District 32 special election Tuesday could tip balance of Connecticut Senate

Dan Lynch of Middlebury is an independent candidate for the open seat being vacated by state Sen. Rob Kane. Dan Lynch of Middlebury is an independent candidate for the open seat being vacated by state Sen. Rob Kane. Photo: Scott Benjamin /The News-Times Photo: Scott Benjamin /The News-Times Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close District 32 special election Tuesday could tip balance of Connecticut Senate 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

The three candidates running in Tuesday’s special election in the 32nd state Senate District say the chief concern in the 10 towns they would represent is the reduction in municipal aid under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s $40.6 billion proposed budget.

After nine years, Watertown Republican Rob Kane vacated the seat last month and is now one of the two state auditors of public accounts. The outcome of the election could tip control of the deadlocked Connecticut Senate to Democrats should Democrat Greg Cava pull an upset in the long-Republican held district.

Cava, a Roxbury resident and member of the Region 12 Board of Education, Middlebury petitioning candidate Dan Lynch, who is unaffiliated, and Watertown Republican state Rep. Eric Berthel are nearing the end of a six-week dash in a district that runs from Bethlehem to Oxford and includes such metro Danbury towns as Southbury, Roxbury, Washington and Bridgewater.

Cava lost to Kane last November before Kane resigned the seat shortly after winning re-election.

Republicans have held the seat for more than a century. The last Democratic senator was Charles Lymon of Washington - elected in 1891. Currently, 44 percent of the voters are unaffiliated, 29 percent are Republicans and 25 percent are Democrats.

Polls will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the results could tip the balance of power in a Senate that has a 17-17 tie between Republicans and Democrats.

That same day, there also will be a special election in the 2nd District, which covers Windsor, Bloomfield and part of Hartford and had been held by Democrat Eric Coleman. The Republicans have not had a majority in the upper chamber since 1996.

Malloy’s budget is drawing criticism because it eliminates or reduces state education funding in many towns and puts one-third of the teacher pension costs on the municipalities to help erase a projected $1.7 billion budget deficit for the next fiscal year.

“People are angry and scared,” Berthel said. “The 10 towns would collectively lose $11 million in municipal aid. Oxford would go down $4 million, Watertown $2.3 million and Southbury $1.2 million.”

“If they’re going to change the education funding then you have to ask why it costs $20,000 a year to educate a student in Hartford, which is going to get more money, and only $12,000 in Oxford and Watertown,” said the second-term legislator who is the vice president of Strategic Outreach for Hartford Healthcare Federal Credit Union.

Lynch, 54, a marketing and technology consultant, said that “there is no question that the tax mill rates would increase under the governor’s plan. Plus, there is concern about the towns having to pay all of the costs for the resident state troopers.”

Cava, 58, an attorney specializing in land development, said he would “fight to get the municipal aid increased, since it’s placing unfair burdens on the towns in the district. It could hurt their bond ratings.”

He said long-term, the best remedy “would be a boost in economic development, but that doesn’t happen at the snap of your fingers”

Berthel, 49, said to close part of the budget gap he could support privatization of some state services as long as existing standards are met. Lynch advocates a three-year freeze on state employee wages. Cava said the state employees have made concessions over the recent years to address budget deficits and he would be against further give-backs.

On another topic, Cava said several voters said they want electronic toll stations on some Connecticut highways since “our residents pay a lot of tolls in neighboring states.”

Lynch said several voters are against a proposed increase in the annual pistol permit fee from $70 to $300.

“I think it’s discriminatory,” he said.

Berthel said he expects only a 10 to 12 percent turnout of voters.

State Rep. Steve Harding (R-Brookfield), who won a February special election two years ago, said “candidates are mostly targeting the people that are serving on town boards or in civic clubs and others that vote regularly in the budget referendums and November elections. I think the lower turnout between a November election and a February special election is largely due to the absence of the semi-interested voters.”

Cava and Berthel each qualified for $72,000 from the Citizens Election Program and each has a headquarters in Watertown. Lynch has a limited campaign committee and has only been able to spend $1,000. He said in about five weeks he drove 1,982 miles across the district to meet voters.

Cava and Berthel said they have gone door to door and utilized phone banks and direct mail.

Berthel said digital advertising has helped him contact likely voters.

Harding said two years ago the state Republican Party assisted him with a “very effective” digital program.

He said, “Since then, the improvement in technology has allowed micro-targeting to grow in leaps and bounds.”