Windsor Democrat Shellye Davis will challenge incumbent Doug McCrory in 2nd Senate District.

Windsor Democrat and public employee labor union leader Shellye Davis filed a campaign committee for the Democratic nomination for the 2nd State Senate District on Wednesday. Davis will face four-term incumbent Democrat Doug McCrory.

McCrory was elected to the Senate in a February 2017 special election prompted by Democrat Eric Coleman’s decision not to take his seat shortly after winning re-election to accept a nomination to the Superior Court. The district includes parts of Bloomfield, Hartford and Windsor. He served six terms in the House before winning the 2nd SD election.

Davis, a public school paraeducator, was elected Executive Vice President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO in October 2021. Davis has been honored by the Connecticut Communist Party. The Yankee Institute has been following for several years the Communist Party’s penchant for bestowing awards.

Town committees will choose delegates in March. Delegates will meet in May to select an endorsed candidate. Primaries will take place on August 13th.

Dannielle Wong, recently re-elected mayor of Bloomfield after turning back another primary challenge, is said to be contemplating a challenge to McCrory. The Senate seat would be a more formidable staging post for Wong to launch a bid for the 1st Congressional District when incumbent John Larson decides to retire from the reliably Democratic district that has not elected a Republican since 1956.

The puny turnout in Hartford’s September Democratic for primary has raised the influence of Bloomfield and Windsor in the district. Each has a history of producing more robust turnouts in Democratic primaries.

Published January 25, 2024.