman, Gail Zaicek and Charlie Ausburger. Bowman and Zaicek are newcomers, while Ausburger is returning, but not considered an incumbent. Board of Education (six-year terms) candidates include Greg Cecil (incumbent), while Board of Assessment Appeals (two-year terms) candidates include Doryann Plante (incumbent). Vera Stearns will be returning for Planning and Zoning Commissioner (six-year term), but not as an incumbent. Newcomer Robert Zaicek is up as a Planning and Zoning alternate (four-year term), while incumbent Robert Stearns will run for Zoning Board of Appeals (four-year term). Deborah Paulson, a newcomer, will run as an alternate for the Zoning Board of Appeals (four-year term). Incumbents not endorsed for this year include Christopher Kueffner and G. William Tomecko, both of whom are on the Town Council, and Nicholas Burnore, who serves as a Planning and Zoning alternate. Incumbents elected who will not seek re-election include Alfred Fratoni as a Planning and Zoning commissioner. 'The mindset of the caucus is that they looked at the list and said we need to make some changes,' Fratoni said. 'It's really hard to read people and know what they're thinking. It's just the way it works.' The original list before the final caucus results included: Christopher Kueffner, G. William Tomecko and Aaron Bowman for Town Council; incumbent Doryann Plante for Board of Assessment Appeals; Vera Ward for Planning & Zoning Commission; Nicholas Burnore for Planning and Zoning Commission alternate; incumbent Robert Stearns for Zoning Board of Appeals; and newcomer Charles Ausburger for Zoning Board of Appeals alternate. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Windham Republicans choose Hailey Desaulniers as mayoral candidate
WINDHAM — The Windham Republican Town Committee held its caucus on Tuesday night and candidates for the upcoming November election were endorsed. Committee chair Mike Desaulniers said he was excited to see a mix of new and established names. 'I believe politics in general requires a breath of fresh air,' Desaulniers said. 'In my opinion, it is time for a changing of the guard.' Hailey Desaulniers, the daughter of Mike and Kimberly Desaulniers, will challenge current Mayor Tom DeVivo, a Democrat, for the mayoral seat. 'I appreciate the fact that the new individuals who put their names forward this year genuinely seem concerned about the town, the direction we are heading and the fiscal viability of the town,' Mike Desaulniers said. 'I think everyone recognizes that we are a poverty-stricken town with a wealth of pride in where we live, with a strong sense of family.' For the Board of Finance, Charles Pennewill and Pazit Edelman will be running for the election in the fall, while Dustin Rood and Roger Morin will be on the candidate list for the Zoning Board of Appeals full term. Dustin Rood is also running for the Zoning Board of Appeals as an alternate. For the town council spots, Mike Desaulniers will be running for the Windham seat, while Joshua Holman and Ricky Martinez will be running for the Willimantic seat. The two town councils, which will have at-large slots, will be run by Curtis Ehler and Steven Edelman. John McCommas will be running for the Willimantic Taxing District Board of Directors seat. Mike Desaulniers, Pennewill and Ehler are incumbents in this upcoming election, while Hailey Desaulniers, Rood, Holman and Martinez are newcomers. Edelman is returning to reclaim his seat. 'The predominant sentiment expressed at the caucus last night was a strong desire for community involvement and a desire to see our town succeed,' Desaulniers said. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lebanon Republicans to meet at caucus to endorse candidates
LEBANON — Enrolled Republican electors are invited to participate in the party's caucus to endorse candidates for the upcoming municipal office election. The caucus will take place tonight at 7 p.m. in the Community Center located at 872 Trumbull Highway in Lebanon. The caucus is held every other year to select which candidate of the Republican Party will be running in the municipal election in the fall. According to Mike Ninteau, chair of both the Board of Finance and Lebanon Republican Party, they began their candidate search a few months ago. 'It is nice to get some fresh perspectives; new candidates are good,' he said. 'It's important that people get involved with their civic duty to help govern their town.' The caucus is open to all registered members of the Republican party and residents of Lebanon, and Ninteau encourages everyone to attend and take part in the process. As of now, they have about 15 different positions they are looking to fill. The positions are for first selectmen and the various boards and commissions of the town. For people who do not wish to run, it is still a good opportunity to have a say in who might represent them during the municipal election. 'You can get involved and have a very meaningful impact on a local level,' Ninteau said. 'And a lot of times the actions of your municipality affect you as much or not more than what they do at the state or even at the federal level, so it's very important.' Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Beyond Democrats and Republicans, CT legislators split into special interests. See what they are.
