Simmons shuts out Crowe in Greenwich to win 37 delegates. Claims New Canaan’s 10.

A slate of 37 delegates committed to Democrat Nick Simmons defeated a slate supporting rival Trevor Crowe by the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee Wednesday night. The New Canaan DTC added its 10 to the growing Simmons count.

Stamford sends 16 delegates to the May convention. Crowe will need 10 of those to reach the 15% mark required to qualify for a primary at a nominating convention. Simmons is the brother of Caroline Simmons, Stamford’s Democratic mayor. If Crowe fails to win the support of 15% of the delegates she will need to collect signatures from 5% of the registered Democrats in the district to appear on the August primary ballot. That is almost always harder than candidates expect.

An additional obstacle looms. There will be no state or congressional Democratic primaries this year. Connecticut continues to have the most anti-democratic ballot access laws in the nation. A Democratic primary for the state senate will likely be the only contest on the ballot. It will be a low turnout contest with an advantage to the endorsed candidate–the self-funding Simmons. This is the season of sudden and harsh realities for candidates running against the candidates favored by a party establishment.

Crowe’s 2022 loss to Republican incumbent Ryan Fazio by 89 votes appears to have earned her no longterm goodwill among local party leaders.

The November election race for the seat is expected to be among the most competitive senate contests. Republicans, with only 12 of the chamber’s 36 seats, face considerable headwinds in previously Republican suburbs like Greenwich and New Canaan.

Published March 28, 2024.