For the first time in many years the West Hartford Republican Town Committee has endorsed a full slate of six candidates, but only one is an incumbent, while the Democrats have one new candidate on their Council slate.

By Ronni Newton

The 2025 municipal election is more than three months away, but long before a single political sign is planted in the ground interest in the race is already growing in West Hartford.

Over the past week, both the Democratic Town Committee and Republican Town Committee have released their slates of endorsed candidates, and there are some unexpected and notable inclusions and exclusions on the lists.

Perhaps the most surprising – and most diverse – group of nominees comes from the West Hartford RTC. For the first time in since 2013 there will be a full slate of six candidates on the Republican line, but only one of those endorsed came from among the party’s three incumbents.

Note: In West Hartford, all nine Town Council seats are up for grabs every two years, but each party is permitted to endorse up to six candidates. The majority party cannot hold more than six seats, and Democrats have been in the majority for more than two decades. The last time the Republicans won a majority of seats was in 1999. Board of Education candidates serve four year staggered terms, and the Democrats have a long-held 5-2 majority.

Republicans

Incumbent Alberto Cortes was endorsed this week by the Republicans and will be running for his third term. Absent, however, from the slate of endorsed candidates are Minority Leader Mark Zydanowicz, who was first elected to the Town Council in 2021 after serving several terms on the Board of Education, as well as Mary Fay, the former minority leader and a four-term incumbent Council member.

Included are five newcomers, two of whom were Democrats as recently as a few weeks ago.

John Lyons, a long-time member of the West Hartford Democratic Town Committee and a member of the Town Plan & Zoning Commission as well as the Greater Hartford Transit District, has resigned from the Democratic Party and is now registered as a Republican. In a letter to the editor submitted to We-Ha.com, he notes that as a political centrist he has previously – but unsuccessfully – sought a nomination for Town Council.

“I began to ask many people the following question: could I better serve the town by running for Town Council irrespective of party affiliation?” he states in the submitted letter, adding that he is excited to be endorsed. [Editor’s Note: John Lyons has been a longtime contributor to We-Ha.com and was formerly my co-host of the We-Ha Roundtable on WHCi. Those contributions will be suspended temporarily while he is a candidate, as well as if he is elected to serve.]

Dr. Jason Wang, an addiction medicine physician and Bike West Hartford Board member who often speaks out and pens op-eds about road safety and housing issues, has also just joined the Republican Party. Wang, who is often seen toting his young children around town in his cargo e-bike, has been an outspoken advocate for road safety as well as the importance of expanding housing opportunities.

Wang told We-Ha.com on Wednesday that he always believed he “aligned with liberal thought processes” and the Democratic Party, although he had been officially unaffiliated on the voter rolls – until he recently approached the DTC about running for office..

“I wanted to try to make a run for Town Council, but they told me I wasn’t a registered Democrat,” he said. Wang then changed his registration, but after not being endorsed by the DTC he changed it back. “They picked another candidate,” he said.

Wang, who is in his 30s, said like many young people he felt “loosely aligned with the Democrat’s priorities,” but also felt conflicted because of the tension in the party.

In the past, Wang said he had attended RTC meetings as well as DTC meetings, and the Republicans reached out and asked him about running. “They asked, and I said sure.”

Wang said his priorities are locally-focused – road safety, zoning, housing, safety. “I don’t want to get into national issues that don’t affect the town,” he said when asked about how he feels about the Republican Party on a broader level. “My own views of Donald Trump are very complicated,” he said, noting that he grew up in a very middle class area of the midwest where many people were struggling.

“I don’t feel conflicted at all,” he said about joining the West Hartford Republican slate. He said he believes the Democrats are struggling more and more to keep their constituents happy. “Places run by Republicans are more efficient when you take the culture wars out of it,” he said. “The fact that they nominated me tells me they’re not conflicted either,” Wang added, noting that the ticket includes several young people and others, like Lyons, who have recently changed parties.

“I think it will be a breath of fresh air and fight for what matters,” he said of the upcoming election.

Another physician is on the Republican slate for Town Council. Dr. Gayle Harris, an OB/GYN, is a current member of the West Hartford Board of Education but is seeking a Council seat rather than running for re-election to her current role.

Rounding out the newcomers on the ticket are attorney and former Board of Education candidate Kyle Zelazny, and first-time candidate Ben Lewis who, according to his LinkedIn profile, is an account executive with a medical device firm.

We-Ha.com also reached out to the Republican incumbents who were not endorsed this week.

“It was unfortunate that out of seven candidates, only six went forward,” Zydanowicz told We-Ha.com in a phone interview on Wednesday when asked about the actions of the RTC in choosing the slate. Zydanowicz served on the West Hartford Board of Education since 2012 before running for Town Council in 2019. “They asked me to run four years ago because they wanted my name recognition,” he said.

Just a day or so after receiving the news, he said he’s not yet sure what he will do, whether or not he might become a petitioning candidate.

“After 13 years of service to the town … I’m just surprised, that’s all,” Zydanowicz said.

We-Ha.com reached out to Fay, but as of press time did not respond to a request for comment.

The Republicans also endorsed Miriam Bleich, referred to by the RTC as “a respected advocate for children,” to run for the  Board of Education where there are three open seats.

RTC Chairman Shawn Daly told We-Ha.com in a phone interview Wednesday that the slate will focus on and fight for its core local beliefs surrounding education, taxes, business, and other issues, information that will be shared with voters over the coming weeks. This group of candidates is “intelligent, compassionate,” he said. And while they don’t all agree with the national Republican Party priorities, he thinks that’s okay.

