Editor’s note: Reporter Gwyneth Shaw is following Jerry Labriola, Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, as he visits polling places on Election Day. These are her dispatches from the road.
4:40 p.m: It’s quiet at the polling place at Bradley Elementary School in Derby. Judy Szewczyk has been here all day in her Linda McMahon baseball cap.
“I am the Republican Party here today!” she said.
Szewczyk tells Labriola that turnout has been decent, and that everyone is getting along. Like others today, she’s hungry for news about turnout in New Haven.
The way the entrance to the precinct is set up, Labriola has to call out to voters as they walk in.
“Born and raised in the Valley!” he shouts.
Few do more than smile while avoiding eye contact.
The sun is sinking, and the chill is creeping in.
“I need to get someplace where there are more voters,” Labriola says.
He points the SUV toward West Haven. He’ll be back to Naugatuck tonight to wait for the results. If the tsunami comes, he’s ready. If not, there’s always 2012.
4 p.m. At the Mead School in Ansonia, Labriola dons his navy Ansonia High soccer jacket, with “coach” embroidered on it. He just finished his fourth season as head coach for the girls team.
It never hurts to show a little local spirit when you’re asking for votes.
3:30 p.m: Jerry Labriola is certain that voters across the country will send career politicians a message today. Whether the Republican wave washes into the 3rd District is less clear, he said.
“I think that this is a referendum on the president and the Congress nationwide,” he said as he waved at voters outside the Seymour Community Center. “It remains to be seen whether that will take hold in the 3rd Congressional District, but they’ll catch on eventually.”
Labiola, whose signs pointed out that he’s a “non-incumbent,” said his opponent should have spent her time in office working on economic growth, not social issues such as health care reform.
Labriola said if he’s elected, he’d vote to repeal that legislation and push for a simpler, market-based replacement.
“The career politicians have had their chance, and they’ve let us down,” he said.
2:25 p.m: Jerry Labriola is exhausted.
He’s burned through five Election Day stops already, on the heels of a 15-hour campaign day yesterday. But he’s optimistic that good things are coming later today in his race to unseat U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the incumbent and a Democrat.
“We’re third on the ballot” after a Republican gubernatorial team that will hopefully boost voter turnout, Labriola said during a quick stop for lunch at Nardelli’s in Naugatuck.
“They’ve got a good ground game that we can benefit from,” he said.
The day started at Labriola’s polling place in Wallingford. He said it was a little strange seeing his own name on the ballot.
Today’s visits with voters probably won’t swing the race, Labriola said, because most people have already made up their minds by the time they arrive at their precinct.
He’s said he’s out “just to show the flag, and greet and thank voters who I’ve been meeting with.”
After a brief stop at his law office in Naugatuck, Labriola is headed deep into the Valley, a key area for harvesting enough votes to knock off DeLauro in the 3rd Congressional District.
Little nuggets of news are coming in, including that turnout in New Haven, DeLauro’s hometown and stronghold, is huge.
Labriola is pressing on, in the white BMW sport utility vehicle, he jokingly refers to as his campaign headquarters.
