Newtown Prepares For A 3-Way Race This Fall

By Steve Bigham

For the first time in eight years, Newtown has a three-way race for first selectman.

After running unopposed two years ago, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal must now beat two candidates to retain his seat. Barry Piesner of the newly formed NICE Party announced his candidacy last week, joining Republican challenger Owen Carney in the race.

In the last three-way race in 1993, petitioning candidate Andrew Polito garnered 19 percent of the vote, a significant percentage, but well short of the 53 percent pulled in by Republican challenger Bob Cascella, who ousted then first selectman Zita McMahon.

At the time, many felt that Mr Polito’s candidacy helped contribute to Mrs McMahon’s defeat, taking away the unaffiliated vote.

Similarly, the presence of Mr Piesner in this year’s race changes the dynamics of the election campaign. However, it remains unclear whether or not it will have a major impact on the final tally. There are some who say Mr Piesner’s candidacy – while it may end up being a thorn in Mr Rosenthal’s side – will actually help the first selectman by splitting whatever anti-Rosenthal sentiment there may be in town.

Mr Piesner hopes that is not the case. As he stated last week, his candidacy is not just a publicity stunt. He believes he has just as good a shot at winning as the other two and uses the Polito effort in ’93 as his inspiration.

“There is 20 percent of the vote out there to be gotten without any organization. I call it the ‘anti-establishment vote,’” Mr Piesner said. “I have a feeling that if we just ran and didn’t do anything, we’d probably get the same amount. Our base starting out is probably 20 percent. Now the question is can we double that and get 40 percent. That’s what the major issue is. We need to make inroads with the unaffiliated voters.”

Forty percent of the town’s registered voters are unaffiliated.

Democratic Town Committee Chairman Earl J. Smith sees Mr Piesner as little threat to Mr Rosenthal.

“I just think it’s going to give Barry an opportunity to proceed to come out with his opinion on various issues, but I don’t see much more than that occurring,” Mr Smith said. “I hope he can stick to the issues and not come out with negative thoughts about people who are serving on our various boards and commissions.”

Mr Rosenthal was out of town this week and unavailable for comment.

Mr Carney said he welcomes Mr Piesner into the race. “There will be a degree of impact. Whether that’s a small degree or big degree, who knows? There have certainly been upsets in political races before. Will he win? I don’t know about that, but he’s certainly going to take votes from both Herb and from myself,” Mr Carney said. “It makes it more interesting. I don’t look at it as if he’s going to help me. That’s not necessarily true. Who’s to say what the outcome will be? Neither of the two people is my enemy. Newtown is a relatively small town. Come November 7, we’re all still going to be living here. It’s going to make it interesting.”

Mr Piesner predicts a third party will help draw interest to the campaign because voters will now have more candidates to choose between at the polls.