Progressive Slate Overwhelms Drew Team

A large and organized group of Democrats today upended the established party leadership and ushered in a new era for the city.

Voters chose between two competing slates for the Democratic Town Committee (DTC). The slate put forward by existing leadership, which is loyal to Mayor Dan Drew, was composed almost entirely of people who have been on the DTC for many years, if not decades. In contrast, over half of the alternative slate was composed of people who have not previously been on the DTC.

Blanchard and Drake

The alternative slate won in a landslide, by a vote of 118 to 41.

The Democrat (and Republican) Town Committees are elected for two year terms in the January after each municipal election. Their most important function is to determine who is on the ballot. They have complete control of party endorsements for all municipal elections, and for the two state legislator seats that are entirely in Middletown. They also select delegates to the nominating conventions for Governor and other state-wide and regional elections.

This makes the election of the DTC of great importance to Drew, who is a candidate in this year's election for Governor.

Nesci objects

Current DTC Chair Sal Nesci opened the caucus, and called for nominations for a chair and secretary of the caucus. The DTC leadership nominated former Councilman Todd Berch and Dan Ryan, while the backers of the progressive slate nominated Councilman Rob Blanchard and Chair of the Board of Education Chris Drake. The votes for each were lopsided, Blanchard and Drake receiving the overwhelming majority of the votes.

Two slates of candidates were then nominated, 75 individuals put forward by the executive board of the existing DTC, and 70 individuals put forward by a loose affiliation of progressive activists looking to change the direction of the DTC.

Nesci and other leaders of the existing DTC protested that in a meeting immediately preceding the caucus, they had increased the size of the DTC from 70 to 75, arguing that this made the alternative slate invalid.

Click to enlarge 

Drake pointed out that by state law, the
party was required to follow the bylaws filed with the State Central Party by November 10, and that the rules of the state take precedence over the rules of the town committee. The caucus became raucous during this discussion, as panicked supporters of Drew and the DTC realized that they had neither the votes nor the law on their side.

After nominations were closed, and the arguments abated, voters were asked to choose between the DTC slate printed on white paper, and the alternate slate, printed on yellow paper.  The yellow slate received almost 75% of the votes.

DTC Executive Nominated Slate
 (click to enlarge)

If Drew and his supporters wish to overturn the DTC election, they have the option of petitioning for a primary election in March. One activist who was on both the DTC slate and the alternate slate expressed hope that Drew would not mount such a challenge, "If Drew wishes to receive the support of progressives, he should not push to overturn the election of progressives to our city's DTC."

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Disclaimer. I am one of the members of the alternative slate.