Kupchick Wins Nomination for State Rep. by Narrow Margin

Brenda Kupchick, a District 6 member of the Representative Town Meeting, won tonight's Republican caucus for state representative by a narrow margin over Chris DeSanctis.

The final tally, from the five town voting districts within the 132nd state House District, was 206 votes for Kupchick to 178 votes for DeSanctis, according to Republican Town Committee Chairman James Baldwin. The paper ballots were counted in the gymnasium at Roger Sherman School.

"We had a gentlemen's race. We treated each other with respect, and we both worked very hard," Kupchick said after she and DeSanctis walked into a hallway outside the gymnasium to hear the final results from Baldwin.

Kupchick indicated that DeSanctis and she had talked Monday night and agreed that whoever lost would support the other in the November election against state Rep. Tom Drew, D-Fairfield, who is seeking a fourth two-year term.

After he addressed the gathering in Roger Sherman School, DeSanctis stopped short of saying he absolutely would not attempt to wrest the Republican nomination from Kupchick in a primary, though he said that was unlikely. "Most likely not happening," DeSanctis said. DeSanctis said he hadn't spoken with his campaign staff about that possibility and didn't want to rule it out until he had.

During his address, DeSanctis said, "I think we'll be a united party going into the general election, and I'm excited about Brenda's candidacy."

Kupchick said she was "looking forward to the hard work and getting my message out" to voters in November's election.

"The main focus here is not to beat each other up but to get rid of the Democrat. We are going to beat Tom Drew," Kupchick said. "I hope we can all work together. I know it's hard to have a split like this, but we need to be united. We need to bring balance to the Legislature."

Kupchick said Drew was "a nice guy" but that Democrats control too many seats in Connecticut's House of Representatives. "There's no compromise, there's no discussion. It's just ramming through what the supermajority wants," she said.

Kupchick said she was different from Drew because she was a fiscal conservative and a small business owner, and Drew was not.

Republicans in districts 1, 5, 6, 8 and 10 were eligible to vote in tonight's caucus.

Baldwin said results in District 1 were 57 to 57; 19 to 14 for Kupchick in District 5; 39 to 15 for Kupchick in District 6; 48 to 29 for Kupchick in District 8; and 63 to 43 for DeSanctis in District 10.

Kupchick and DeSanctis said DeSanctis' message of smaller government and fiscal responsibility resonated with voters in tonight's caucus. Kupchick favored reducing the size of state government, cutting back on state debt and making Connecticut more friendly to small businesses. DeSanctis, though, picked up the support of the Tea Party movement, though Kupchick said last weekend that leaders of the Tea Party never contacted her to ask her positions on issues.

DeSanctis said he thinks voters are ready to hear the message of smaller government and fiscal restraint and that they want authentic candidates and not politicians. "The political talk is not what they're looking for anymore," he said.

Ballots in District 1 were the last to be counted. Heading into that count, Kupchick was leading DeSanctis by 28 votes, and the tie in District 1 didn't change the outcome.

Baldwin said he congratulated Kupchick and DeSanctis on "what was really an above-board campaign, and that bodes well for the election" in November.

Kupchick thanked her supporters, including her father and James Millington, the RTM's majority leader and Kupchick's campaign manager.