Southbury Republican Ruby Corby O’Neill continues her public support for Southbury Democratic first selectman candidate Rich Boritz by adding her name to an ad for him. O’Neill and her husband, state Representative Arthur O’Neill, appeared at a Southbury Democratic event. The battling O’Neills were on the losing side of a local Republican primary for first selectman last month.

O’Neill, whose training is in psychology, so it must have occurred to her that local Republicans will not soon forget the breach among party members that she is making wider. O’Neill lost a 2018 primary bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in the 5th CD. She was defeated by Meriden Republican Manny Santos by a margin of nearly 2-1.

Arthur O’Neill, the longest serving Republican in the House, will face voters next year, should he decide to seek another term. He can expect considerable local party opposition.

Federal campaign finance reports continue to tell the tale of Republican decline in the northeast region of the nation.

Jonathan Riddle, who recently launched his campaign for the Republican nomination in Connecticut’s 4th CD, reports contributions of $100 for the third quarter of the year when Riddle began his campaign, a $7,127.91 loan, $7,485.45 in cash on hand, and $27,770.69 in debts and loans a little over a year before Election Day. The 4th CD is in the nation’s priciest media market, which can makes a competitive campaign expensive.

Robert Hyde, who appears to have switched from running for the U.S. Senate in 2022 to seeking the Republican nomination in the 5th CD, has not reached the $5,000.00 fundraising threshold that would require him to file a full quarterly campaign finance report.

Dear Ructions,

Many people seem to be aware of acidic strife causing trouble among Republicans in a western Connecticut town. The situation threatens to defeat local Republicans this year and next. With two weeks left before the town election, would you suggest a way to bind the wounds?

Sign me,

A House Divided

Dear Divided,

Take a lesson from the New Haven Democrats. They have rallied around the winner of their September primary for mayor, Justin Elicker. Embattled incumbent Toni Harp, who is on the Working Families Party line, wants to revive her dormant campaign for a last ditch lunge at victory. State Democratic leaders and Attorney General William Tong appeared along with local officials at a Sunday rally for Elicker, sending a message of unity to Democratic voters. Those leaders know that bitter local divisions can endure for many destructive election cycles.

One of the many challenges for Connecticut Republicans is that they have no elected leaders in statewide office. You’ll need to need to be creative. Invite as many Republican office holders as you can find to headline an event next weekend. Ask your guests to make calls to both factions to ask them to attend. State Senator George Logan knows how to inspire a crowd. The beloved Nancy Johnson can still argue a brief. Maybe Jodi Rell has not left for Florida and could make an appearance. Make it a child-friendly event (who does not enjoy a bounce house?) because adults cannot be too hard on each other with children in the room.

Reminders of the consequences of handing the common adversary a victory always help. While defeating their intra-party nemesis may please the leaders of the revolt, others will bear the chill of the wilderness. Handing a win to the other side will mean people enjoying making a contribution to community life will be tossed off boards and commissions because their party lost control of town government. 

If you are impaled on the horns of a dilemma and want to risk receiving advice, send a message to kfr@dailyructions.com. Identities will be protected. Messages may be edited.

State Representative Arthur O’Neill, the longest serving Republican in the House, has issued a statement aimed at explaining his presence at a recent local Democratic event. Arthur O’Neill and his wife, Ruby, have been at the center of one warring Southbury Republican faction. Some of the trouble dates to Ruby O’Neill’s unsuccessful 2018 bid for the 5th CD Republican nomination. Some locals feel they were seen by the O’Neills as insufficiently supportive of Ruby O’Neill’s surprise campaign.

The O’Neills found themselves on the losing side of a Southbury primary this summer and seem not to have accepted defeat with even grudging grace, but remain determined to prolong what the veteran legislator casts as “discord.” This struggle appears destined to continue far into 2020.

State Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford) is leaving his post at the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) this month. Slap, who also served as a state representative, is a former chief of staff for the Senate Democrats. He also worked for the University of Connecticut Foundation while serving in the legislature.

Slap, who announced his resignation in an October 9th email, “will pursue a new opportunity in the non-profit/social service sector.” No word on if that will be with an organization that receives funding from the State of Connecticut.

