Danbury Election 2016: What You Need to Know

DANBURY, CT — Danbury residents will head to the polls on Nov. 8 for the 2016 midterm election. Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. On the ballot, registered voters will be able to select candidates for president and vice president, United States senator, representatives to U.S. Congress, state senator, state representative, and registrar of voters.

In Danbury, the choice for State Representative for the 2nd District is between Democratic candidate Raghib Allie-Brennan and Republican candidate Will Duff.

If elected, Duff a fourth generation lifelong Bethel resident, said he will work to "eliminate tax on Social Security income to help seniors struggling with high cost of living, grow our economy by working with employers, not targeting them, restore state funding cuts to our school, stop shifting crippling state deficits to towns, which only drive local tax hikes higher," and more.

If elected, Allie-Brennan said, "There are five issues that I want to focus on during this campaign and as state representative: economic development, reinvesting in our transportation infrastructure, supporting a renewable energy future, tackling the opioid crisis and making education a priority."

For 110th District Republican Emanuela Palmares is running against Democratic Incumbent Bob Godfrey who is in his 12th term in the House of Representatives. Godfrey recently came under fire when he called Danbury a "dumping ground for poor and ethnic minorities."

Palmares is the editor of the Tribuna Newspaper, a biweekly English, Portuguese and Spanish publication, a Commissioner on the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission, a council member on Danbury’s Aging in Place Council, and serves as a member of the Danbury Hospital Board of Directors.

Additional State Representative races are as follows:

• Jeff Tomchik vs. Michael S. Ferguson
• David Arconti Jr. vs. Veasna Roeun

The State Representative for the 106th District is Stephen Harding who is running unopposed. Richard A. Smith is also running unopposed.

• To read about the U.S. Senate race in Connecticut and the five congressional races see this related story: Connecticut Election 2016: What You Need to Know.

The State Senator candidates are Incumbent Republican Senator Micheal McLachlan who is running against Ken Gucker. Senator Micheal McLachlan is serving his fourth term in the Connecticut State Senatem is a Deputy Minority Leader, ranking member on the General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections Committee. He also serves on the Judiciary and the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committees and as ranking member of the Finance Committee’s General Bonding Subcommittee.

Gucker, a 28-year Danbury resident, was raised in New Fairfield, was active in Scouting with Troop 42 where he earned his Eagle Scout Award with Three Palms, and served a stint there as a volunteer firefighter, according to his website.

Sharon Wicks Dornfeld, a Democrat, is running against Daniel O'Grady, Republican, for Probate Judge. Dornfeld said she has practiced law in Danbury, "with a focus on representing children and the elderly," since 1983.

O'Grady said he has "extensive legal experience in my 30 years as an attorney. I have litigated hundreds of cases before the Connecticut Supreme Court, the Connecticut appellate court and Superior Court.
For United States Congress in the 5th District, the choice is between Incumbent Elizabeth Esty, a Democrat and Clay Cope, a Republican First Selectman for Sherman.

Cope said if elected to Congress he plans to "focus on the fundamentals of a fiscally conservative platform: a balanced Federal Budget, and lower Federal taxes and spending – along with meaningful Immigration Reform, effective border security, and improved National Security."

Esty said "job creation and economic development is a top priority for the residents of the 5th District."
For United States Senate the candidates are Richard Blumenthal, Democrat, Dan Carter, Republican, Richard Lion, Libertarian, and Jeffrey Russell, Green Party.

Carter is an officer and pilot is a graduate of Bowling Green University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and was a member of the Air Force ROTC program. He is serving the 2nd District in his third two-year term. He is the Ranking Member (Republican Leader) on the legislature’s General Law Committee, and member of the Education and Finance, Revenue & Bonding committees.

Blumenthal is serving his first term as a United States Senator for Connecticut and served five terms as Connecticut’s Attorney General.

The candidates for president and vice president are Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, Libertarians Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, and Green Party Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka.

Click here to view the entire Danbury sample ballot.

If you want to know where to vote on Election Day, click this link which is from the CT Secretary of State’s Office.