Simmons wins Independent Party endorsement in first for 36th Senate District Democrats.

The Independent Party has endorsed a Democrat in the 36th Senate District for the first time. Democrat Nick Simmons defeated incumbent Republican Ryan Fazio for the party’s nomination in the district that includes Greenwich, New Canaan and part of Stamford.

The Independent Party endorsed Republican incumbent Scott Frantz in the party’s 2018 annus horribilus. Republicans lost five of their 18 seats, including the 36th for the first time since the Great Depression year of 1930. The Independent Party line delivered 643 votes for Frantz.

Democrat Alex Kasser (formerly Bergstein) was re-elected in 2020, defeating Republican Ryan Fazio. Kasser resigned the seat in June 2021, triggering a summer special election. Fazio defeated Democrat Alexis Gevanter by 458 votes. Petitioning candidate John Blankley, a Greenwich Democrat, received 408 votes.

In 2022, the 36th was home to the closest upper chamber contest. Fazio won a full term by defeating Democrat Trevor Crow by 89 votes out of 42,845 cast. The Independent Party made no endorsement. Fazio withstood a Democratic wave as Governor Ned Lamont won 4,369 votes more than Republican Bob Stefanowski. It was an all-Greenwich ticket at the top of the Democratic line with Lamont, Senator Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Jim Himes. Democrats won the three Greenwich state House seats.

Control of the Independent Party has been seriously contested as a result of the decisive role it played in the 2010 gubernatorial election when Chester Republican Thomas Marsh won more than 17,000 votes as the party’s nominee. That was far more than Democrat Dan Malloy’s 6,000 vote margin over Greenwich Republican Tom Foley.

Fazio will be battling more headwinds this year. The Greenwich Republican organization has been in a constant state of ideological war, including bitter primaries earlier this year for seats on the local town committee. The Stamford Republican organization continues to decline as a local force.

In addition to completing a questionnaire, candidates seeking the Independent endorsement were required to sign the pledge below:

I, __________, strongly support free and fair elections and the rule of law, and reject the actions on January 6th, 2021 that attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in the history of the United States. I accept the results of all elections past and future, as certified by
election officials.
Furthermore, by seeking the endorsement of the Independent Party, I will actively cosponsor and support legislation advancing the responses I have given to the questions asked by the Independent Party of Connecticut in selecting candidates for endorsement.

That pledge, a reflection of our perilous politics, ought not to have been difficult for any candidate. It may cause some aggrieved Republicans problems with their local activists.

In some districts, including the 36th, candidates seeking the Independent endorsement were required to gather and submit enough signatures to restore the minor party to the ballot line. The Simmons campaign provided more than the 430 necessary, according to Simmons.

Published September 4, 2024.