Groton — Diane Marley-Barber said she's proud of her son for wanting to get involved in politics.

"He's got a great education, he's got a great head on his shoulders," said Marley-Barber, a Republican running for one of nine seats on the Groton Town Council.  "I just dropped the ball on the political savviness, because he really should be a Republican. I'm going to try my best to turn him around."

Her son, Brandon Marley, a lawyer for the Bartinik Law Firm here, is also running for the council but as a Democrat.

"There are nine seats," he said. "I'm competing for a seat. I'm not necessarily competing against my mother."

Marley-Barber, who is in her 50s, started the Groton Good Government political action committee and served as its president more than a decade ago, speaking out against tax increases in the early and mid-2000s. She said she's been asked many times to run for office and this year is running for Representative Town Meeting in addition to the council.

"I can put the 100 percent in now, and I probably couldn't have a few years ago," she said. Marley-Barber works full time as an assistant casino shift manager at Foxwoods Resort Casino, where she been employed for more than 23 years. When her son was growing up, she worked a second, nearly full-time job for 10 years at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I., unloading baggage, de-icing planes and marshaling in aircraft.

Now she owns and operates a small lawn business in addition to her Foxwoods job.

"If I keep busy, it's going to maintain my quality of life," said Marley-Barber of Noank.  

Brandon Marley, 32, said his mother taught him his work ethic.

"She didn't go to college but she managed to raise two kids by herself (and) worked two jobs," he said. She would deal cards at Foxwoods for eight hours, then drive to T.F. Green and unload baggage for eight hours, then drive an hour home to take care of her kids, he said. 

"Even today, she's in her 50s, she looks like she's in her 40s and she still works her butt off," he said.

Marley, who lives in Groton City, earned a bachelor's degree from Eastern Connecticut State University and a law degree from Oklahoma City University School of Law. The Bartinik Law Firm hired him in 2012. He handles criminal cases for the office and assists the other attorneys.

He represents District 3 on the Representative Town Meeting but said he's found it frustrating.

"I felt that we couldn't get enough accomplished," he said. He believed forming an economic development corporation to promote business growth was a step in the right direction, but he concluded the RTM didn't have the authority to create it. He also didn't like it that the RTM couldn't vote on the city's highway budget. He wanted to restore highway funding that the council had cut.

Marley and his mother talk almost every day and see each other about three times a week, but they didn't really discuss whether they were going to run. They found out after the fact.

"I called her and I said, 'Hey, I put my name in the hat for Town Council.' And she said, 'So did I,'" Marley said.

"It was almost the type of thing where, 'You've got to be kidding,'" Marley-Barber said. Both said they'll post each other's signs on their lawns.

Marley said he'll vote for his mother.

"Think about what we could do across party lines," Marley said.

Then he added, "I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to address (her). Do I say, 'Well, I don't particularly agree with you, mother?'"

She said, "I'm very proud of the eight Republicans that are running ... And I would be very proud if the eight Republicans got in and my son was the lone Democrat."

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim