Carmen DiCenso, left, and Alderman Peter Olenoski Tuesday.
A three-person panel from the Democratic State Central Committee decided Friday to vacate Carmen DiCenso’s mayoral endorsement because the process by which the Derby Democratic Town Committee chose him was against state party rules.
The move means that both DiCenso and incumbent Mayor Anita Dugatto will have to collect signatures to qualify for a primary in September to see who will get the Democratic Party’s spot on the ballot in the November municipal election.
The Derby Republican Party this week nominated Rich Dziekan.
“The Panel, after weighing various options, has ordered that the endorsement be vacated and the both candidates be advised to seek petitions to primary,” according to an email distributed by the Connecticut Democratic Party Friday just before 7 p.m.
Background
On Tuesday the 36 members of the Derby Democratic Town Committee voted 21 – 15 to endorse DiCenso for mayor instead of two-term incumbent Mayor Anita Dugatto.
The meeting was open to the public, but the endorsement vote was done by secret ballot — meaning the town committee members did not attach their names to their votes.
That is against the rules of the Connecticut State Democratic Party.
No Derby Democrats were aware of the rule. The town committee has been using secret ballot voting for years.
But Dugatto’s campaign manager, Andrew McIndoo of DNA Campaigns, found the vote unusual and researched the issue Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I had known that in other towns that I worked, that wasn’t allowed,” McIndoo said.
Then Frank Rubino, a member of the Democratic Town Committee and a Dugatto ally, filed a formal complaint with state party officials Wednesday afternoon.
“We obviously think it was a mistake. It’s how they were doing it the whole time. We don’t think it was any nefarious choice on their behalf,” McIndoo said.
The Hearing
DiCenso’s endorsement fell apart Friday evening after a telephone “resolution hearing” with state party officials.
The three-person panel included Democratic State Central Committee members Thomas McDonough, Barbara Reynolds and Tony Duarte.
McIndoo stated what happened, then Fusco relayed the account she previously told The Valley Indy.
Prior to the panel’s decision, Fusco noted it would be difficult to gather all 36 members of the town committee together again for a new meeting to endorse a candidate for mayor. Several of them are already on vacation, she said.
DiCenso also spoke to the panel Friday. He questioned whether it was fair to take his endorsement away. He noted several of his supporters from the town committee are on vacation, and he himself was planning a trip soon.
The Valley Indy first reported the error in a story published overnight Friday.
Fusco, the local party chair, apologized for not knowing the rules. She noted she had been following the past practices of the Derby Democratic Town Committee.
Kevin Reynolds, the legal counsel for the Connecticut Democratic Party, was also in the call Friday. He told Fusco the mistake is quite common.
Dugatto’s campaign sent out a statement shortly before the decision was rendered:
“This is a matter of transparency, plain and simple. There is a mentality in Derby politics of doing things behind closed doors and it is often to the detriment of our city. Changing this culture is precisely why I chose to run for mayor four years ago and why I am running for re-election now,” the statement read.
DiCenso Friday did not see the panel’s decision as a setback. He still has the support of the majority of members of the town committee, along with the majority of members of the Board of Aldermen. One Alderman — Thomas Donofrio — joined the Democrats to run on DiCenso’s ticket. Donofrio ran on the Republican line in 2015.
“I was preparing for a primary anyway. We knew all along there would be a primary, so nothing really changes there,” he said.
He noted the Derby Democrats had been using the secret ballot method for some 40 years as far as he knew, a practice that will have to stop.