In the contentious political world of 2025, the lens both nationally and locally is often viewed as Republican or Democrat. But at a time of fractured and splintered politics, the Connecticut General Assembly is splintered into even smaller groups representing priorities that cover a wide variety of topics of every political stripe. That includes more than 40 different caucuses, according to the legislative library. Some cover broad topics, such as the Conservative Caucus among the House Republicans and the Progressive Caucus and Tax Equity Caucus among Democrats. Some are longstanding like the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, which has been analyzing public policy for decades and pushing for equity and representation. Others are relatively recent like the Reproductive Rights Caucus that was formed in 2022 before the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Dobbs case that overturned the landmark Roe vs. Wade abortion decision. Caucuses have been formed to combine members' influence to push the issues of animal rights, adoption, arts and tourism, bioscience, clean energy, crumbling foundations, early childhood education, Long Island Sound, manufacturing, transportation, veterans support, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The LGBTQ caucus recently held a news conference to mark June as Pride Month. At the same time, some cultural caucuses are tailored to non-controversial issues. The Italian American Caucus, for example, has been awarding scholarships for decades through an annual charity dinner at the Sons of Italy hall in Middletown as the state House of Representatives and Senate adjourn early so that lawmakers can head to the traditional fundraiser. The Moderate caucus of House Democrats stepped forward recently when more liberal members of the legislature started speaking publicly against Gov. Ned Lamont, a fiscally conservative Democrat who angered liberals by vetoing bills on affordable housing and awarding unemployment compensation to striking workers. State Rep. Josh Elliott, a Hamden Democrat who is an outspoken leader in the progressive and tax equity caucuses, says that Lamont will be facing a primary in August 2026, but no final decisions have been announced on whether the challenger would be Elliott or another candidate. The moderates weighed in recently after 18 House Democrats voted against the controversial housing bill that Lamont vetoed. 'With the recent vetoes, Governor Lamont demonstrated the thoughtful, steady leadership Connecticut needs,' the moderates wrote. 'As proud moderate Democrats, we believe we reflect the views of the majority of Connecticut residents — and we're proud to stand with a governor who does the same.' While the caucuses allow each group to gain attention for their cause, House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford said the sheer number of caucuses has become too large. 'I think it's become absurd the amount of caucuses that we have in that building,' Candelora told The Courant in an interview. 'I also think it points to the problem of where we've gone as a legislature in that we should be focusing on the fact that we are policymakers and not activists. I get concerned that these caucuses take on the role of activism, which should be left up to the constituencies to be the activists. I personally don't think these caucuses serve us well. I think we should focus broadly on being policymakers.' Legislators, he said, should largely think of themselves as Democrats and Republicans, rather than as members of a smaller, more narrow group. 'They should walk into the building and sort of be a neutral arbiter and take in both sides and make a determination on how they are going to vote,' Candelora said. 'There needs to be some level of objectivity and approachableness in our lawmaking. … It implies we're not being open-minded to both sides of the argument. Just like I represent pro-choice and pro-life people, I want to be there listening to both sides not just saying this is my position and one side need not apply. That's the danger of all these caucuses.' Referring to the Democrats and Republicans in each of the two chambers, Candelora said, 'There's only four caucuses in the building when the day is done.' Deputy House Speaker Pro Tempore Bob Godfrey of Danbury agreed there are essentially two sets of caucuses: the four actual caucuses in the two chambers and then the 40 smaller caucuses. First elected in 1988, Godfrey remembers the days when former House Speaker Tom Ritter, the father of the current House Speaker, believed that the legislature had become far too splintered in 1991 during the epic battle over the creation of the state income tax. He took over as Speaker in 1993 and said the members should view themselves as Democrats. 'Tom Ritter did get rid of the moderate and I think they called themselves the liberal caucus,' Godfrey told The Courant in an interview. 'It was part of the extensive healing process after the painful loss of relationships among my colleagues after the income tax.' As a current member of the progressive and reproductive rights caucuses, Godfrey said he is also involved in other groups. While he wasn't sure about the Waterbury Rail Line caucus, he said, 'I've been working with [Republican] Bill Buckbee, trying to get passenger rail service extended from Danbury to New Milford, but I wouldn't call us a caucus. There's a lot of that going on.' On a new, emerging issue, Godfrey joined the artificial intelligence caucus in an effort to pass a bill that failed after never being debated in the House after the governor said he would veto it. The sharply political caucuses, he said, have manifested on a national basis with the Tea Party and other groups on both sides of the aisle. 'The divisiveness nationally has contributed to those kind of partisan caucuses,' Godfrey said. 'It's just feeding the divisiveness. It's not trying to actually solve problems practically.' Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield said he believes the most influential group at the Capitol is the long-running Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. 'It's a well-known caucus in the building. It's well-established,' Harding said. 'They are influential members. That support means something in the building. Outside of that, there's really no other caucus that I can think of that has any level of significant influence.' The problem, he said, is the expansion of new groups on a huge number of topics. 'If you want to go out and create your own caucus, more power to you,' Harding said. 'But if you create too many caucuses, then you dilute the influence. That's the point I'm making.' Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@
The Herald
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
'People want to push their own agenda': Hlophe confirms Ndhlela's sacking
Dismissing claims that the party is in crisis because of Ndhlela's dismal, Hlophe said: 'The party is not falling apart. In the caucus there are people who want to push their own agendas and you know that by now.' The so-called 'December 16 faction' in parliament has accused Makhubele of making unilateral decisions and dividing the caucus. Responding to the criticism, Makhubele said ideological differences were to be expected in a new political party. '[The] MK Party is one year old and everybody who is in MK Party, including myself, come from various parties. Whether there are those that joined [on] December 16 [when] the party started [in] 2023 or those like us who joined post elections, all of us come from parties that had different postures on many issues pertaining to ideology or policies,' she said, adding they all decided to rally behind the MK Party despite their initial stances. Makhubele remained mum on Ndhlela disrespecting her leadership. TimesLIVE
