Newtown’s Ferguson Cross-Endorsed By Independent State Party

By John Voket

Voters weighing a decision about the 106th District legislative candidate this November’s will see Republican candidate George Ferguson’s name appearing twice on their local ballot. He is facing one-term incumbent Democrat Christopher Lyddy.

Mr Ferguson told The Bee September 22 that he has received the endorsement of the state’s Independent Party, and as a result, he will appear as a candidate on both the GOP and Independent ballot lines. The Secretary of the State’s Office already shows Mr Ferguson as that party’s candidate of record for the upcoming election.

Mr Ferguson said he gladly accepted the endorsement following an earlier meeting with state Independent agent Dr George Fand of Bethel.

“We are endorsing this father, husband, businessman, and community leader because Connecticut needs the steady hand of a seasoned and caring leader to steer us through troubled waters,” Dr Fand stated in a release.

Mr Ferguson said the state Independents’ core values “are certainly not hard to embrace,” while acknowledging that state Independent officials have indicated a philosophical disconnect with a locally based political group, the Independent Party of Newtown (IPN).

“At the state level, most registered Independents seem to identify with individual candidates, their abilities and accomplishments,” Mr Ferguson said. Currently, according to the local registrar’s office, there are more than 200 registered Independent voters in Newtown, which could represent a modest windfall of added support for Mr Ferguson, a relative newcomer to the legislative race.

According to Mr Ferguson, the Independent Party of Connecticut has a general platform that stresses individual freedom, a free market economy, lower taxes, the reduction of government regulations and fair trade policies that reduce the US trade imbalance and the country’s subsequent loss of jobs to overseas companies.

Dr Fand recognized that Mr Ferguson “has pledged to work diligently to help put Connecticut on a path leading to economic sustainability. He aspires for Connecticut to again be a place of economic vibrancy, as it was for hundreds of years, before failed policies and irresponsible spending mortgaged our children’s and Connecticut’s future.”

In endorsing the Newtown Republican, Dr Fand indicated that the goals Mr Ferguson has set to guide him in his bid for office resonate with his party’s leadership. Stating that he has the support of his family, Mr Ferguson stated that his wife, Kathleen, “a lifelong Democrat,” shares his concerns particularly about the unmitigated burden of increasing property taxes, growth in government, and an endless array of special interest groups at every level. If elected, Mr Ferguson also hopes to apply his experience to help reduce the impact of global competition, address the exporting of Connecticut jobs, and to support initiatives that contribute to protecting and preserving the state’s environment.

“The Fergusons feel as a state, we can and will do better,” the GOP candidate said of his family, which also includes the couple’s three children Kaitlyn, Casey, and Liam.

Bruce Walczak, chair of the local IPN, downplayed the political value of the state Independent endorsement.

“Doctor Fand is a three-person operation who basically doesn’t do anything,” Mr Walczak said of the state Independent Party agent. “There is another state party that has a formal set of by-laws.”

Mr Walczak said based on an apparent split between two factions of state Independents, “it’s even vague as to whether the state Independents have endorsed the IPN as a local town committee.” The IPN chairman also referred questions about the state Independents to Waterbury Alderman Michael Telesca.

Mr Telesca, however, has no contact information on record and could not be immediately reached for comment.

While it is apparent based on information from the Secretary of the State’s office that Mr Ferguson is the endorsed candidate of the state Independent Party, Mr Walczak said the local IPN plans to interview both Rep Lyddy and Mr Ferguson at a September 30 gathering, and that based on that meeting, “we may make an endorsement, or choose to stay out of the fray.”

Mr Walczak said he “plans to invite Mr Ferguson” to the September 30 IPN gathering. After contacting Rep Lyddy, the incumbent lawmaker said he was invited to the meeting solely to “hear from their members and answer any questions they may have. It is my understanding that I was invited for this purpose only.”