Derby Republican Mayoral candidate Gino DiGiovanni.
DERBY – Second Ward Alderman Gino DiGiovanni received the nod from the Derby Republican Town Committee Wednesday (July 19) in his bid to run for mayor.
DiGiovanni, 42, accepted the nomination before 20 members of the DRTC gathered at the Hotchkiss Hose Co. for the Republican nominating caucus.
All but one member of the DRTC voted in favor of DiGiovanni.
Third Ward Alderman Charles Sampson, who is not seeking re-election to his seat, abstained from the vote. Sampson told The Valley Indy he is torn between DiGiovanni and Incumbent Republican Mayor Richard Dziekan, a childhood friend.
Dziekan announced last week that he would not be seeking the endorsement of the DRTC. He believes he hasn’t lost the support of Republicans, just the small group that comprises the DRTC. Instead, Dziekan said he plans to collect the necessary signatures to force a Republican primary Sept. 12.
DiGiovanni, who runs DiGiovanni & Sons Construction, received high praise from several speakers at the caucus. Sam Pollastro, who once served as Dziekan’s campaign manager, nominated DiGiovanni for the city’s top seat.
“Gino is a family man, a blue-collar, hardworking family man with deep seeded ties to his community,” Pollastro said. “With the current climate, people are tired of the way things are being done and saying how we need change.”
Pollastro pointed to the many projects DiGiovanni has lent his construction expertise to, free of charge, and never asking for recognition or payment. Those include changing worn flags around various city ballfields, fixing a park bench for seniors, erecting the city’s Sept. 11 memorial on the Derby Green, organizing a hoop shoot contest and Easter egg hunts and installing plaques on various landmark city buildings to mark the city’s coming 350th birthday.
“Gino is at the height of a family run business to run for mayor just to take a 50 percent pay cut, that’s how passionate he is, it’s not about the money, it’s not about the prestige,” Pollastro said.
Pollastro noted how DiGiovanni did his own fundraising and waged an aggressive door to door campaign back in 2021 when he was running for alderman, an elected position he snagged in a highly Democratic ward.
DiGiovanni told his supporters his priorities include bringing pride and unity back to the city.
“We need a leader who will be an advocate for all, a leader to unite us, not divide us,” he said. “We need someone who cares about the neighbor to his left and right, someone that knows how to value others’ time, someone who knows how hard the citizens have to work just to scrape by, someone that knows how to be available at 3 a.m. to manage a team for that emergency situation, and I am that leader we need.”
DiGiovanni, if elected, spoke of how he would reinstate all the aldermanic subcommittees, devise a plan to replace the city aging fleet of fire and public works vehicles and create a Charter Revision Committee, as some of his first orders of business.
DiGiovanni is a lifelong Derby resident who attended grade school at St. Mary — St. Michael before graduating Derby High School in 1999. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He studied construction management at Central Connecticut State University and said he has been with his construction company for about 20 years.
He and his wife, Heidi, live in west Derby.
DiGiovanni made national news earlier this year when NBC Connecticut reported he breached the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riots. DiGiovanni said he entered the building because there was no way to push back against the mob. Click here for an extensive interview he did with The Valley Indy. Presumably the Derby resident committed trespass, and while arrests are still being announced connected to Jan. 6, DiGiovanni has not been charged.
Julian Campoli, who is running for Second Ward Alderman, lauded DiGiovanni, calling him “a beacon of light for this community.”
“Gino is not afraid to get his hands dirty or is intimated by hard work, he knows how to pull the best out of everyone and he’s not afraid of what people are going to think of him even if he ruffles a few feathers,” Campoli said. “You’ll never see this guy looking for recognition.”
Along with DiGiovanni, the DRTC unanimously elected the following slate of candidates to represent the Republican under ticket:
1st Ward Aldermen/Alderwomen
Richard DiCarlo
Sam Pollastro
Judy Szewczyk
2nd Ward Aldermen/Alderwomen
Anthony Mullin
Nick DiGiovanni
Julian Campoli
3rd Ward Aldermen/Alderwomen
Matthew Beck
Micheal Shea
Ann Kimball
Board of Education
John DeCarlo, III
Laura Harris
Rebecca Bartone‑O’Hara
John Campoli
Karla Malerba
Janine Netto
Board of Apportionment and Taxation
Marc Johnson
Jose Rivera
Laura Wabno
Kristen Wright
Isa Simmons-Derby
Robert Miller
Treasurer
Heidi DiGiovanni
Constable
Carlo Malerba, Sr.
