Wilton Republican Town Committee chair Al Alper might not have been selected as one of his party’s endorsed nominees for the upcoming Board of Selectmen‘s race, but that doesn’t mean he’s done seeking the post. GMW has learned that Alper is exploring the possibility of taking the race to a primary, and challenging the slate that the RTC endorsed last week.
Alper has obtained petition paperwork that would be required to challenge the endorsed slate in a primary. The deadline for turning in completed paperwork to the registrar of voters is Aug. 9. Alper hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment or confirmation. However, Wilton’s Republican registrar of voters Annalisa Stravato confirmed that Alper did obtain primary petition paperwork from her.
“He has come into the office and he has picked up paperwork,” Stravato said.
During last week’s nominating meeting, the RTC went to executive session to decide their Board of Selectmen slate, first voting to put current selectman Lori Bufano on the ballot for one open seat. The group then had to go to a secret ballot vote to choose between slating Alper or challenger Josh Cole to run for the second open seat, eventually opting to endorse Cole as the official RTC nominee for that second spot.
To petition to be on a primary ballot, Alper needs to secure signatures from 5% of the number of Republicans registered in Wilton, and turn in that petition to the registrar by 4 p.m. on Aug. 9. There are 4,185 registered Republicans in Wilton, so the number of verified signatures Alper would have to obtain is 210.
The primary date in Connecticut is Tuesday, Sept. 12. As of now, Stravato says that no other Republican has requested paperwork to appear on a primary ballot.
If Alper does not win in the primary, he has the option of filing a “nominating petition” with the CT Secretary of State to appear on the ballot as a “petition candidate.” Filing that paperwork would require that Alper obtain a number of registered voters (of any party or affiliation) “equal to the lesser of (1) 1.0% of the votes cast for the same office(s) at the last preceding election, or (2) seven thousand five hundred.” He would have to do that by the same Aug. 9 deadline, as a sort of ‘backup plan’ in case he doesn’t emerge as the RTC’s primary winner. Alper would have to obtain a nominating petition form from the Secretary of State and have the Wilton town clerk verify his name as it appears on the voter list in order to collet signatures.
It appears that Alper is preparing to simultaneously file a nominating petition; while he hasn’t responded to requests for confirmation or comment, Wilton’s town clerk Lori Kabak confirms that Alper did come in to her office to have his name verified on a nominating candidate petition form. If he does enter and win the primary, he would have to withdraw his name as a petition candidate.
Going to primary in a municipal election is very rare for Wilton.
“I was talking with the former Republican registrar [Tina Gardner] and we cannot remember ever having a municipal primary on a municipal election year. There was one for registrar, but it was not in a municipal year; it was a gubernatorial election year,” says Carole Young-Kleinfeld, the Democratic registrar.
Young-Kleinfeld adds that as of now, no Wilton Democrats have requested paperwork to petition for a primary.
With three contested races shaping up for the November municipal elections–and now the prospect of the Wilton Republicans possibly needing to go to a primary, it seems that the 2017 election year will be more exciting than in recent years, which often have seen uncontested races for all seats.
This must be “fake news.” I can’t imagine the RTC Chairman (Alper) would contest the decision of the entire RTC.
There certainly was a primary for a municipal position. In 1981 Marilyn Gould was nominated by the Republican Town Committee to run for First Selectman. Margaret Gill filed the paperwork and forced a primary which see won by 18 votes and became our second female Selectman. See served until she was elected to the State of Connecticut Assembly.