First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said Wednesday that he is “considering all options” with respect to a fourth term as New Canaan’s highest elected official.
New Canaan FIrst Selectman Rob Mallozzi
Town Council member Kevin Moynihan’s 10-vote margin of victory—612 votes 602—at Tuesday’s Republican caucus has given the three-term incumbent pause as he weighs whether it’s best for him and the community to watch this election season from the sidelines or push forward with a campaign in some form, Mallozzi said.
Asked about his plans, Mallozzi said he’s received a “barrage of phone calls, emails and messages” from residents who support him and that he “absolutely will not ignore” their calls for him to consider a run.
“It’s five swing votes and that is not enough to say immediately what I am doing,” Mallozzi said.
The first selectman said he greeted municipal employees as they made their way into Town Hall on Wednesday morning, reassuring them that he is “still fully into this role.”
“I am not sitting at home today weeping,” Mallozzi said.
Kevin Moynihan won Republican backing in his bid for first selectman’s office at the July 18, 2017 caucus. Contributed
Options for a run at a fourth term include forcing a primary in September to seek again the Republican nomination, or pursuing the office as a petitioning candidate.
Mallozzi echoed what he had said at a Republican Town Committee-sponsored debate last week, that he had not considered what would happen if he lost at the caucus.
“I honestly hadn’t given it any thought,” he said.
Many of those at the caucus, including Moynihan himself, expressed surprise with the outcome of the first selectman race, which also saw Town Council member Cristina A. Ross earn 60 votes.
The caucus by a 763-466 margin backed Selectman Nick Williams, an ally of Mallozzi’s since he entered the first selectman’s office, over challenger Christa Kenin of the Town Council.
Republicans also voted for Town Council incumbents John Engel and Penny Young, and for newcomers Tom Butterworth and Rich Townsend. Two Republicans on the legislative body are not seeking to retain their seats this term—Chairman Bill Walbert and Moynihan.
Following a change to New Canaan’s major governing document in last year’s election, electors now can vote for up to six Town Council candidates, not four.
The Republicans in backing just four effectively “under-endorsed,” Town Clerk Claudia Weber said when asked for clarification on the matter.
“A candidate would have to use a primary petition to gain one of those two spots,” she told NewCanaanite.com in an email. “A candidate, with a qualifying petition, would automatically be placed on the ballot unless the number of petitions received exceeds the number of slots open. If the latter occurs, an actual primary would be held.”
A primary petition requires signatures of 5 percent of New Canaan’s registered Republicans, according to Weber.
The same holds true for Democrats—where a primary petition would require 5 percent of registered Democrats in New Canaan.
Starting with this article, I’m asking readers please to use their full and verifiable first and last names in submitting comments on election-related stories.
This was not an easy decision to reach. We didn’t see personal attacks on the election-related stories, but we did run into a problem with general tone. The decision came following feedback from a handful of trusted readers on what had descended into snarky, sniping comments—about candidates, fellow readers and this news outlet—in the lead-up to the July 18 Republican caucus.
It’s not ideal: In a tight-knit community like New Canaan, many of those engaged in local government wear other hats. I understand that a comment can be fair, reasonable and respectfully worded even if it’s critical, and that someone still may not want his or her real and full name attached to it because of separate connections to a person, organization or situation.
It’s not my goal to stifle healthy disagreement.
However, the tone of the discussion on New Canaanite as the caucus neared this week descended so quickly—and, for me, so unexpectedly—that we’ll risk not receiving some of those perfectly fair comments in order to avoid the ugly bickering.
In truth, none of our readers are responsible for this new policy on election-related stories—the spiral in our threads started when a resident failed to account for and address an open question facing the electorate.
As always, each comment is approved or rejected manually by me.
For non-election stories, our standard practice will hold: I need to be able to verify each commenter’s identity and to have a working email, though as long as the comments aren’t attacks they can be approved with a first initial and last name or vice versa, or in some special cases just initials.
Bravo, Mike! I heartily endorse your conclusion here.
Thanks, Dave.