With the Democratic Caucus deciding the nominee for 106th District State Representative, choosing Michelle Embree Ku over Brandon Moore as the Democrats' nominee, there is only one question left to be settled for Newtown ahead of the November midterm elections — who will be the Democratic candidate for the 28th District State Senate seat.

That seat is more up for grabs than it has been in a decade with Republican Tony Hwang stepping down and not running this November; the Republicans already have their nominee in Amybeth LaRoche, currently serving Newtown as a member of the Board of Finance. However, like the 106th House seat, the Democrats have two candidates vying for it, and unlike the 106th House seat, this one cannot be decided at caucus. Fairfield resident and Board of Finance member Dave Rock is running against Newtown resident Rob Blanchard in a Tuesday, August 11 primary.

Blanchard previously faced Hwang in 2022, losing 27,572 (45.4%) to 33,172 (54.6%).

The 106th District House seat will not have multiple Democratic candidates on the ballot after Moore announced last week he would not seek to primary Embree Ku. While there was some talk beforehand about going to primary, and Moore was undecided in the immediate aftermath of the caucus on May 26, he made it official in a Hive letter this week; see page A10.

Moore expressed a desire for the Democratic Party to unite behind Embree Ku and flip the seat, currently held by longtime incumbent Mitch Bolinsky. For Bolinsky's part, he officially announced the Republican Party's endorsement for his candidacy last week, saying his campaign will "focus on solutions to ease Connecticut’s accelerating affordability crisis, the ballooning cost of state government, unresponsive state agencies, bringing back Hartford’s focus on operating within the fiscal guardrails to streamline the complexity of government."

Representative Martin Foncello (R-107th) announced his nomination for the 2026 ballot by the Republican Party this week, seeking his third term (also see page A10). He also has no primary opponent. He will be running in November against Democrat Julie Kerton, a Brookfield resident who is the chairman of the Brookfield Board of Assessment Appeals.

The 107th is only a small part of Newtown; not all Newtown residents cast a vote in that race, instead voting for the 106th.

Circling back to the 106th Democratic Caucus, while the actual voting may have been bumpy, with the caucus drawing more attention and participation then usual, congrats to the Democratic Party for giving Newtown a choice in representation, with two strong candidates, shown in the close vote, 240-220. And kudos to Brandon Moore for knowing when the time to fight has ended and the time to unite (and fight on a different front) has begun. Moore may have lost out to an old guard candidate this year, with Embree Ku's 14 years of political experience and building ties within the community winning out, but Moore's enthusiasm and new perspective can only benefit Newtown, as he has expressed his intention to grow some roots here. Whether it is at the local level or back at the state level, Moore is a voice and a presence that could shape Newtown's future.

Both sides ran great campaigns and did well building excitement among Democrats, shown in the high turnout for a caucus. With her party unified behind her, can Embree Ku unseat Bolinsky this time after coming up short in 2024? That remains to be seen.