Two years ago local voters learned the tremendous potential of Greenwich’s party caucuses after a Republican coup unfolded on two very cold January nights.
The planned takeover brought out scores of voters and resulted in new party leadership. The power shift started the first night when over 115 Republican voters turned out in district 11, about 100 more than the previous caucus.
Before the second night of caucuses, the Greenwich Patriots urged Republicans to attend because, “National thought-leaders tell us that you must get involved locally, get onto town boards and take back your local institutions if we truly wish to effect change.”
Republican voters obliged.
Trevor Crow on election night 2022. Photo Eric Harvey for GFP
Despite the rout, the red wave the RTC predicted in the 2022 midterm elections was not to be. All three state rep positions went blue.
Republican Ryan Fazio defeated his Democratic challenger Trevor Crow who was narrowly re-elected after a recount.
The 36th Senate District includes Greenwich and part of Stamford.
If voters learned the value of a precinct strategy on those fateful January nights, this week’s Republican caucuses will likely be well attended.
But this January, the significance of party caucuses is not lost on Democrats.
The town committees endorse candidates to be the nominees in municipal elections and elections for state offices, and this year there is the possibility of two Democratic candidates vying for their party’s nomination to challenge State Senator Fazio in the 36th district.
Ms Crow filed her candidacy with the state in November.
Reached by phone, she described her platform as advocating for mental health, gun safety, child care, coastal resiliency, and reproductive rights.
Crow, a family therapist who previously ran for Greenwich Tax Collector before challenging Fazio, recalled her narrow 2022 defeat to him. She lost by just 89 votes out of 42,812.
She said reproductive rights continue to need protection.
“If we have a Republican president, Republican Senate, Republican Congress, we’ll have a 15-week abortion ban,” she warned.
Crow, who has two adult children and two adult step-children said, today it is more important than ever for Connecticut to have a constitutional amendment to codify Roe.
“The only way is with a Senate majority in Connecticut,” she said. “And the State Senate needs more women.”
Courtesy Nick Simmons
There has been a growing buzz that Nick Simmons might file his own candidacy.
Simmons, whose sister Caroline is the Mayor of Stamford, grew up in Greenwich and lives just over the line in Stamford with his wife and newborn baby.
Today he serves as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Ned Lamont.
Earlier in his career he was a school principal in Harlem.
During the pandemic, as a Biden appointee, he served as Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of Education and was tasked with leading School Reopening and Recovery for the Biden Administration, working with the White House Covid team out of the Office of the Secretary at the US Dept of Education.”
Reached by phone on Monday, Simmons said people had been encouraging him to run and he was in “a fact finding and listening phase.”
“I have gotten positive feedback and folks have been encouraging me to run. I would be grateful for the party’s support. I have nearly 15 years of public policy service and leadership, and it would be a privilege to get to represent my hometown and the community where nearly my entire family and set of friends are based.”
“The next few days will be determinative of who the party members will be, and I am grateful, for those who said they would support me if I decide to run.”
State Senator Ryan Fazio at a rally for parent rights at Cos Cob School. Sept, 2022 Photo: Leslie Yager
Meanwhile, Fazio has yet to make an announcement about plans for re-election.
To vote in a caucus for either town committee, you must be a Greenwich resident who lives in the district of the particular caucus (parties hold a caucus in each of the 12 districts) and be a registered member of the party.
Registered party members may seek endorsement as a candidate for their town committee at their respective caucus. Alternately they can be nominated by someone else if they are not able to attend the caucus.
State Rep Hector Arzeno, the Democratic State Rep in the 151st district who is a member of the DTC in district 8, Cos Cob, recalled that his own foray into politics started by attending his district’s caucus.
“I went to caucus in Greenwich to learn and see the process. It’s fascinating,” he said on Monday.
“It’s very important to show up in the caucus because politics are built from the from bottom up,” Arzeno added. “When you participate at the local level you gain knowledge and elect the right candidates.”
Once he was a member of the DTC, Arzeno said, “Then I voted on local candidates and then nominated myself to be a delegate to the state convention. I did my homework from bottom up.”
State Rep Steve Meskers (D-150), who is the DTC district leader for district 6 in Old Greenwich, said on Monday, “Although we seem to live in a hyper partisan era, public service is still a wonderful calling.”
See also:
Republican Town Committee Announces Caucuses
Jan 2024
Biennial Greenwich Democratic Caucuses are January 9th-11th
Jan 2024
Greenwich RTC Caucuses Result in Major Power Shift
Jan 12, 2022