Election 2019

Five New Canaan Republicans Seek Party Backing for Three Board of Ed Seats Up for Election

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Five Republicans will seek party backing at next month’s caucus for three seats on the Board of Education in November’s local election, officials say. According to the New Canaan Republican Town Committee, Julie Reeves—currently serving out Hazel Hobbs’s unexpired term on the school board—will seek to retain her seat while four others also filed petitions prior to last Friday’s deadline. They are Carl W. Gardiner, Suzanne Harrison, Daniel LaGattuta and Bob Naughton, according to a press release attributed to RTC Chairman Patrick Donovan. The slate means that Republicans Tom Cronin and Maria Naughton will not seek re-election to the Board of Ed. Instead, Maria Naughton is running for Town Council.

Government

Republican Officials: 10-Vote Margin at Caucus Does Not Meet Standard for Recount

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Noting that the 10-vote margin in a vote for New Canaan’s highest elected office does not meet the standard for a recount, officials said there will be no such ballot review following the July 18 Republican caucus. Incumbent First Selectman Rob Mallozzi, who lost to challenger and Town Council member Kevin Moynihan 612-602 at the caucus, had requested the recount two days later. Yet, as Republican Town Committee Chairman Patrick Donovan cited in a response to the request, under the rules adopted by the Republican caucus, votes will be recounted “in the event that five (5) or fewer votes separate the top two candidates for any office.”

In the emailed response forwarded to NewCanaanite.com, Donovan also pointed out that the caucus is a temporary assembly of registered Republicans in New Canaan, while the Republican Town Committee itself is an entirely separate organization. “The RTC, its officers and the Moderator of the Caucus do not have the power to overturn the rules that were adopted by the Caucus of New Canaan’s Republican Electors on July 18, 2017,” the response from Donovan said. It continued: “The Caucus Rules were distributed to all candidates prior to the Caucus, posted and made available at the Caucus prior and during the Caucus.