District Nine Republicans choose their leadership.
Hamden Republicans shed their face masks Wednesday night and congregated at Devonshire Hall to endorse the future faces of the party’s town committee — with the goal of building a stronger coalition of conservatives to serve as a “viable alternative” to the town’s new liberal administration.
The Republican Town Committee — the crew of individuals who endorse candidates in local elections — was previously made up of 25 individuals representing different districts across town. On Wednesday, a total of 21 registered Republicans volunteered and were selected to serve the districts in which they reside by fellow residents of those same districts.
The un-donning of masks was intentional, part of an effort to demonstrate that Hamden has room for people who differ from the current blue shift in town politics, especially given some close races this past November.
RTC Chairman Frank LaDore said the town’s Republicans can choose a maximum of five people to represent each of the town’s nine geographical districts on the committee. Districts One and Nine were the only regions to field full RTC membership at Wednesday’s convention; nobody came forward to represent the Third or the Sixth.
Laure Santino, middle, writes down names of endorsed candidates.
Laura Santino, who ran in November for a Legislative Council district seat; Anthony Santino; Andrew Tammaro, who ran in November for an at-large Legislative Council seat; Paula Roche; and Ellen Denny now make up the First district.
Norm Kamienski and Nick D’Amato, the latter of whom also campaigned this year for a district seat on the town council, will represent District Two. Anthony Esposito — the Republican registrar of voters — and Christine Esposito are the sole members so far of the District Four committee.
Rosalie Cavenaugh, Gail Mitchell, and Victor Michell will serve District Seven. Current Council At-Large Reps. Lesley DeNardis and Elizabeth Wetmore once again join RTC Chairman Frank LaDore, as well as Joy Wildman and Tim Sullivan, as representatives of the eighth.
Finally, retired Board of Education member Lynn Campo will remain on the Ninth District’s committee alongside Liborio Campo, Bob Anthony, and Chris Acosta.
In March, the RTC will solidify the organization of the committee by choosing which members to put in leadership positions like chairman. If additional individuals decide before March to run for spots on any of the district committees that are already full, they can petition to primary and compete with the current slate of endorsed candidates in another vote that month.
Until the district groups are full to five members, the RTC can continue to bring on more people — LaDore said he intends to recruit more supporters over the year to bolster the currently half vacant committee.
Upcoming Republican leader Andrew Tammaro: encouraged by close-call elections in November.
For example, 24-year-old Andrew Tammaro joined the RTC in late spring of 2021 before launching his run for Legislative Council, which he later lost.
Now he is one of the 20-odd Republicans in town working behind the scenes to prepare for future elections, tuning into government meetings and “holding the Legislative Council and Mayor’s office accountable,” pushing more Republicans into local leadership roles, and brainstorming strategies for establishing a more unified and “value-driven” Republican body.
His vision for the RTC is to become “more than just a bunch of people who are mad about Mayor Garrett … and then we go out and get trounced in an election.”
Tammaro said he is encouraged that the local Republican party could and is becoming more than just Garrett critics due to a “a striking number of head-to-head races” in November.
In the recent municipal elections, Hamden Republicans lost all but one seat — the Ninth District council spot, which Marjorie Bonadies won by more than 400 votes over her opponent. However, council candidates in Districts One, Two, and Eight came close to beating their Democratic challengers; In the eighth, for example, Republican Pat Destito lost to Democrat Ted Stevens by just seven votes.
That’s in a town with roughly 19,000 Democrats and just 4,000 Republicans, as well as about 12,800 unaffiliated registered voters. If a total of just 80 more people had voted Republican on Nov. 2, Republicans could have secured a total of four district council seats instead of just one.
“That’s unheard of since 1995,” LaDore said.
Tammaro said that the “one shortcoming” he saw in the Republican’s campaign last year is that they lacked a clear platform. Unaffiliated and Independent residents — as well as more conservative Democrats — should be able to “identify Republicans with beliefs, values, and policy proposals,” Tammaro said, and see them as a “viable alternative” to the town’s Democratic majority.
The Democratic Town Committee, for example, put out a ten-page platform last year that outlined a focus on breaking down “systemic racism” to build “an inclusive, equitable, and thriving community” through enacting a series of potential policies surrounding fiscal stability, education, policing, environment, and housing.
In some instances, there may be overlap between the goals and “values” of local Republicans and Democrats. Both parties ran on ideals of fiscal transparency and accountability in the fall.
Frank LaDore addresses 17 Republicans who turned out to vote for RTC leaders Wednesday.
This week, Mayor Lauren Garrett nominated LaDore himself to serve on the Police Commission; he said he hopes to work as a team with progressive nominees to unite over the need for greater transparency and publication of basic policing data.
Now LaDore’s working to place more Republicans on boards and commissions with the intention of “communicating and collaborating” across party lines. “We are still residents of the same town and need to work together,” LaDore said.
Some policies — like mask mandates — prompt clear differences between the parties.
Despite the recent surge in Covid cases, Tammaro said he is firmly against mandating masks and “hasn’t worn a mask in weeks,” questioning both the scientific efficacy of relying on face coverings to protect against spread and naming mandates an overextension of government powers.
“What does a mandate do to a people?” he asked. “It places an undue burden on the people who live and work in Hamden… teenagers become pseudo social police,” he said, asserting that 17-year-olds working in Marshalls didn’t sign up to become “enforcement agents of the mayor’s agenda.”
Plus, he wondered, do mandates even increase adherence to the rule at hand?
Just because there’s “not a lot of gray area” around a specific issue, Tammaro said, “doesn’t mean there can’t be discussion.” Though certain discussions “may fuel social divide,” they will also allow the town to ultimately “arrive at a better decision,” he said.
That’s the precise reason Tammaro and the 17 other Republicans said they came together Wednesday to vote on committee members, let their masks down, and eat freshly baked chocolate chip cookies — to make their “message” “more visible,” “proactive,” and to develop a team of dedicated residents who will ensure “no decision goes unchecked” or is made without the input of individuals with differing ideologies.