Two 5th District Democrats Vow to Primary Against Donovan

The Congressional race heats up as the party picks its candidate and two others vow to primary.

  It will be up to the voters. Chris Donovan secured the Democratic Party's nomination in the 5th Congressional District race during a convention in Waterbury last night — Monday, May 14 — but with enough votes from delegates, Elizabeth Esty and Daniel Roberti say they will exercise their right to a primary in August, according to the Record Journal. If funds raised are any measure of a candidate's viability then Esty will give Donovan a run for his money. The Cheshire resident and former state representative has the most money in her campaign coffers. Meanwhile, though, Roberti has the support of the Southbury Democratic Town Committee. The three Democrats faced off in a debate in late February. On the other side of the aisle, there are …

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Middlebury's Republican Primary Results Are In

Middlebury reflected the statewide trend and Romney got the most votes.

  The Tuesday, April 24, Republican primary results for Middlebury are in. Voter turnout was 14 percent, according to numbers provided by Town Clerk Edie Salisbury. Of the 2,403 names on the active Republican enrollment list, 338 people voted. "We hoped it would be a larger turnout but unfortunately it was not," Salisbury said in an e-mail to Patch. At noon Tuesday, voter turnout was seven percent. Middlebury's numbers are in line with the statewide vote. The New York Times reported that Romney had 67.5-percent of the vote statewide as of 10:13 p.m., with 90 percent of the precincts reporting.

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Opinion: Most Principled GOP Candidate Will Beat Obama

The coordinator for Rick Santorum's campaign has a message for fellow Republicans as they head to the polls for the GOP primary on Tuesday.

  To the Editor: I’m tired of being told who to vote for. Year after year, Republican Party officials tell their registrants who they think our candidate should be. Then that candidate — because they’re rich, or have kissed their boots for years — loses. See John McCain, Bob Dole, and virtually every state Republican to emerge on the horizon in the past ten years. Do Connecticut Republicans have any Congressional or statewide office holders today? No. Yet their Pravda-style message presses on. Romney is the “obvious nominee”... who’s still short 400 votes of the 1144 goal. In other words, he’s only at 50 percent, according to the official count by the Republican National Committee (RNC). Despite his “obvious nominee” status, no crowds …

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Woodbury-Middlebury Patch In

We Haven’t Really Come a Long Way, Baby

The current ‘war between women’ pitting Hilary Rosen against Ann Romney is deflecting attention from the true ‘war ON women’ and distracting us from the real question — Who are we voting for?

  [Editor's Note: Please keep an eye out later this week for "Patch Back," a new feature from Lisa Bigelow that will serve as response piece to certain installments of Heather's "Patch In."] The question isn’t whether Ann Romney ever ‘worked’ a day in her whole life, but: Does her husband Mitt truly give a rat’s ass about anyone — especially women — in the 99 percent? This made-up battle between working moms and stay-at-home-moms is causing people of every gender to lose focus on more important issues — namely whether politicians are advocating stripping rights from women (like reproductive health choices) or finding ways to penalize them and hold them back (withholding equal pay) or simply having a double standard when it comes to lower- …

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Committee Approves Election Day Voter Registration Bill

If passed, the bill would also allow online registration for residents with driver's licenses.

  A committee of the General Assembly approved a bill that would allow voter registration on the actual Election Day, according to the Connecticut Post.  Republicans in the Government Administration and Elections Committee attempted to amend the bill so that residents would be require to present a photo ID prior to registration to prevent fraud, but failed. Sen. Gayle S. Slossberg, D-Milford, co-chairwoman of the panel, told the Post the seniors and minorities, who are most likely to not have photo IDs, would be discouraged by the amendment and that there hasn't been any previous evidence of voter registration fraud in Connecticut. The legislation would also create online registration for residents with driver's licenses. Gov. Dannel …

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Secretary of State Sets Order of GOP Candidates on Connecticut Primary Ballot

The Republican primary in Connecticut is scheduled for Tuesday, April 24.

  Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and state Republican Party Executive Director Bryan Cafferelli announced the order in which the four Republican candidates running for president will appear on the ballot during the Connecticut GOP primary on Tuesday, April 24. The order is as follows: 1.      Newt Gingrich 2.      Ron Paul 3.      Mitt Romney 4.      Rick Santorum According to the press release, the above order was randomly selected. There will also be a fifth option on the ballot, which will be "uncommitted." There won't be any Democratic primary that day, since President Barack Obama is the only candidate qualified for the primary in this state.  "The race for the Republican presidential nomination is set to roll through …

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5th District Candidates Square Off in Debate [VIDEO]

Democratic candidates discuss job creation and other hot topics during Tuesday night debate.

Three candidates vying for Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District seat debated education, job creation and women’s rights in Waterbury Tuesday night. In front of a standing room only crowd of 200 people, the Democratic candidates - State Rep. Christopher Donovan of Meriden, Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire, and Dan Roberti of Kent, were generally cordial with each other but voiced slightly different views on how they would govern if elected. The debate, which took place at Chase Collegiate School, was moderated by Scott Bates, a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, and hosted by the Northwest Connecticut Young Democrats. The candidates are contending for the seat being vacated by Congressman Chris Murphy, a Democrat who is running…

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