Democrats’ Nominating Committee Recommendations Taking Shape

The New Britain Democratic Party’s Nominations Committee is nearing the task assembling a potential Democratic slate for this year’s city elections, but the nomination process is far from over.

In July, the governing Town Committee of the Republican and Democratic parties will each make official endorsements of candidates for city offices, including Mayor, City Council and Board of Education. Those party “endorsement” decisions will be the first official votes cast as part of the process of electing the city government for the 2021 to 2023 term.

But, as part of its nominations process, the Democratic Party has a subcommittee of its Town Committee that makes recommendations for who might be selected the full Democratic Town Committee. That Nominations Committee has been working for months, now, on potential candidates for the Democrats’ city election slate, and the picture of who it is recommending became clearer at the Democratic Town Committee’s May 20, 2021 meeting.

Its recommendations now include:

• Mayor – Rep. Bobby Sanchez (D-25)
• City Treasurer – Current Treasurer Ron Jakubowski (D)
• Tax Collector – Lanette Spranzo Macaruso
• City Council At Large – five seats:
  • Ald. Chris Anderson (D-AL)
  • Amy Labas
  • Ald. Richard Reyes (D-AL)
  • Ald. Francisco Santiago (D-5)
  • Current Board of Education Member, Dr. Violet Jiménez Sims (D)
• Council Ward 1- two seats:
  • Chris Porcher
  • Dave Stenson
• Council Ward 2- two seats:
  • Ald. Colin Osborn (D-2)
• Council Ward 3- two seats:
  • Ald. Iris Sanchez (D-3)
  • Ald. Aram Ayalon (D-3)
• Council Ward 4- two seats:
  • Basil Green
  • Todd Arasimowicz
• Council Ward 5 – two seats:
  • Tre Brown
  • Carlo Carlozzi
• Board of Education – three spots on the ballot:
  • Annie Parker- incumbent (D)
  • Diana Reyes- incumbent (D)
  • Eileen Ruiz
• Board of Assessment Appeals – two spots on the ballot:
  • Candyce Scott
  • Wyatt Bosworth
• Constable:
  • Suzanne Bielinski- incumbent (D)

The list did not include a recommendation yet for the second of the two seats in Ward 2, which represents neighborhoods in the East Side, nor for the office Town and City Clerk.

At its May 20th meeting, the Democratic Town Committee also heard campaign updates from the two other Democrats running for Mayor, Veronica DeLandro and Alicia Hernandez Strong.

A campaign update was also presented by Democrat Richard Lacourciere, who is noted for having run a strong open seat primary campaign for State Representative and later endorsing current Rep. Manny Sanchez (D-24) in the 2020 general election, after Rep. Sanchez won that primary. Lacourciere also did not appear on the list of Nominations Committee recommendations.

The Democratic Town Committee is not obligated to endorse the candidates recommended by its Nominations Committee. The Town Committee members are elected from each of the city’s voting districts to represent registered Democratic voters. Each Town Committee member chooses the candidates they are going to support in the July endorsement meeting.

Nominations by the Democratic Party are a potentially two step process. When the Democrats’ Town Committee votes for its officially endorsed candidates for city offices in July, those candidates are the “endorsed” Democratic candidates for those offices. Republicans’ process works much the same way.

But, candidates not endorsed by the Town Committee can send the decision on the nomination to a party primary by collecting petition signatures. If there is no primary, endorsed candidates became the official nominees of their parties. But, if they are challenged in a primary, registered voters in that party decide their party’s nominees in a primary election.

Any primary in 2021 would be held on September 14th.

Editor’s note (5/20/2021): The article was changed to reflect that Wyatt Bosworth is not an incumbent.