The new members of the Greenwich Republican Town Committee cemented the takeover of their party leadership on Wednesday night in the Cone Room.
Meanwhile the DTC met downstairs where three incumbent officers were re-elected: Joe Angland as Chair, Ken Greenberg as Vice Chair and Phyllis Behlen as Secretary. For Democrats the Treasurer position is an appointed position, and Bob Brady retains that role.
Upstairs the Cone room, outgoing RTC chair Dan Quigley explained that a result of being recommended by the executive committee, four individuals were automatically nominated the new board. He opened the floor for other nominations, but there were none.
The new RTC officers were: Beth MacGillivray as Chair, Laura Darrin and Jane sprung as Vice Chairs, Cheryl Resnick for Treasurer and Gail Lauridsen as Secretary.
“Thank you, Dan. Thank you for your service, your time and all your energy you put into the RTC the past couple years,” MacGillivray said.
“Go get ’em,” Quigley replied, passing Ms MacGillivray the gavel before leaving.
Quigley had barely hung on to his membership in the RTC at the district 1 caucus in January. Over the course of two nights, hundreds of Republicans came out in freezing weather, nominating their own candidates and winning. Overall, 21 incumbents ran and lost. Then, in a primary on March 1, triggered by two petition candidates, he was ousted.
“We are going to bring a red wave and re-energize the RTC in Greenwich,” MacGillivray said.
“Some of you who know me, and if you know me say, ‘She gets things done, and with integrity.’ Some of you don’t. I want to give you a little security and comfort. I can read speeches and preach to the choir but I’m going to give you a story instead. It was about May and I had just gotten on the RTC and I got a phone call. Jane Sprung got the same phone call. ‘Can you chair my campaign for the 149th district? It was Kimberly Fiorello. I said What? I don’t know anything about politics. I didn’t know anything. It’s golf season for God’s sake.”
“We are going to win in this RTC. That’s your security blanket. The four you’re about to meet, we’ve all pledged $9,000 to the RTC. We have skin in the game and we’re fully invested.”
She said Fred DeCaro, the town’s Republican registrar and outgoing Secretary, was doubling his pledge this year.
“We started out with zero yesterday. I’m proud to announce there is $39,000 in the RTC pledged coming through,” she added. “I want to move forward, get business going and you can meet some of the killer women who are going to be up here on the board.”
MacGillivray said Cheryl Resnick had gone through both the caucus vote and the March 1 primary and won the most votes both times. “We have a powerhouse as Treasurer,” she said.
“You have been invaluable so I will ask if you will stay as assistant secretary to help Gail,” MacGillivray said to Mr. DeCaro.
“I also would like to ask David Alfano if he would like to be our assistant treasurer,” she continued, adding that Michael Spilo would serve as RTC parliamentarian.
After a vote on a bylaws change and selection of delegates to caucuses, candidates each had five minutes to pitch their candidacies, including Jayme Stevenson (Darien) and Michael Goldstein (Greenwich) who are both seeking the party nomination to run against Jim Himes.
MacGillivray introduced Stevenson, who is from Darien. She is seeking her party’s nomination to challenge US Congressman Jim Himes.
“She has been the First Selectman of Darien for a decade. A successful business woman and community leader,” MacGillivray said. “She is a proud American, wife, mother and grandmother, and she’s ready to take on DC.”
Stevenson came out swinging against incumbent Democrat Jim Himes, calling him a Wall Street-to-Washington bureaucrat.
“Democrats, especially Jim Himes, have completely lost touch with reality, common sense and middle class America.”
“I will stand up and defend student and parent rights,” she said. “And speak out against a manipulation of morality that defines Americans solely as perpetrators or victims. And by the color of your skin, the the content of your character.”
“Many of you are here tonight because you’re outraged at being labeled domestic terrorists for simply exercising your Constitutional rights to push back against school masking and distancing policies, and toxic race theories that are being pushed on our children. Our kids are being used as pawns in a politically motivated culture and gender war. And what have we heard from Jim Himes? Absolutely nothing.”
Stevenson said Himes, “has done nothing to avert multiple crises infecting America: rampant inflation, open borders, soft-on-crime policies fueling a 30% rise in murders, and 100,000 Fentanyl deaths last year, skyrocketing suicide rates among our youth, the US oil money funding Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and bringing the world to the brink of World War III.”
“As a successful Standard & Poor’s executive, 10 year municipal CEO and bi-partisan regional and state leader, wife, mother and grandmother I am uniquely qualified to bring back the votes of suburban women and unaffiliated voters this cycle.”
“I’ve done it six times in my political career,” Stevenson said. “We have a historic opportunity this year if we field the right candidates. Our families and businesses deserve better.”
Jessica Kordos, said she had been a trial attorney for nearly 12 years. She is seeking her party’s nomination to run for CT Attorney General. “I don’t come from a white shoe law firm that wants to figure out how to negotiate deals in the back room,” she said.
