Boughton to Support Wilson-Foley in 5th Congressional District Contest.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton confirms for Daily Ructions that he will vote for former rival Lisa Wilson-Foley at Friday’s Republican nominating convention. The Danbury Republican Town Committee unanimously endorsed the Simsbury Republican in April, giving rise to the belief that a Boughton endorsement was imminent. Danbury Republicans would not have stampeded to Wilson-Foley without the approval of Boughton.

Developments in Danbury suggest there’s more at work than preference for Wilson-Foley over the other four candidates. Wilson-Foley was a generous supporter of Democratic incumbent U.S. Representative Christopher Murphy in his 2008 re-election campaign over Danbury’s most popular Republican, former state Senator David Cappiello. She’s been unable to provide a coherent explanation for that decision. Boughton, who narrowly defeated Wilson-Foley in the 2010 Republican primary for lieutenant governor, has been known to be scathing in private over Wilson-Foley’s political beliefs and intellect in general and specifically what he often characterized as her support of Obamacare during the 2010 contest.

Danbury has the largest delegation to the convention, which is expected to take more than one ballot to select an endorsed candidate as the candidates head for an August primary.