Lopes Reportedly to Run for Senate, Sanchez for 24th

State Rep. Rick Lopes (D-24) will reportedly announce that he will run for State Senate, while Ald. Manny Sanchez (D-AL) will reportedly run to succeed Lopes in the State House of Representatives.

The New Britain Democratic Party’s Chair, Bill Shortell has told Democratic activists that they are invited to the re-election campaign announcements for State Rep. Bobby Sanchez (D-25) and State Rep. Peter Tercyak (D-26).

Shortell went on to say, “Also for election: Manny Sanchez, 24th District State House of Representatives, New Britain, Newington,” and, “Rick Lopes, 6th District State Senate, New Britain, Berlin, and part of Farmington.

The plans for Lopes to run for State Senate and Ald. Sanchez to run for the Twenty-Fourth District, presently represented by Lopes, had been rumored for some time.

Lopes, a small business owner, has represented the Twenty-Fourth Assembly District since 2012. Lopes was recently named to the important position of Chair of the state legislature’s Banking Committee by the Speaker of the state House of Representatives, Rep. Joe Aresimowicz (D-30), who represents Berlin.

When former State Sen. Terry Gerratana (D-6) was appointed by as a senior health policy advisor in the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT) in early 2019, Lopes announced that he would run in the special election to succeed her.

Lopes was nominated by Democrats for the Senate seat. In the February special election, marked by low voter turnout, Lopes won New Britain, but Republican Gennaro Bizzarro received enough votes in Berlin and Farmington to win the election.

Democrats have been hoping that the larger turnout in the November general election, this year, with a presidential election, will allow them to wage a strong challenge to Sen. Bizzarro (R-6). But the Sixth Senatorial District also includes all of Berlin, in which Republican President Donald Trump won in 2016, making the 6th District Senate race likely one of the key elections to watch in 2020.

Ald. Sanchez is a five term incumbent member of the New Britain City Council. He had been one of the two Council members representing the city’s Third Ward, but, in 2017, he sought and won one of the five At-Large (citywide) Council seats.

A lifelong New Britain resident, Sanchez works as a Development Officer for Major Gifts for the University of Hartford. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, holding a degree in Urban and Community Studies.

Sanchez was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Fifth Congressional District in 2018. He received enough votes at the Democrats’ nominating convention to qualify to run in the primary for the Democratic Party nomination.

But, in a move that won him wide praise, Sanchez decided not to wage a primary campaign. Current United States Representative Jahana Hayes (D-5) went on to win that primary, after overwhelmingly winning New Britain, and then made history when she was elected to Congress.

Republicans are widely expected to re-nominate Bizzarro for Senate and State Rep. William Petit (R-22) in the Twenty-Second District, which is primarily in Plainville and includes neighborhoods in New Britain. In addition to nominating for the open seat in the Twenty Fourth District, Republicans are able to nominate challengers in the Twenty Fifth and Twenty-Sixth districts.

The Democratic candidate announcements, Shortell says, are to be on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

Official major party endorsements are in May. Any primaries for party nominations would be August 11, 2020.