Eleven delegates to choose Democratic nominee tonight in 40th House District special election.

David Collins explains in The Day how the closed system of filling legislative vacancies will work in replacing Christine Conley, the Groton Democrat from the 40th House District. Conley asked voters to re-elect her in November but decided soon after she’d rather not represent Groton and part of New London, after all. She will instead become a Workers’ Compensation Commissioner.

Tonight, the 11 Democrats who nominated Conley last spring will convene to choose a nominee for the February special election. Groton has eight delegates, New London three. As of Wednesday evening there was no consensus on a candidate. Former Groton mayor Juan Melendez and Groton council member Dan Gaiewski, who is a Conley loyalist are vying for the nomination in the Democratic-leaning district.

Melendez seems like the obvious choice but experience and other virtues are not always persuasive when 11 politicos gather to pick a candidate.

There is an intentional democracy deficit in choosing candidates for a special election. Connecticut is among the states with the worst ballot access laws in the nation. For legislative special elections, there are no primaries. Legislative leaders, who do not like primaries, would argue that the compressed schedule for a special election at the start of a legislative session is necessary for the residents of a district to be represented in this regular session of the legislature. There is an alternative. Parties could hold daylong votes at one polling place in each town in the district for party members to cast a ballot for any qualified candidate. In the 40th that would certainly attract more than 11 local Democrats.

Republicans are expected to nominate Robert Boris. The Groton Republican lost in a House race in the 41st House District in 2022. He was defeated by Democrat Aundre Bumgardner by a wide margin, 6,538 to 3,841.

Published January 16, 2025.