William Mollow
When Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D‑3rd) and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal arrived at a Branford Democratic gathering at the Owenego Inn last night the room was abuzz with the news that FBI Director had cleared Hillary Clinton as a potential target of a renewed investigation in connection with a search of emails found on a Clinton top aide’s computer.
Echoing an onslaught of criticism Comey faced, knowing that his office was not supposed to announce or comment on any investigation in the days before a national election, DeLauro said he should not have “opened that door. Nevertheless, he has recanted tonight. I don’t know if there is time enough to go back to build up the momentum to build back a potentially Democratic House of Representatives.”
Marcia Chambers Photo
Relief was palpable as the news filtered through the room, shifting the mood. Those who attended the Democratic Town Committee event had been alarmed by polls showing Donald Trump was closing in. Overall, the annual turnout for the dinner was not as high as in previous years.
DeLauro, who was first elected to office in 1990, called this election historic, “and not because we are going to have the first woman president of the United States but because this is a critical election for the future of our nation.” She campaigned for Clinton across the country, she told the audience.
Blumenthal Seeks Clinton Mandate
Marcia Chambers Photo
Blumenthal said what people will take away on Nov. 9, the day after the election, “is not the electoral college vote but the popular vote and the reason is that Donald Trump has said, in effect, he is not going to accept the results. The only way he can be completely discredited is for there to be a resounding mandate …. Nothing is going to get done unless Hillary Clinton has a mandate. We will see a divided country again and what she needs is our votes and our mandate.”
Blumenthal, the state’s previous attorney general and a classmate at Yale Law School of Hillary Clinton, said, “We are going to make sure that Hillary Clinton can govern and can achieve what America needs at this turning point as she becomes the first woman president of the United States of America.
“All of our daughters including mine, whether they are asleep or awake, can wake up on Nov. 9 and say, ‘I can do that.’ That is part of the vision of this country. It is part of our North Star as my friend and fellow ballot mate Tim Kaine says. Part of our North Star is to broaden opportunities, to broaden a vision of our democracy, not to constrain it or demean it, not to cast aside all categories of people but to broaden what our democracy is. That is what will happen on Nov. 9 when she becomes the first woman president of the United States,” Blumenthal told the crowd to rousing applause.
After the wildest, most contentious U.S. presidential race in memory, the polls will open tomorrow at 6 a.m. for Branford voters to elect the next president and vice-president of the United States, along with federal Congressional and home-based state legislative candidates. The weather looks great — sunny and in the low 60s.
Voting Figures for Branford
Voting registration has soared in Branford, early figures show. Dan Hally, the Democratic registrar of voters, said in an interview that he and Marion Burkard, the Republican registrar of voters, had gathered material for a report that shows the number of people who registered to vote from Oct. 12 to Nov. 1 was high. “There were over 800 people in over two weeks,” he said.
As of last Friday, there were nearly 20,000 active voters in Branford. While the final count is not yet in, the voter registration in Branford breaks down to 3,633 Republicans, 6,823 Democrats, 9,351 unaffiliated and 156 other, for a total of 19,963 voters.
Over 200 voters registered on Nov. 1, the last day to register online. Hally said that was a very large number for one day. There were a total of 1,346 absentee ballots with 1,090 coming back to be counted.
Blumenthal, DeLauro, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepson and the Branford state delegation, State Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr., State Reps. Lonnie Reed and Sean Scanlon were all at the Owenego event to rev up the base.
A group of young students, who were invited to attend the annual pre-election gathering, listened intently to the legislators. Their projects were on display in the room. One student, William Mollow, 12, whose mom Lynda Mollow is a member of the Representative Town Meeting, created a serious project on opiate addiction in Connecticut. He also created a not-so-serious video titled “Democratic Fun Facts, 2016.” He discovered, for example, that Kennedy’s favorite food is meat loaf and that Reed was once a promising ballerina training to dance with the New York City Ballet.
This was the final weekend push for Democrats and Republicans, and the candidates crisscrossed the state in a last major effort to get out a strong vote on Tuesday. Making a stop at the Branford Dems annual dinner has long been a tradition for the Connecticut Democratic delegation.
Over the weekend the campaign operations for Kennedy and his opponent, Republican Bruce H. Wilson, Jr., were in high gear. Kennedy’s phone bank was in full swing, calling voters throughout Branford to ask if they were voting for him. (Click here to read the story about their first debate.)
Election Day Voting Options
The polls will open tomorrow at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. for Branford voters to elect the next president and vice-president of the United States, along with federal Congressional and home-based state legislative candidates.
You may still register and vote on Election Day, but only if you go to Town Hall, 1019 Main St., and head for the basement conference room. Those who have previously registered need to go to their polling places. Here is a street list to help you find your voting place.
With Permission
Here is a map of the seven districts.
Secretary of State Denise Merrill says by law a person is eligible to register and vote “if he or she is (1) a US citizen, (2) age 18 or older, (3) a bona fide resident of the town in which he or she applies for admission, and (4) has completed confinement and parole if previously convicted of a disfranchising felony.”
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