On Saturday, May 10, Republicans from all over Connecticut gathered in their respective Congressional Districts to nominate Republican candidates for U.S. Congress. With Sen. John McCain at the top of the ticket and Congressional approval ratings at a strong 21%, fielding a full slate of candidates will hold Congressional Democrats accountable for their mistakes over the past 16 months.
We’ve already reported on the rousing nomination of First Congressional District candidate Joe Visconti. His Convention was well received by many of the delegates in attendance, with most commenting about it being the “most energetic” Convention they had seen in years. In Eastern Connecticut’s Second Congressional District, Captain Sean Sullivan was nominated to challenge one-term Congressman Joe Courtney. In accepting the nomination by unanimous voice vote, Sullivan used a humorous story from his submarine days to make the case for his candidacy:
“I am reminded of a time in command of a submarine when we were conducting exercises in the southern Gulf of Thailand. The ship was sitting on the surface in shallow waters and a large tanker approached with constant bearing and decreasing range. If you are a mariner, you know constant bearing, decreasing range is no good. Ultimately, the range will be zero and a collision will ruin your day.
My supply officer was the contact coordinator. Navy Supply Officers are affectionately known as “Chop”. They put on a great meal, but most are not great mariners.
On this occasion, my Chop called to the bridge with a recommended course change to the east. It was a good course to avoid the tanker and all the other ships in the area. It was a textbook course change for collision avoidance. Only one problem. If we turned to the east, we’d run aground on Vietnam! I did not take that recommendation.” - Sean Sullivan, May 10, 2008
In the Third Congressional District, Boaz ItsHaky, a Bethany acupuncturist, is the Republican nominee. Bo has a diverse array of interests and a compelling personal story - growing up on a kibbutz in Israel, serving in the IDF, and then migrating to the United States. A Member of the Republican State Central Committee from the 17th State Senate District, Bo will continue his great service to his Party and to his adopted nation. Hopefully the voters of the 3rd Congressional District will “Go with Bo” on Election Day.
Connecticut’s Republican Congressman Christopher Shays was nominated once again in the Fourth CD at Darien Town Hall on Saturday evening. In accepting the nomination, Congressman Shays commented about the 2006 results, saying: “The last election left me as a caucus of one,” U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays of Bridgeport said in his speech accepting the nomination. “Democrats didn’t really win the election of 2006. Republicans lost that election because we lost our way.” Shays, the only Republican Congressman from New England, will fight hard to keep his seat from Democratic challenger Jim Himes.
And in the Fifth Congressional District, State Sen. David Cappiello was nominated to face one-term Congressman Chris Murphy. The 5th had been the one anticipated contested Convention in the State as late as Wednesday of last week. But the announcement that former State Rep. Tony Nania would not challenge Cappiello ended that storyline. Cappiello commented that, “The people of Connecticut are tired of a do-nothing Congress that has failed to address their needs, and worse, has an unacceptable habit of saying one thing but doing another.” Look for Cappiello to wage an aggressive bid for Congress against Rep. Murphy this fall.
