The race for state Senate in the 20th District will be one to watch. But where are the candidates?

With Senator Paul Formica, a Republican, announcing he will not seek re-election in November, Democrats have an opening to recapture the district. Republicans, on the other hand, cannot afford to lose more ground by letting the seat slip away.

Most of the district leans Republican, including Bozrah, East Lyme, Old Lyme, Salem and a section of Old Saybrook. Montville, another 20th District town, has trended more Republican in recent years. The x-factor is the heavily Democratic New London.

Politically speaking, such an opportunity doesn't come along often. Over the last 17 years only two people have held the seat, Democrat Andrea Stillman, who was first elected in 2004, and Formica, first elected in 2014. Both left on their terms, by retiring.

Yet as of Friday, nearly two weeks after Formica's announcement, no Republican had come forward to announce candidacy for the Senate seat.

Meanwhile on the Democratic front, Martha Marx, a visiting nurse and chair of the New London Democratic Town Committee, announced she planned to make a third try. Formica defeated her in the past two elections.

Marx apparently was not interested in a third contest against Formica. Former New London Mayor Daryl Finizio had stepped up, announcing his intention to take on Formica. But with Formica out, and Marx back in, Finizio stepped aside rather than fight the party chair for the nomination.

Both Marx and Finizio are from the progressive wing of their party, strongly pro-labor with convictions that the state's wealthiest are undertaxed and its human services agencies under-supported.

Given the opportunity provided by the open seat, I would expect to see a centrist Democrat, from one of the district's suburban towns, step forward and challenge Marx for the nomination. In other words, someone like Stillman, who had a winning formula of holding her own in the district's towns and closing the deal with strong showings in New London.

That only one candidate — Marx — has come forward could be the latest evidence that it is getting harder to find well-qualified people to run for office. This is not to say Marx is not a well-qualified candidate, but her progressive beliefs are a tough sell in the district.

Politics was always a bruising game, requiring thick skin, but it has turned particularly ugly over the last decade. It is getting harder to find folks willing to subject themselves to the villainization and ad hominem attacks in pursuit of a lousy-paying job that demands a lot of time.

There is speculation that state Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, executive director of the Niantic Children's Museum, might seek the Senate seat. She would be a strong candidate. Cheeseman told me she is focused on the coming legislative session and will await who comes forward, or whether any Republican comes forward, before considering a Senate run.

Any Republican thinking about running must also consider how much they can accomplish if elected. Formica had grown frustrated by the declining power of Republicans in Hartford, which he attributed in significant part to the Donald Trump factor. The unpopularity of the former president in Connecticut drove strong Democratic turnouts in 2018 and 2020, hurting down-ticket Republicans in toss-up districts.

A successful businessman — he founded and still owns the Flanders Fish Market in East Lyme — and the former first selectman of that town, Formica is a person who likes to see things accomplished. Unlike a business owner or a town's chief executive, a senator can find that converting ideas into action can be frustratingly difficult and near impossible when you are outgunned. Democrats have 23-13 control of the Senate.

Formica probably reached his greatest power in the Senate in 2017 when he co-chaired the Appropriations Committee with another local senator, Democrat Cathy Osten of the 19th District. The Senate was split 18-18 that year and a budget impasse pushed the legislature past the constitutional closing date for the session.

The budget deal that Formica and Osten helped steer through Appropriations included a volatility cap and other fiscal reforms to control future spending. Those fiscal reforms are the biggest reason the state is now seeing record surpluses and why talk of tax relief in the coming session should be taken seriously.

Formica, working with Republicans and Democratic lawmakers from the region, also played a key role in restructuring the rules regarding electric power sales by Millstone Power Station in Waterford. Without the changes, Dominion had threatened to close the nuclear plant as unprofitable.

With some politicians, their identity is tied to their positions of power, which makes it tough to step away. Formica is not one of those. At 68, having recently enjoyed the birth of his first grandchild, he felt it was time.

But I suspect the political headwinds his party faces in Hartford were also a factor.

Paul Choiniere is the former editorial page editor of The Day, now retired. Reach him at p.choiniere@yahoo.com.