Ousted RTC members force a primary in Old Saybrook

Old Saybrook - Ten newly ousted members of the Old Saybrook Republican Town Committee submitted 163 verified signatures on Wednesday to force a primary that will determine who will gain two-year seats onto the divided town committee, Republican Registrar of Voters Jean Winkler said.

One-hundred-twenty-two signatures were required to successfully petition for a primary.

The March 2 primary will give all Republicans in town a chance to elect exactly which 40 members they would like to see on the committee, said Brad Thorpe, a member who was not re-elected at the Jan. 6 caucus. In addition to the names of the 10 members left off the committee membership earlier this month who are trying to regain their seats, the primary ballot will also list the 40 names voted into the town committee on Jan. 6.

The top 40 vote-getters will earn spots on the town committee, Thorpe said.

The petition for a primary was spurred by a surprise move by state Rep. Marilyn Giuliano, R-Old Saybrook, at the caucus when she challenged the town committee's slate of candidates with her own.

The 10 ousted members who petitioned for the primary are: First Selectman Michael Pace; town committee chairman Cal Caldarella; town committee treasurer Raymond Muratori; Board of Education chairman Mario Gaboury; Grant Westerson; Kenneth Gibble; Derrick Kennedy; Lamar LeMonte; and Thorpe. Mark McGuire Jr., whom the town committee had planned to elect onto the committee, also petitioned for the primary, Thorpe said.

The primary will be held from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 2 at both the high school and middle school.