A day after the Democratic caucus opted not to endorse her for another term on the Board of Education, Jeanne Loda Tuesday declared her intent to run for First Selectman as an independent.
Loda is a former member of the Board of Selectmen who ran unsuccessfully against former First Selectman Robert Koskelowski, a Republican, in 2005.
Loda said she received paperwork Tuesday and expects to gather 39 signatures in a petition that will qualify her as an independent on the ballot.
“I think it’s time people had more choice. As far as I’m concerned, neither the Republican or the Democratic First Selectman in the last several years have really done much to move the town forward, so I’d like to give people a third option,” she said.
She would face off against incumbent First Selectman Paul Roy, a Democrat who was endorsed Monday, and the Republican candidate for the office, Selectman Kurt Miller.
When asked to assess her chances of winning the top seat in Seymour, Loda said:
“Who knows? You can’t predict elections, but there are a lot of people who are not happy,” she said.
She is deciding whether to change her party affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated, but said that is not necessary to run as an independent.
A Democratic primary would have cost money to the taxpayers, she said.
Miller could not immediately be reached for comment late Tuesday.
Roy said it is Loda’s right to run for office.
“That’s what the system is all about, if she chooses to do that, that’s her right,” Roy said.
Loda was an incumbent member of the Board of Education walking into Monday night’s caucus at the Community Center on Pine Street.
Loda and three other people wanted two open Democratic seats on the school board. The Democrats voted and Loda received the smallest amount of votes.