Here’s Slap’s message:

Dear board members,

I hope you’re doing well and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. I do want to share some news with you.  I will be leaving the Tech Council later this month to pursue a new opportunity in the non-profit / social service sector.

Change can mean opportunity – and in this case the chance to build on the strategic decisions & collaboration that we embarked on this Spring with CCAT. Discussions with CCAT surrounding CTC’s alliance with them are continuing and I’m sure you will be fully updated at the next board meeting on Nov. 4^th, if not sooner. 

I have greatly enjoyed our work together and am grateful for your partnership. Connecticut is a small state so I’m confident and hopeful that we will have other opportunities to connect.  

Yours,

Derek

Details of Brexit can be a muddle for Americans to follow. No one will have trouble understanding this mess of an interview as a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament tries to popular interviewer explain to popular and informed interviewer Iain Dale why her party opposes the agreement reached by the United Kingdom and the European Union Thursday.

As Governor Ned Lamont prepares to unveil a renovated transportation plan, this interview provides a reminder that officials need to know their brief.

The Federal Elections Commission wants some answers from Connecticut Democrats. The state Democrats’ campaign filings have been a mess and the FEC noticed. The commission has contacted Connecticut Democrats and expects explanations.

Updates as events require.

State Representative Arthur O’Neill and Ruby O’Neill continue to be at odds with a wide tranche of Southbury Republicans in the aftermath of Ruby O’Neill’s 2018 congressional bid and a battle over the Republican nomination for first selectman this year. The O’Neills were on the losing side of that contest. They appear to have moved their battered tanks to the Southbury Democrats.

Beware the unnamed “concerned citizens.” They are at it again and once more their innocent target is Jane Emons, the former judge of the Superior Court who was denied a vote on her renomination in 2018.

Judge Emons will be speaking on ethics at a Fairfield County Bar Association seminar and her miscreant detractors are unhappy. Judge Emons, readers may recall, was the target of anti-Semitic abuse during her confirmation proceeding. William Tong, then the House co-chair of the legislature’s judiciary committee, abandoned Judge Emons and refused to allow a vote on her renomination, though she had more than the 76 votes needed to win.

Tong, at the time, was taking to his fainting couch as he fretted that attorney general rival Chris Mattei would win delegate votes in Hartford with the support of a local Emons detractor, state Representative Minnie Gonzalez.

The “concerned citizens” in an email speak of shame and Judge Emons. The belongs to William Tong, who gave assistance and a victory to the virus of anti-Semitism.

Dear Ructions,

I’m running for local office for the first time this fall. I’m on a slate with five others, all experienced in politics. At least three of us will win because of Connecticut’s minority representation requirements. I’ve been active in school and sports activities and know a lot of people who aren’t in politics but are eager to help me win. My enthusiastic friends think the best way to help me win is to cast their vote for me alone and not the other five members of the ticket. 

Word of their intentions has reached my slate mates and there is a chill whenever we meet. I’m getting the impression the other five would not mind winning without me. No one wants to campaign with me and my signs are not on many lawns of party supporters.

Is there time to turn this around?

Sign me,

Bullet voted

Dear Bullet,

You are about to discover if you have as many friends as you think you do. However many you have, the others have more. I’ll guess that the wound was inflicted by some admirer unleashing the virus on a community Facebook page. Get your friends together—in the flesh, not online—and tell them they must put some of their enthusiasm into helping the other candidates. Ask some of the savvier ones to volunteer to take other candidates around their neighborhoods. They can attest to your virtues between doors (and let you know how people react to them). 

There is no bond like the one that forms trudging from house to house together. This will thaw the air. Tell your friends to post photos of themselves helping the other candidates. Get enough of them attend party events that your fresh contribution is noticed. It never hurts to raise some late money.

That ought to give you a reputation as a team player. What your friends whisper to each other on how to vote, well, there is not much you can do about that.

If you are impaled on the horns of a dilemma and want to risk receiving advice, send a message to kfr@dailyructions.com. Identities will be protected. Messages may be edited.