Photo by Jean Falbo-Sosnovich
Democratic Board of Selectman candidates, Richard Luby, Christopher Bowen and Fred Stanek.
SEYMOUR — Town Democrats will not be fielding a candidate this year to challenge Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis.
The lack of a candidate is surprising because the First Selectman’s office had been shaken up with the resignation of Kurt Miller, who left office in October 2020 to take a job with the City of Ansonia. Miller, a Republican, was in the middle of his fifth term.
Drugonis was appointed his replacement by the Board of Selectmen. She was nominated last week by town Republicans to run for her first full term.
Conventional wisdom says this would be the time for Democrats to put up a challenger — but Democratic Town Committee Chairman Stephan Behuniak said no one wanted to run.
“We talked to more people than I can remember this year, but nobody was willing to step up,” Behuniak said. “The nature of politics in this day and age certainly played into it. Putting these slates together is a real challenge. It’s a big commitment to run. And we just did not have a huge pool of candidates who wanted to undertake such a big commitment.”
Republicans greatly outnumber Democrats in Seymour. The Democrats haven’t formally nominated a candidate for First Selectman since 2015. A Democrat hasn’t been elected to the First Selectman’s office since 2009.
During a nominating caucus Monday (July 26) at the Seymour Community Center, the Democrats did nominate candidates for the under ticket.
“I’m super excited about our slate,” Behuniak said. “We have a couple of highly targeted races, and we feel we will pick up some seats this year.”
Longtime Board of Education member Fred Stanek, a local attorney, is seeking a seat on the Board of Selectmen. Stanek will mark his 32nd year on the school board this December. His late wife, Karen, who taught in Seymour for more than three decades, was a former selectman, serving until she passed away in March, 2019.
Stanek himself was a former selectman, serving one term from 1983 – 1985. He believes it’s time for a change.
Stanek recalled something former, longtime Seymour High School Principal AnthonyLoPresti told him upon retiring, and that’s ‘you have to know when it’s time to leave,’ and Stanek said it’s time for him to make an exit from the school board and focus his efforts on becoming “an asset” to the Board of Selectmen.
A former Seymour resident who lived in Colorado for awhile but has since returned, Richard Luby, is trying his hand at running for the Board of Selectmen.
“I want to re-engage in my community,” Luby said.
Incumbent Selectman Christopher Bowen is looking forward to seeking another term, and is hoping to engage residents more in town affairs by hosting his first “Sit Down with a Selectman” this Friday (July 30) at 9 a.m. at the Route 67 Diner in Klarides Village.
Here’s a full list of all the Democratic-endorsed candidates for the November ballot:
Board of Selectmen:
Christopher Bowen (incumbent)
Fred Stanek
Richard Luby
Board of Finance:
Zani Imetovski (incumbent)
Board of Finance Alternate:
Jeff Hanewicz
Kristyn Hanewicz
Library Board of Directors:
Michael Flynn
Planning and Zoning Commission (4 year term):
Rob VanEgghen
John Stelma
Board of Assessment Appeals:
Nicholas Cass
Saundra Gesek (incumbent)
Board of Education:
Ed Strumello (incumbent)
Antoine Billy
Stephan Behuniak
Board of Police Commissioners:
Tom LaPaglia
Colleen Fries
