City Dems Urge Blumenthal To Back Iran Deal

So far two face-to-face meetings haven’t swayed the senator, so New Haven Democrats Monday tried a last-minute letter.

The local Democrats have been trying to convince the U.S. senator, Richard Blumenthal, to support the pending deal with Iran to seek to limit its production of nuclear weapons.

Forty of the local Democrats — including most members of the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) as well as Town Chair Vincent Mauro Jr. — signed a letter to that effect. They released the letter Monday.

Click here to read the full letter.

Democrat Blumenthal is one of the remaining hold-outs on the Iran deal. The matter is expected to come before Congress this week, when Republican-led opponents seek to pass a resolution rejecting the deal, in which case President Barack Obama is expected to veto the resolution. Enough senators have come out in support of the deal to lead to predictions that the veto would not be overriden.

“This is a pivotal moment in world peace, in whether we choose diplomacy over war,” the DTC letter stated.

The letter is significant because town committees rarely get involved in international issues. Propelled by Beaver Hills Ward 27 Democratic co-chair Henry Lownedorf, a veteran peace activist. New Haven’s Democratic Party produces the most votes of any local party in the state in national and state elections; Blumenthal came to New Haven for an unofficial (not on his schedule) closed-door meeting on the subject with DTC members on June 7. (Read about that here.) He met with members again on Aug. 10.

Blumenthal remains undecided Monday, according to spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton.

“The alternative to this agreement is another disastrous war in the Middle East that would put our youth and our country in danger and further drain precious resources needed to repair our country’s infrastructure and create needed jobs,” the DTC letter argued.

“Senator Blumenthal is sitting on the fence.”