“The Attorney General has a unique responsibility. The Attorney General is required to be a non partisan person. The person is supposed to read the law, know the Constitution understand the rules and make sure all state agencies are abiding by them. That new laws being passed are Constitutional and not further infringing on our rights. Every time we take a step where just a little bit of our rights are taken away – what about tomorrow?”
“Parents have demanded that someone listen. The consumer should be demanding that someone listens,” she said.
Hopeful Republican candidate for Secretary of State Dominic Rapini, from Branford, said he was an expert in Connecticut elections, and could get more change accomplished as Secretary of State.
Democratic Secretary of State Denise Merrill announced in 2021 that she would not seek another term.
A Republican has not served as Secretary of the State since 1995.
“I plan to be the first Republican Secretary of State in over three decades in Connecticut,” he said. “I am a principled conservative. I am a proud Republican and I am an American optimist.”
“When I do my job, I’m measured in the billions. It’s a difficult job and a job I love. For the last two decades I’ve been Apple’s salesperson of the year.”
He added that if he wins in November, he would retire from Apple Inc.
“For the last three years I’ve been on the front ranks of election issues here in CT where most Republicans have been sitting on the sidelines. In fact, most sat on the sidelines today when we voted on the unconstitutional mail-in ballots, which passed today in the Senate.”
“I sued the state of CT over the constitutionality of mail in voting. The same result in Pennsylvania was overturned as unconstitutional.”
“Connecticut does not have the infrastructure or the capability to do mail in voting like they do in Colorado, where they took a decade to get it right. And they have clean voter rolls, which we don’t have. I’ve identified over 400,000 names on our voter rolls that are either dead, gone or duplicate.”
“I figured I can’t get anything changed as an activist, so I’m going to run for office,” he said. “I’m going to do it from inside out.”
“As Secretary of State there will be some key deliverables. First, there is a major commercial division and I plan to create CEO councils of small, medium and large businesses. We’re going to identify the regulations that need to come off the books.”
We’re going to create a digital depository so that we have business to business marketing that is not available today. And I’m going to build a concierge model, a customer-centric model so they can onboard with ease, and maybe a human on the other end.”
“On the election side, we’re going to clean the voter rolls. We’re going to establish accountability. We’re going to make sure that a landlord in Bridgeport cannot steal the identity of his tenants and use that to vote absentee ballots for all those people in his council race.”
Greenwich resident Michael Goldstein, a doctor and attorney, said he’d served on the board of Temple Sholom, and was the former New York County Medical Society President. He described himself as a Constitutional conservative.
“I believe in the Declaration of Independence, the promise of equality for all and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness,” he said, adding that he Bill of Rights the one of the most amazing documents in the history of civilization.
“It is under siege by the Democrats,” he said. “We have cancel culture, where if you protest against the government, you can be fired from your job. That’s totally unacceptable. Mothers who go against the school boards because they want their children educated instead of indoctrinated are being called domestic terrorists by the Attorney General of the US. Thank God he wasn’t put on the Supreme Court.”
“We need to pick people who will fight for you and fight for America. People will stand up, and not shake the other party’s hands, but go and do battle. Because we are in a battle.”
He said the country’s energy situation was a disaster.
“We’ve gone from energy independence to energy dependence and what has Jim Himes done as people can’t pay their bills? Have you seen him say a word. He’s Don Quixote, he’s waiting for the windmills while people are starving. I’m surprised he’s not saying, ‘Let them eat cake.'”
Goldstein said he’d like to reform the healthcare system from the inside.
He said intense government regulations had turned doctors into “compliance officers.”
“The loss of competition with obsolete anti-trust laws,” he continued. “One of the articles I published in the Wall Street Journal talks about doing something better than Obamacare and lowering drug prices.”
“I believe in peace through strength,” he said. “There are three versions of peace through strength: There is Teddy Roosevelt’s ‘Walk softly and carry a big stick.” Donald Trump’s ‘Talk loudly and carry a big stick.’ And Joe Biden: ‘Talk loudly and carry a toothpick.’ The toothpick doesn’t work and that’s why Putin is in the Ukraine.”
State Rep Harry Arora (R-151) announced formally on Tuesday his candidacy to become his party’s candidate for the state’s Treasurer addressed the crowd.
“You took a bet on me. In the past five years I’ve won two races. I’ve made a significant contribution as your State Rep. I have fought for good legislation, good policy and worked hard for constituent service.”
“The CT State treasurer manages $26 billion or more,” he said. “And is responsible for overseeing $45million in pension assets. Over the past four years 2017-2021, our pension assets have done about 7.5-8%. Sound pretty good? No. What has the market done? 15%.”
“What has a 70-30 passive portfolio done – 70% equity 30% fixed income, which is about how we are allocated? 13%.
“If you did a passive portfolio with no fees, you’d have made $5 billion more on a portfolio.”
“Why is it they are under performing. They are choosing good managers, but they are betting against America.”