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Hartford Democrats Pick Town Committee Members

By JENNA CARLESSO

March 07, 2012

HARTFORD —— A slate of 15 Democrats swept to victory Tuesday in a three-way race for seats in the Democratic Town Committee's 7th District.

The slate, which was composed of state Rep. Douglas McCrory; Kenneth P. Green; Luverne Mott; Kevin R. Brookman; Gwendolyn V. Bailey; Evelyn Cortez; Gregory Covington; Barbara Diggs; Victoria L. Fennell; Joshua Malik Hall; Solomon O. Hall; Michael James Harris; Dawn L. Kardulis; Estella V. Knight; and Marc H. Lucier beat out two other slates by wide margins, according to official results from the town and city clerk's office.

"We always go into an election expecting to win, but we never thought we would win by a two-to-one margin against two different slates," McCrory, D-Hartford, said Wednesday. "It shows the support we have from our community."

McCrory, who is the only incumbent on his slate, said he chose to run with others who weren't already serving on the town committee because the district needed a change in leadership.

"The town committee was stagnant," he said. "It wasn't doing the job it was supposed to do."

The four other contested assembly districts — the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th — each had two slates competing for seats on the town committee.

In the 4th District, a slate with Marc A. DiBella; Angel Arce; Jose A. Contreras Jr.; Marlene Cuero; Gregory M. Davis; Victor Deliz; Jose Fuentes; Tariq Islam; Ellen S. Nurse; Panida Anna Pollawit; Frank Xavier Sentner; Kevin Vega; and Rebecca A. Wareing defeated an opposing slate that included several incumbents.

Asked about the contest in the 4th District, DiBella said Wednesday that the voting results "speak for themselves.

"In the 3rd District, a slate made up of state Rep. Minnie Gonzalez; Raul DeJesus; Damaris Bolorin; Marcel A. Cicero; Celestino Jimenez Jr.; Antonio E. Martinez; Ruth N. Martinez; David G. Morin; Krishna P. Naraine; James E. Quint; Sadoc Ramos; Virgen C. Rodriguez; Luis Rodriguez-Davila; and R. Michael Smith was victorious.

In the 5th District, a six-candidate slate with Mamie M. Bell; Eric Crawford; Steven M. Harris; Paul M. Ritter; Craig T. Stallings; and Radames V. Vazquez defeated the opposition.

In the 6th District, a slate that included Michael F. Brescia; Raquel Calderon; Alfonsina Castillo; Carmen Colon; Kathleen Kowalyshyn; Lillie B. Parker; John M. Phillips; Jeannette Rodriguez; Maly Rosado; Laury S. Rosario-Claudio; Albi Sako; Anna Delia Sarraga-Cieri; and Hyacinth A. Yennie.

Yennie, whose slate also beat out several incumbents, said voters opted for candidates who weren't already on the town committee because some incumbents had become out of touch.

"When we knocked on doors we would ask people 'do you know who your town committee people are?' and they would say 'no,'" she said. "We let them know we were willing to work hard to bring the neighborhoods back to some stability. With us, they can see who is really representing them."