Many important stories have been covered by the New Britain Progressive in 2019. It may be difficult to name only a few articles as the top stories of the year, but there are a few the New Britain Progressive would like to share as our Top Ten. Other Top Ten stories can be found at “Top Ten Stories of 2019.”
The year 2019 saw big wins for New Britain Republicans, leaving the New Britain Democrats contemplating their future after important defeats.
As 2019 began, Republicans were already winning. Republican Mayor Erin Stewart’s Corporation Counsel, Republican Gennaro Bizzarro (R-6), won a special election for the State Senate seat representing New Britain. While State Representative Rick Lopes (D-24) won the election for the Senate seat in the New Britain part of the district, Berlin and Farmington delivered enough votes to give Bizzarro the win. (Lopes Wins New Britain but Bizzarro Wins Seat)
The results of the city election in November of the year were not much different. While Democrats had made important gains in the 2017 elections, including winning a 9 to 6 City Council majority, Democrats saw their votes in the mayoral election drop again in 2019, and with that, Republicans regained a Council majority. (Total Republican Control)
Democrats can certainly look to certain bright spots. Voters returned them to the majority on the Board of Education, something they had not had for four years. And newcomers to the to city politics, especially Democratic Mayoral candidate Chris Porcher, brought new energy to the party.
But 2019 was, overall, the Republicans’ year, politically, in New Britain. On the Democratic side, it was a year that has left many active Democrats questioning the direction of their party leadership.
Lopes Wins New Britain but Bizzarro Wins Seat
February 27, 2019
While State Rep. Rick Lopes (D-24) won the vote in New Britain, votes from Berlin put Republican Gennaro Bizzarro into the State Senate in the special election.
Lopes’ won in New Britain by a five-hundred vote margin, in unofficial results from the Secretary of the State, but the vote in Berlin delivered Bizzarro a more than nine-hundred vote advantage in that town, enough to win the overall election.
In the entire Sixth Senatorial District, from the Secretary of the State’s unofficial results, Lopes received 3,437 and Bizzarro received 3,878.
Lopes’ received votes both as the Democratic candidate and as the cross-nominated candidate of the Working Families Party. Lopes’ votes from both lines are added together to determine his total vote.
On a frigid February day, low voter turnout also figured into the election. The total number of votes cast in the special election was 26.7% of the votes for State Senate in the 2018 regular election in November.
| New Britain | Berlin | Farmington | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Rick Lopes | 2,210 | 835 | 151 | 3,196 |
| Republican | Gennaro Bizzarro | 1,862 | 1,813 | 203 | 3,878 |
| Working Families | Rick Lopes | 182 | 50 | 9 | 241 |
Bizzarro had promised voters he would, “Say no to tolls and taxes.”
It was a theme that some voters agreed with. One commenter online said, “Bizzarro is a no to new taxes. Lopes is for tolls and Lamont!!”
Bizzarro’s lopsided win in Berlin largely reflected the outcome of the election for governor in that town in 2018. Lamont lost in Berlin 3,656 to 5,543 to Republican Bob Stefanowski.
Also in the 2018 election, despite winning the overall election, former State Senator Terry Gerratana (D-6) lost Berlin 4,686 to 5,022.
The 2018 election was largely seen as a referendum on Republican President Donald Trump and the Republican Party he leads. While Democrats received solid majorities in New Britain and much of the rest of the state, the opposite was true in Berlin.
In fact, the last time Trump, himself, was on the ballot, he solidly won in Berlin. In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton received 4,913 votes in Berlin, while Trump received 6,210.
The results show a sharp divide in the votes between Berlin and New Britain. Clinton won New Britain by 15,468 to 6,055 votes in 2016, and, in 2018 Lamont won in New Britain by 10,378 to 5,193 votes.
While the Sixth Senatorial District’s last senator, Gerratana, won on the strength of New Britain votes, despite losing in Berlin, the opposite is true of Bizzarro, who lost in New Britain and won in Berlin.
How that will affect the priorities of Senator-elect Bizzarro (R-6), is now on the desk of the new legislator. While he promised to oppose taxes and tolls, he also promised to address both, “a budget deficit of more than a billion dollars,” and, “inequities in how we fund our schools.”
Those are likely to be difficult issues over the next year and a half, and Democrats are likely to pose a strong challenge to Bizzarro in the 2020 general election. Bizzarro will have a challenge holding onto the seat in an election when Democratic turnout is likely very high and Bizzarro will likely share the Republican ticket with Trump, himself.
Bizzarro is also likely to continue to face criticism about his past defense former Republican Mayor Timothy Stewart despite 2017 comments that were widely criticized as racist. At that time, it was Bizzarro, who is chair of the board of the Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce, who announced that Stewart would remain as Chamber President, despite the public outrage. Stewart’s recent misogynistic words about female members of Congress renewed calls for Stewart’s removal and ultimately led to his resignation from the Chamber presidency and two city commission positions.
In the meantime, the result of the special election for the Senate seat is that the two former opponents will serve together in the legislature. Lopes continues as the State Representative for the Twenty-Fourth District, representing neighborhoods in New Britain and Newington.
Total Republican Control
November 6, 2019
Republicans will resume one-party control of New Britain City Hall, with both Republican Mayor Erin Stewart and a Republican-controlled City Council.
Republicans appear to now control the Council by at least 8 to 7, resuming Republican control of both branches of the city government that they lost in the 2017 city elections. With two candidates in the Second Ward separated by only a few votes, the Republicans may end up with an 9 to 6 margin of control.
Stewart will return for a fourth term, matching the number of years that her father, former Republican Mayor Timothy Stewart held the position.
The Republican political machine of the two Stewart mayors has dominated the New Britain city government for most of two decades.
