Do national issues impact municipal elections?

Brookfield CT

16 November, 2021

5:48 AM

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By Scott Benjamin (Second of a two-part report) BROOKFIELD – Aren't municipal elections usually focused on keeping the tax mill rate steady, holding town meetings, making neighborhoods safe, paving roads, revising zoning regulations and finding volunteers to serve on the boards and commissions? Departing Democratic First Selectman Steve Dunn said that is partially true, but that national issues took a higher-than-usual profile in the November 2 local balloting. He lost his bid for a fourth term to Republican Tara Dunn, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, by 218 votes, as 46 percent of the eligible voters turned out. There were about 1,500 more ballots than in the 2019 municipal election. Carr, who grew up in Brookfield, collected 51.24 percent of the vote to 47.53 percent for Dunn and 1.23 percent for petitioning candidate Austin Monteiro. Carr's victory was the most impressive by a Republican nominee since the late Jerry Murphy won by 441 votes in 2003 and then was unopposed in 2005. In an interview with Brookfield Patch, Dunn said, "I think a lot of people are upset with the results of the last presidential election," referring to the controversy over Democrat Joe Biden's win over Republican incumbent Donald Trump, which Trump has depicted as being fraudulent. "I think it was CBS that did a poll that said that 78 percent of Republicans think that election was fraudulent, even though each of the state attorney generals have said that it was not fraudulent. I think that was part of what happened in Brookfield this November," Dunn remarked. He said that there were people in Brookfield dressed up with hats similar to those used by supporters of Trump during his two runs for president. "I think some people who had dissatisfaction with the national election brought that down to the local election," Dunn said. Republican Town Committee member George Walker disagreed with that analysis. "This election, as is always the case with local elections, was about what was happening in Brookfield," said Walker, a former member of the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance. "Tara went out and was banging on doors with intense detail, listing to people's concerns as she went eyeball to eyeball with them," he remarked. "There are no ifs, ands or buts about it, she is head and shoulders above some of the candidates that have run previously." Gary Rose, the chairman of the Government Department at Sacred Heart University, wrote a book on Connecticut local government earlier this year. He stated in an e-mail message, "Although public opinion polls may not actually detect this, I do believe that national issues are working their way into perceptions of municipal candidates based on their party labels. The polarization within the electorate is so strong, that it is difficult not to conclude that local candidates associated with a party label share the same values and support the same policies as those of their party leaders at the national level (president and congressional leaders)." "This has to affect voting decisions in local races," Rose added. "There is no barrier that blocks these issues from entering into the thought processes of voters when they fill out a local election ballot. And social media only hardens these perceptions." Monteiro said, "National issues played a big role in this election. I think it is unfortunate. You saw at the debate that I even defended Steve when Tara Carr was asking him if he supported defunding the police. There were items that were being discussed in this election that are never going to be on the agenda at a Board of Selectmen's meeting. There was almost a gaslight treatment by both major parties." In the opening paragraph of a letter in support for Carr in The News-Times of Danbury and in Brookfield Patch, former Republican First Selectman Marty Foncello, who served from 1999 to 2003, stated, "Have you had enough of Washington's politics with its outrageous budgets, increases in gas and food prices, open borders, silencing of opposition, and attempts to defund the police?" When asked if Biden's poll numbers, which according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll are at the low point of his presidency, was a factor in his defeat, Dunn said, "I think that's possible. I don't know that for a fact." Republican Selectman Harry Shaker, who garnered a third term in the recent balloting, said, "I think the national issues absolutely did have an impact. There are a lot of people who are concerned with where the Biden Administration is taking us. I think people are also upset with the Lamont Administration in Hartford." He continued, "The Democrats on the local ticket have supported Lamont and the Democratic candidates that have run for the state representative seat. It also is about local issues, such as the development of the Brookfield Town Center [central business district]. I think the overall theme is that people in Brookfield were upset and that is why you had 1,500 more voters turned out this year than two years ago." "I think there also may have been more parents voting," said Shaker, who served nearly 14 years on the Brookfield Board of Education. "They saw through the remote learning during the pandemic what was going on in the classrooms and they want more accountability." State Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107) of Brookfield stated in an e-mail message that, "Compared to previous municipal election years, national issues did seem to have a larger influence than usual." Republican Town Committee member Matt Grimes, a former chairman of that panel said, "I think Tara's victory was a result of a mix of both local and national issues," "In the year after a presidential election, in the municipal race the base of the party that lost in the presidential election is usually more energized," added Grimes. "I don't think that factor was much greater than it usually is in the year after a presidential election." "If Donald Trump had been elected to a second term, Steve Dunn might have won another term as first selectman," Grimes declared. Walker said that the Democratic Town Committee tried to nationalize the election by sending a mailing to party members that included a photograph of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that sought to overturn the election results. "It was only sent to Democrats," he said. "The Republicans never got it in the mail. The Democrats in town were branding Republicans as radical Trump insurgents. I think the Democratic Town Committee didn't realize that national themes don't win local races. I think that flier also inspired some of the Republican base to get out and vote after they heard about it." On a separate topic Dunn criticized a letter that the Republican leadership distributed shortly before the election. In an e-mail statement, he wrote, "George Blass and Rose DeMarco, Chair and Vice Chair of the RTC stated in their letter that"Steve Dunn cancelled the 9/11 event". That is a lie. The event actually took place and many people attended it." "You can't criticize Steve for the 9/11 vigil," Monteiro said. "I think it is the opposite of what was portrayed in that letter." Dunn further wrote, "That same letter stated that under Steve Dunn's administration, affordable housing grew 44%. What they did not say was that all of the growth in affordable housing was due to projects that were created and approved in the administration prior to ours. In fact, I applied for and obtained an affordable housing moratorium from the state our first year in office. That moratorium was in effect until this past July. The state has only given our 7 moratoriums in the past 20 plus years. Additionally, not one affordable project was approved in the 6 years I have been the First Selectman. The facts show a wanton disregard for the truth in what actually occurred." Dunn added, "The letter that the Republicans sent out was not factual in any regard. Its intent was to spread misinformation to residents." In an e-mail message, Blass stated, "Our letter was factual and we stand by it. The election is over and our focus now is moving Brookfield forward in a positive direction" Blass also stated that the Democratic Town Committee Chairman Laura Orban distributed "an "absentee ballot request form that was deemed illegal by the Secretary of State." Dunn stated, "The sending of absentee ballots applications to voters was legal and approved by the Secretary of State before they were sent. We checked very carefully and fully with the state before sending them. Approximately two weeks after the applications were sent, after a concern was raised, the Secretary of State made a decision that, going forward, that absentee ballots must has a written signature of the person sending the absentee ballot request but that ones that had already been sent with a printed name previously were fine and broke no laws. Our efforts were completely legal." Some observers believe there were other factors that contributed to the results, including the Republicans' ambitious marketing campaign in which there were several large signs with Carr's photograph and the words, "It's Time For Tara." Also, some observers have noted that Dunn had said publicly at least as late as June 14 that he hadn't decided whether he was going to run for another term even though the nominating period was only about five weeks away.