Democrats elect veteran, new members to town committee

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – The office space at 499 Federal Road that once had a small conference table so the Board of Directors for the local Chamber of Commerce could hold their meetings was transformed nearly three years ago into the local Democratic Town Committee headquarters.

A wall is decorated with campaign lawn signs – ranging from Town Treasurer John Lucas to State Treasurer Erick Russell. There is a framed portrait of former President Barack Obama.

Within minutes, the Brookfield Democratic Party caucuses Tuesday night, January 6, and elects a 23-member slate for the term that starts in March.

There are 23 regular members elected – 17 of them women.

In 2019, Washington Post columnist George Will wrote that Democratic presidential primaries are now dominated by women voters. The late Al McGuire, the NCAA-championship basketball coach at Marquette, told Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated in 1976, if you get women behind something, it will be a success.

Shannon Riley, the current Democratic Town Committee (DTC) chairman, was, as usual, accompanied by her dog.

She said the permanent headquarters – which is unusual in a suburban town of less than 18,000 people - “has made a huge difference. It is our hub. It is our privilege. Previous Democratic Town Committee’s in Brookfield have not had this.”

Riley said the incoming Democratic Town Committee is a mix of experienced and new members. She said one of them attended a recruiting event last May, started attending the DTC meetings and has now been elected to that panel.

She directed the party last fall as it annexed its second consecutive municipal election victory. First Selectman Steve Dunn was elected to a fifth non-consecutive term with better than 53 percent of the vote. The Democrats have garnered seven wins for that office in the last nine municipal elections.

In Connecticut, with a municipal government structure– as opposed to the county government exercised in some other states – a town committee member can be the deciding vote on who gets nominated on the municipal slate that goes to the caucus.

Commented Riley, a high school art teacher: “We expect our members to be networking for our candidates with their social groups and their neighbors.”

Connecticut has undergone a political identify change over the recent years. Sacred Hert University Government Professor Gary Rose has largely attributed it to the diploma divide, where the college-educated voters tend to register Democrat.

Greenwich, long a Republican stronghold, has had more Democrat than Republican registered voters for about five years. In Brookfield, there are about 800 more registered Republicans than Democrats.

But the largest pool are the unaffiliated voters.

“I don’t see our gap in registration as a disadvantage,” Riley said. “A majority of the voters are unaffiliated and they often hold Democrat-leaning or Republican-leaning ideals. I was very impressed with the work we were able to do this last election to get Republicans, unaffiliated to come out.”

The late Theodore White, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Making Of The President” series, who lived in neighboring Bridgewater, devoted in his book on the 1980 Reagan-Carter campaign one chapter each to the impact of television and of polling on campaigns.

Today, he probably would write a chapter on digitization in politics.

Riley said it is prevalent at the municipal level.

“We are keeping data,” she commented. “We are checking the models to see how different candidates perform in different races. We have a data team that is crunching numbers for us.”

As for 2026, Brookfield, as usual, looms large in the 107th state House District. All of the town votes in that race, with only parts of Newtown and Bethel included in the boundaries.

Riley said that for now she has little to report on Democratic candidates who might run in the district, which has been in Republican hands since the 1976 election. Republican former Brookfield First Selectman Marty Foncello was elected to the state House seat in 2022.

She noted that Brookfield and New Milford also are the population bases where Democrats need to add votes to win in the expansive 30th state Senate District, which hasn’t elected a Democrat since 1978. That district stretches through 18 municipalities from North Canaan to Brookfield.

No Democrat has announced a campaign for that seat, which is held by state Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield.

The biggest prize on the 2026 ballot is governor, where Democrat Ned Lamont of Greenwich is seeking a third term with state Rep. Josh Elliott (D-88) of Hamden mounting a challenge for the nomination. Elliott has described himself as “a Bernie Sanders guy” and has criticized Lamont for sitting on record surplus money that could have benefitted the lower- and middle-income residents.

Riley remarked, “Ned Lamont and [Lt. Gov.] Susan Bysiewicz have done a good job, but there are some other candidates out there that will challenge them because they want to see Connecticut move in a more progressive direction.”

Is she happy with Lamont’s record?

“No comment,” said Riley.

Wall Street Journal columnist Joseph Sternberg recently wrote that both major parties are divided and the 2026 midterm elections will likely determine which faction will have an advantage in the 2028 presidential campaign.

He stated that the Democrats have a “far-left” progressive wing and a moderate wing.

Riley said the Democrat “progressives” have grown in numbers over the recent years.

"I think it will come down to who knocks on the most doors this fall," she said regarding the intra-party Democratic competition.

“I myself am a progressive,” Riley related. “But on our DTC we have a mix of moderates and some more conservative Democrats. In Brookfield, overall, we have mostly a younger group and they tend to lean m ore toward the progressive platforms.”

When the new term starts in March, the Brookfield DTC will be electing officers. Riley recently said she thinks she has done “a good job” and would like to seek a second term as chairman.

The DTC also will be electing delegates for the nominating conventions in May.

Republican Mark Greenberg of Litchfield, who was the GOP congressional candidate in the Fifth District in 2014, has said that under Connecticut’[s nominating system, candidates can spend a year or more before t he convention focused o speaking with town committees. Then if they get the convention nomination or at least qualify for the primary – there is only a three-month period between May and August to concentrate on getting votes from the party’s rank and file.

Should the system change? Should the conventions be earlier? Should it be similar to the presidential format where primaries are held and then the candidates are, in effect, later showcased at the party’s convention.

Said Riley, “It doesn’t have to change. If you’re a dedicated candidate, you’re going to make contact” with voters during a primary.

Elected unanimously to the Brookfield Democratic Town Committee for the term that starts in March: Sara-Jo Banks, Janice Belden, Sara Belles, Dick Briggs, Debbie Brooks, Douglas Clemons, Kerri Columbo, Scott Dale, Jillian Doherty, Jeremy Farrell, Katy Hoyt, Pam Krauss, Jen Laden, Brian McGovern, Taylor Myers, Rebecca Newman, Ellen O’Donnell, Tara Peterson, Peg Ragani, Shannon Riley, Sue Slater, Sean Tuerner, Christina Zimmerman. Alternate members: Tony Cappiello, Mary Cappiello, Phoebe Holmes, Michelle Sands and Aaron Zimmer.