Somers wins GOP nomination for 18th District state Senate race
Heather Somers is the unanimous choice of Republicans in the 18th state Senate District to be their candidate in the race to fill the seat being vacated by lawmaker Andrew Maynard.
Somers was selected by about 50 attendees from all eight towns in the district as the GOP's choice to face off against likely Democratic contender Timothy R. Bowles Wednesday night at a convention at the Olde Mistick Village Meeting House. Democrats will hold their convention at the VFW in Jewett City on May 23.
"This election is about Hartford outsiders coming together to take back our state government and begin making it work for the taxpayers and for hardworking Connecticut families," Somers told the gathering.
"If we want different results from Hartford, we simply must send a different type of person to Hartford, a Hartford outsider who isn't there for a political career, who hasn't been part of the problem, but who has the grit to fight for our communities, the local experience to know what our region needs to thrive, and the business sense to take on the big government, job-crushing agenda of the status quo," Somers said in her remarks and in a press release.
Maynard, a Democrat from Stonington who has served for 10 years and has suffered head injuries in two accidents over the past few years, is retiring.
Bowles, a former single-term state representative and former two-term minority selectman in his hometown of Preston, has announced his intentions to run against Somers. She is a former town of Groton mayor and was the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014.
He congratulated her in a statement Thursday.
"I would like to congratulate Heather Somers on becoming the Republican nominee for the State Senate. I look forward to a spirited and civil campaign focusing on the issues impacting families and communities in the 18th District," he said.
Somers was nominated at Wednesday's gathering by Michael Spellman, an unaffiliated voter and a selectman in Stonington.
"We cannot begin fixing the critical issues confronting our state by sending people who have been part of the problem back to Hartford," he said. " ... Heather Somers' election is necessary for the very survival of the Connecticut we love, the restoration of the Connecticut that once was."
Her nomination was seconded by Griswold First Selectman Kevin Skulkyz and her college-age son, Ian Bond.
A fundraiser for Bowles will be held in Stonington on Sunday at the home of Scott Bates, a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, at which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman are expected to attend.
"This weekend, while I will be knocking on doors, talking to voters about their needs and concerns, Gov. Malloy and his entourage of insiders will meet in Stonington to huddle with my Democratic opponent and plan their strategy to win this election for the status quo in Hartford," she said.
Towns in the 18th state Senate District include Voluntown, Griswold, Preston, Stonington, North Stonington, Sterling, Plainfield and Groton.
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