Democrats, however, appear to have won three of the five Board of Education seats elected on Tuesday. That would put the Democrats back into the majority on the Board for the first time since 2015. For the past four years, the Board has been evenly split, with each party holding five of the ten seats.
Republicans also gained control of the Board of Assessment Appeals.
Unofficial details of the results available on the website of the Secretary of the State, as of November 6th at 1:00am, were,
| Office, Party and Candidate | # Votes | % Votes | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAYOR | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Chris Porcher | 3,406 | 34.78% | |
| Republican Party Erin E. Stewart | 6,013 | 61.41% | X |
| Working Families Party Chris Porcher | 186 | 1.90% | |
| Petitioning Candidate Deivone M. Tanksley, Sr | 187 | 1.91% | |
| TAX COLLECTOR | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Lanette Spranzo Macaruso | 4,014 | 44.35% | |
| Republican Party Cheryl Blogoslawski | 5,036 | 55.65% | X |
| TREASURER | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Ronald Jakubowski | 4,796 | 53.21% | X |
| Republican Party Jamie Giantonio | 4,217 | 46.79% | |
| ALDERPERSONS AT-LARGE | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Emmanuel "Manny" Sanchez | 4,385 | 10.44% | X |
| Democratic Party Chris Anderson | 3,880 | 9.24% | X |
| Democratic Party Katie Breslin | 3,686 | 8.78% | |
| Democratic Party Richard Reyes | 3,887 | 9.25% | X |
| Democratic Party Antonio Tee Lavoy Sr | 3,567 | 8.49% | |
| Republican Party Matthew D. Malinowski | 4,131 | 9.84% | |
| Republican Party Sharon Beloin-Saavedra | 4,365 | 10.39% | X |
| Republican Party Danny Salerno | 4,544 | 10.82% | X |
| Republican Party Lauren M. Gonzalez | 4,041 | 9.62% | |
| Republican Party Peter Scirpo | 4,163 | 9.91% | |
| Working Families Party Emmanuel "Manny" Sanchez | 371 | 0.88% | |
| Working Families Party Chris Anderson | 326 | 0.78% | |
| Working Families Party Katie Breslin | 324 | 0.77% | |
| Working Families Party Richard Reyes | 330 | 0.79% | |
| ALDERPERSON - WARD 1 | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Willy Justiniano | 1,096 | 22.03% | |
| Democratic Party Richard Lacourciere | 1,096 | 22.03% | |
| Republican Party Howard B. Dyson | 1,363 | 27.40% | X |
| Republican Party Willie Pabon | 1,419 | 28.53% | X |
| ALDERPERSON - WARD 2 | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Colin Osborn | 625 | 24.49% | ? |
| Democratic Party Brian Keith Albert | 581 | 22.77% | |
| Republican Party Jerrell Hargraves | 618 | 24.22% | |
| Republican Party Kristian Rosado | 728 | 28.53% | X |
| ALDERPERSON - WARD 3 | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Aram Ayalon | 665 | 30.12% | X |
| Democratic Party Iris (Noemi) Sanchez | 739 | 33.47% | X |
| Republican Party Joel Moret | 403 | 18.25% | |
| Republican Party Jason Gibson | 401 | 18.16% | |
| ALDERPERSON - WARD 4 | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Bobby Berriault | 596 | 19.64% | |
| Democratic Party Ann Speyer | 722 | 23.79% | |
| Republican Party Robert Smedley | 890 | 29.32% | X |
| Republican Party Michael Thompson | 827 | 27.25% | X |
| ALDERPERSON - WARD 5 | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Francisco (Cisco) Santiago | 1,027 | 24.10% | X |
| Democratic Party Carlo Carlozzi Jr | 1,086 | 25.48% | |
| Republican Party Kris Rutkowski | 1,114 | 26.14% | X |
| Republican Party Gary S. Mala | 950 | 22.29% | |
| Working Families Party Francisco (Cisco) Santiago | 85 | 1.99% | |
| BOARD OF EDUCATION | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Merrill Gay | 4,322 | 17.42% | X |
| Democratic Party Monica A. Dawkins | 4,327 | 17.44% | X |
| Democratic Party Diane M. Leja | 4,016 | 16.19% | X |
| Republican Party Anthony J. Kane | 4,070 | 16.41% | X |
| Republican Party Gayle Sanders-Connolly | 4,161 | 16.77% | X |
| Republican Party Sheryl A. Mala | 3,910 | 15.76% | |
| BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Nathan "Nate" Simpson | 4,386 | 26.52% | X |
| Democratic Party W. Wyatt Bosworth | 3,919 | 23.70% | |
| Republican Party Todd Cheney | 4,180 | 25.28% | X |
| Republican Party Alden T. Russell | 4,051 | 24.50% | X |
| CONSTABLES | |||
| CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME | VOTES | VOTES % | |
| Democratic Party Patrice Smith | 4,186 | 13.10% | X |
| Democratic Party Suzanne Bielinski | 4,453 | 13.93% | X |
| Democratic Party Russell Garuti | 3,829 | 11.98% | X |
| Democratic Party Thomas J. Shields | 3,926 | 12.28% | X |
| Republican Party Sean Steele | 3,896 | 12.19% | X |
| Republican Party Richard Moreno | 3,834 | 12.00% | X |
| Republican Party Alan F. Zaniewski | 4,117 | 12.88% | X |
| Republican Party Rodney Baker | 3,719 | 11.64% | X |
The results of the election are now certain put an unflattering focus on New Britain Democratic Party Chair Bill Shortell. Under Shortell’s leadership, New Britain Democrats have not only lost two mayoral elections and the City Council majority, but also lost the Sixth State Senate District to the Republicans for the first time in two generations.
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