Nora Grace-Flood photo
From right to left, candidates Laura Santino, Nick D’Amato, Frank LaDore, Cecilia Shea, Marjorie Bonadies, Ron Gambardella, and Andrew Tammaro.
Fiscal stability, public safety, and sidewalks.
Republican Ron Gambardella listed those three concerns on Thursday evening at a press event held by the Republican Town Committee to formally announce his candidacy for mayor.
“Hamden has the largest debt per person than any other town in the state of Connecticut,” Gambardella stated twice on the steps of Town Hall. “The Democrats have worked hard to make this a reality.”
Gambardella has already run for mayor two times, in both 2007 and 2009. Before that, he served on the Legislative Council for four years.
Marjorie Bonadies and Lauren Santino at Thursday press conference.
The group of Republican hopefuls who came out to support Gambardella— and, in some cases, to announce their own campaigns for public offices— are optimistic that this year might be different for a party that has seen Democrats come to dominate local elections.
Nick D’Amato, who is running to represent Hamden’s second district within the Legislative Council, suggested that growing tensions within the Democratic Party could increase the likelihood of both new and old Republican voices attracting votes in November.
Nick D’Amato.
That said, D’Amato also argued that he is “not a politician” and does not identify as “a conservative.”
“My motto is public service, not politics,” he said.
In addition to unanimous desire across candidates to lower taxes and crime rates, candidates present at Thursday evening’s press announcement stressed the importance of community building within Hamden, beginning with less fighting across (and within) party lines during town meetings.
Republican Town Chair Frank LaDore said that 11 Republicans have so far announced their intentions to run for seats within the Legislative Council and Board of Education. Those include Laura Santino, for Hamden’s first district; Nick D’Amato, for Hamden’s second district; Justin Piper, for Hamden’s fourth district; Cecilia Shea, for Hamden’s seventh district; and incumbent Marjorie Bonadies, for Hamden’s ninth district.
Andrew Tammaro, Lesley DeNardis, Diane Lewis, and Betty Wetmore are running to become and/or remain representatives at-large, and Ralph Nicefaro Jr. and Austin Cesare are hoping to join the Board of Ed.
