Submitted by Janet Freiheit, Michael Freiheit, Lisa Becker Edmundson, Michael Erensen, Caren Vizzo St. Phillip and Dina Cortese Urso
Some of you may recognize our names from different affiliations in town. We wear many titles: spouses, children, parents, business owners, coaches, volunteers, friends, and REPUBLICANS. Cos Cob is where we have landed; most of us haven’t lived outside of Greenwich for more than a few years over our lifetimes.
Collectively, we’re running as a cohesive team of six conservative Republicans to bring change to the Republican Town Committee (RTC) District 8 delegation.
At District 8’s caucus night in mid-January, 4 incumbents and 2 newcomers won by a majority of those attending in person on a stormy Tuesday night. The slate of 6 who prevailed knew how to get people
physically in a room. However, this same group of 6 (one of whom, notably, was not a Republican until hours before the caucus) all had been defeated in their run for District 8 RTM seats this past November.
Cos Cob voters who voted in the general election didn’t support these specific candidates after looking into their positions and prior voting records. Voters essentially said these people don’t represent the values we hold important.
Additionally, 4 who are RTC incumbents are responsible for the humiliating loss of the 151 st State Representative seat. It was the first time in 160 years that a Democrat won that seat.
If Greenwich Republicans want less of Hartford in Greenwich, this is not the way to do it. Let’s face it: Connecticut will likely always be a blue state; Greenwich, however, will lose its hard earned reputation as a dark red town should the RTC remain in the hands of this particular group.
The Cos Cob RTC incumbents are more concerned about national level politics at the expense of town policies that impact our day to day lives. That is a fatal flaw. Referring to themselves repeatedly as “these Republicans” in their communications and ruling from the top down, the current RTC leadership irrefutably has spent more ink attacking other Republicans in their newsletters and social media posts than they have combating Democrat policies since 2022.
How are we different than the incumbents?
First, we are endorsed by Fred Camillo and other well-respected Republicans who all share the view that this current group is damaging not just local Republicans but our town as a whole.
Most of us grew up in Greenwich; we are raising our families here; we own small businesses in Greenwich (namely Caren’s Cos Cobber and Rinaldi’s in the heart of Cos Cob!); and we have been lifelong Republicans.
We, as a slate of 6, bring our love of Greenwich and desire to see it and its Cos Cob Republican constituents well represented. We will nominate and get elected the best candidates for municipal office in the vein of Fred Camillo and Lauren Rabin. We will also nominate candidates who can win for State Representative so we can fight things like 8-30g to stop overdevelopment in town, and we will be laser focus on re-electing Senator Ryan Fazio who is doing an outstanding job in Hartford.
Above all else, however, we are tired of the division and vitriol spewing from the current Republican Town Committee and vow to bring decorum and local focus back to it if elected.
On March 5, 2024, if you are a Republican in Cos Cob’s District 8, we ask for your vote!
Polls will be open at Central Middle School from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm. If you are unable to vote in person, absentee ballots are available. You can go into the Town Clerk’s office any weekday and vote right there.
We are honored to have the endorsement of First Selectman Fred Camillo. Please support Fred and vote for all six of us: Janet Freiheit, Michael Freiheit, Lisa Becker Edmundson, Michael Erensen, Caren Vizzo St. Phillip and Dina Cortese Urso.