“When we were talking to Jason [Wang] and John [Lyons] and others, I think what makes us a little different … is that we don’t expect that everyone agrees with every single conservative policy that’s out there,” Daly said. He said many people visited the RTC booth at Celebrate! West Hartford – from both parties, as well as individuals who were unaffiliated – and their discussions indicated there were a lot of commonalities with West Hartford voters.

“We’re trying to get rid of that ‘virtual’ party lever,” Daly said, and wants voters to not just look at the letter by someone’s name.

When asked about the “elephant” in the elephant’s room, Daly said, “Whether or not you’re a Trump fan or not shouldn’t matter.” Opinions vary widely within the party regarding the Second Amendment, abortion, and other broader issues, but, he said, “Local is what we want to focus on, not national.”

When asked about not including two of the incumbents on the slate of endorsed candidates, Daly said that Fay didn’t apply to run. “She received notification,” he said, that was sent by email and posted on the RTC’s website indicating that applications were due by July 11. “She did not submit an application.”

Zydanowicz “has done a tremendous job” representing the party, in his nine years on the Board of Education as well as on the Town Council, Daly said.

“We looked at all potential candidates. Certainly there was an air of wanting change,” he said.

“In the end, we really wanted to go with a diverse slate of candidates who bring young, fresh ideas to the party, new perspectives. We feel we have the right six,” Daly said. “The RTC debated long and hard,” he said, and there was a larger pool than ever before. Some reached out after the deadline to express interest, he added.

“We haven’t seen this for a long time,” Daly said. The six Town Council candidates, he said, are “high quality, and have solutions. … We know this group can get us back to the greatness that West Hartford had.”

Democrats

At a meeting on July 17, the Democrats endorsed all five incumbents who are seeking re-election to the Town Council in 2025 – Mayor Shari Cantor, Deputy Mayor Ben Wenograd, Deb Polun, Tiffani McGinnis, and Barry Walters. Carol Anderson Blanks will be retiring from the Town Council after serving three terms, which followed three years on the Board of Education including a year as chair.

DTC members chose Lisa Lazarus, a real estate agent and business consultant, from among several individuals who indicated interest in the open seat. Lyons and Wang had recently been among those looking for endorsement from the DTC.

For the Board of Education, incumbent Jason Gagnon is joined on the 2025 Democratic ticket by newcomers Jonathan Weiner, an attorney and permanent law clerk with the Connecticut Supreme Court who is also a Little League coach, and Jennifer Herz, who also has a law degree and according to her LinkedIn profile is head of government affairs for pharmaceutical firm Neurocrine Biosciences.

“I am proud of the Democratic candidates we have put forward for the Town Council and the Board of Education,” DTC chair Peter Andrews told We-Ha.com. “Shari, Lisa, Tiffani, Deb, Ben, Barry, Jason, Jennifer, and Jonathan all care deeply about the future of our town and bring strong, proven leadership that these times demand. Our ticket will carry a positive message to every neighborhood about the importance of Democratic majorities on the Town Council and Board of Education.”

Andrews said building upon West Hartford’s many successes is paramount, and current elected officials have made tremendous strides “towards creating a town that is attractive to young families, professionals, and retirees. … Local issues such as addressing affordability, maintaining our excellent schools, and improving public safety remain our candidates’ top priorities.”

While 2025 is a local election, Andrews said it can’t be looked at in a vacuum separate from the national party. He noted that earlier this month the Trump administration’s announcement that they would be freezing more than $50 million in education funding for the state could leave a hole of up to $393,000 in the town’s education budget.

“To hear West Hartford Republicans talk about this race, they are fine with running under Trump’s Republican party banner, but don’t want to take responsibility for the negative impacts on West Hartford’s working families,” he said.

“I trust that West Hartford’s residents can discern which candidates represent their values. Candidate quality does matter, and I am confident our Democratic ticket will earn the support of a vast majority of residents,” Andrews said.

Anyone else?

As of Wednesday afternoon, Town Clerk Leon Davidoff said there had not been any changes to the slates of endorsed candidates for the Republican or Democratic parties, and no one filed paperwork to either primary or run as a petitioning candidate. It’s more difficult to primary because a candidate must obtain a large number of signatures – of at least 5% of the enrolled party members in the municipality – within a two-week timeframe.

The barrier is much lower to run as a petitioning candidate, requiring signatures of just 1% of the total votes cast for the same office in the preceding election. Davidoff couldn’t immediately provide the exact number, but said it would be less than 200.

Davidoff also confirmed that no slate of endorsed candidates had filed this year by A Connecticut Party – the third party that had run multiple candidates in the past two West Hartford municipal elections.

A Connecticut Party Chair Mark Merritt confirmed to We-Ha.com that the party would not be running candidates this year, and will be “somewhat going into a dormant phase,” he said.

“For A Connecticut Party to cut through the Democratic and Republican voting patterns is a challenge in our town,” said Merritt. The former West Hartford RTC chair, who left the party in 2021 to launch the third party challenge locally, said he will be returning to the Republican Party.

“I’m excited about what the West Hartford GOP has done with this diverse slate,” he said of the current endorsed candidates. “It’s good that we’re turning a page,” he said, adding moderate voices and several young candidates, and individuals with good name recognition.

“Affordability” of living in West Hartford will be a key issue in the election, and Merritt said he would be supporting the Republican slate and is optimistic about their chances this fall. “With this slate it allows us to hopefully pick up a seat.”

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