ANSONIA – Tracey DeLibero will appear as the Republican Party’s candidate for town clerk this November, following a lawsuit filed against the town clerk by the Ansonia Republican Party.

The Republicans nominated DeLibero Aug. 13 after their previous candidate, Smive Raphael, who had been nominated by the party in July, withdrew because she was not an elector in Ansonia. That could mean she was not eligible to vote in the city. Court papers don’t specify and neither Ansonia GOP leader Tony Mammone nor his lawyer returned calls for comment.

The Republicans said Ansonia City/Town Clerk Beth Shortell Lynch did not allow them to place DeLibero on the ballot to replace Raphael. Mammone and the Ansonia Republican Town Committee filed a civil lawsuit Sept. 12, saying Lynch unlawfully denied DeLibero access to the ballot.

The lawsuit also alleged Lynch had a conflict of interest because she was a Democratic incumbent blocking a Republican from running for her office.

However, Lynch told The Valley Indy Sept. 17 that she was relying on legal advice given by Lewis Button, a lawyer with the Secretary of State’s Office. Lynch said Button sent her an email saying that since Raphael wasn’t an elector in Ansonia, the Ansonia GOP’s endorsement was not valid, and that it was too late to nominate a replacement.

“Should anyone wish to run for that office, at this time, they would have to register as a write-in candidate before the deadline,” according to the email.

However, things changed after The Valley Indy queried the Secretary of the State’s Office about the issue on Sept. 17.

The office sent Lynch a new email, written by staff attorney Aida R. Carini, correcting the information provided to Lynch in the first email. Carini said upon further review, the state lawyers did not believe the town clerk had ​“the authority to reject said nominations.”

“A timely filed certificate of endorsement that substantially complies with (state law) shall be accepted by the town clerk,” Carini wrote.

The email goes on to cite a 2024 Connecticut Supreme Court Case, which held that a town clerk has limited authority to judge whether a nomination is valid.

Lynch told The Valley Indy she would put DeLibero on the ballot based on the email from the Secretary of the State attorney.

As of Sept. 18, the Ansonia GOP’s lawsuit was still pending, with a remote hearing scheduled for Oct. 6.

Election Day is Nov. 4.