Wallingford, CT - July 21, 2021 - The Wallingford Democratic Town Committee (WDTC) has announced its endorsement for the 2021 municipal elections on November 2, 2021.

Endorsed are: Riley O’Connell for Mayor; Nicole Barillaro, Sam Carmody, Bruce Conroy, Gina Morgenstein (incumbent), Vincent Testa (incumbent), and Alexa Tomassi for Town Council; Kathy Castelli (incumbent), Jacquline McFarlane, Maureen Reed, Pat Reynolds (incumbent), Michael Urban, and Michael Votto (incumbent) for Board of Education.

Democratic Town Committee Chair Alida Cella said of the group, “I am so excited that we have endorsed this amazing slate of candidates. We asked them to go through a rigorous process to select the 6 best for each slate. Talented, experienced, capable, driven, and full of vision; that is how I would describe this group.”

Mayoral candidate Riley O’Connell said, “I’m honored to receive the Democratic endorsement, but it’s an even greater honor to run alongside the most incredible slate of Town Council and Board of Education candidates we’ve ever put forward. I’m confident that together we will help Wallingford finally realize its full potential.”

You can learn more about the candidates and make a donation to the slate at the Wallingford Democratic Town Committee website. WDTC Headquarters is located at 4 Center Street and is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 2-6 p.m., Saturdays from 10-4 p.m., and Sundays from noon-3 p.m. if you’d like to volunteer or prefer to make a donation via check.

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Media Contact

Alida Cella, Chair, WDTC

alidacella@hotmail.com

203-676-0819

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/Articles/2021/06/20/Juneteenth-celebration-takes-place-in-Wallingford

Please join the Donation Drive for Sammy’s Closet to benefit Foster Children. Donations can be dropped off at DTC headquarters 4 Center Street.

https://m.facebook.com/SammysClosetCT/

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=SW8K6TFC6Q95L

Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz stopped by to talk with our candidates.

Town Councilor Jason Zandri Resigns from Wallingford Democratic Town Committee

Wallingford, CT (June 2, 2021) - Town Councilor Jason Zandri resigned from the Wallingford Democratic Town Committee (WDTC) on Tuesday, June 1, and is no longer seeking the WDTC endorsement for the upcoming election.

Immediately after the last election cycle, in November and December of 2020, the WDTC Officers and Executive Board started planning for the 2021 municipal elections. The very first thing to decide was how many candidates to run. Parties can run up to nine per slate, but the At-Large Voting system makes this a complicated decision.

The Officers put the question to the Executive Board to debate. The Executive Board voted that the WDTC should select six candidates for Town Council and six for Board of Education and ask them to run as a united slate. The exploratory candidates will decide among themselves who of them should be the final six candidates on the slate. The Officers and Executive Board have agreed to accept their recommendations.

The reasoning behind this decision is as follows:

1. In the At-Large System, no party can win more than six seats, as the other three are reserved for the minority party, if they do not win enough votes. If you run six candidates, all six are guaranteed a CHANCE to win.
2. We want the Democratic candidates to run as a slate. If nine people are running but three are guaranteed to lose, this sets up a competitive process.
3. The WDTC is financially supporting the slates. There is a big difference between splitting resources twelve ways versus eighteen ways. In addition, the extra six people (three town council and three BOE) who are running are spending an enormous amount of their personal time, energy, and resources only to be guaranteed to lose.

The non-incumbent exploratory candidates—aspiring candidates seeking the party’s endorsement—and the returning incumbents knew from the beginning that the candidate field would be narrowed down to six for each slate. 

All exploratory candidates were expected to act as team players. It was hoped that incumbents would support new exploratory candidates and in turn learn from them.

Unfortunately, Jason Zandri did not accept the WDTC’s stance, nor did he participate in activities to connect with voters. This resulted in his decision to part ways with the WDTC, stating:  “If running all nine is not the decision of the Democratic Town Committee and they are only going to endorse six, I will solve the issue for one person seeking an endorsement; I will drop out of seeking the nomination from the DTC and I will petition to run without the endorsement.”

We are disappointed that Mr. Zandri will not be participating in the process with the WDTC but wish him well on his future endeavors.

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Media Contact

Alida Cella, Chair, WDTC

alidacella@hotmail.com

203-676-0819