16th and 30th shape up as key districts

Record-Journal 05/17/2006, Page 13

By Robert C. Pollack
Record-Journal staff

Southington - With nominating conventions for four state races affecting Southington looming in the next 10 days, it has become increasingly evi­dent that those in the 16th Sena­torial and 30th Assembly dis­tricts have attracted the most interest.

The 16th will pit Democratic Town Councilor David Zoni against Republican Sam Caligiuri of Waterbury and the 30th Assembly District will see one ­term incumbent Joseph Aresi­mowicz, D-Berlin, face off against police Lieutenant Ed­ward Pocock III.

The convention to nominate Zoni, who won his first election to public office last November after narrowly losing a bid for the same council seat in 2003, will take place Monday at 6 p.m. at Gene’s Corner House Restaurant, 1219 S. Main St.

Caligiuri’s nominating con­vention is today at 7 p.m. at the  Elks Lodge, 114 Main St. Caligiuri, former acting mayor of Waterbury following the ar­rest of Philip Giordano, is an at­torney whom Southington Re­publican Town Committee Chairman Edward Pocock Jr. calls “dynamic and forward thinking.” But his Democratic counter­part, Town Committee Chair­woman Elaine Bedard, calls Zoni a man of the people who understands the needs of the 16th District, which comprises all of Southington, about a third of Waterbury, all of Wolcott and a small section of Cheshire. Caligiuri has called Zoni “a nice man” but says he believes he has the vision, leadership qualities and knowledge of is­sues affecting the district that make him more qualified for the state senate.

Zoni, who used the identical words to describe Caligiuri, “a nice man,” said he is running for the senate after limited council experience because he found “that many of the issues facing Southington, such as property tax relief — which also faces Waterbury, Cheshire and Wolcott — are issues that “that no one town can do any­thing about. They are state is­sues and I am running so I can be in a place where they can be addressed.” The 16th Senatorial District seat became open when state Sen. Chris Murphy, D­ Cheshire, decided not to seek another term but to run instead against US Rep. Nancy John­son, R-New Britain, in the 5th District Congressional race.

In the 30th Assembly race, the Aresimowicz nominating convention will take place Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Ital­ian Club in Berlin.

Aresimowicz, 35, who works for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 4, said he is proud of what he has accom­plished in his first term in Hart­ford but “there is a lot more to be done.” Pocock, the former chairman of the Southington Republican Town Committee, has said flat­ly that despite the advantages of incumbency Aresimowicz has going for him, “I am going to win. It is time people went to Hartford who really represent the voters who elect them.” Pocock’s convention will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Central Pizza in Berlin. The 30th dis­trict represents Southington and Berlin.

In the 81st Assembly District, John “Corky” Mazurek, 53, D­ Wolcott, will seek a third term; the Republican candidate is as yet unannounced. His nominat­ing convention is scheduled for Tuesday in the Wolcott Senior Center. The district represents all of Wolcott and about 6,500 voters in the western part of Southington.

Mazurek, who had previous­ly announced his intention of seeking his party’s nomination for the 16th Senatorial District seat, stepped aside “for the sake of party unity” when Democra­tic leaders backed Zoni instead. Since 46 percent of the vot­ers who went to the polls in the last 16th District election live in Southington, leaders felt a Southington resident had a bet­ter chance of winning.

But Mazurek said this week he is “thrilled to have the op­portunity to continue serving the people in both Southington and Wolcott,” though he did add he was disappointed he wasn’t given the chance to run for the senate.

In the 80th District, state Rep. Bruce Zalaski, D­ Southington, will be opposed by a former West Hartford po­lice office, Richard Cianci, who was unavailable for comment Monday. Details on his nomi­nating convention have yet to be announced.

Zalaski, who was also un­available for comment, will be nominated by the Democratic Town Committee Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall council chambers.

rpollack@record-journal.com  (860) 620-5980

Campaign 2006

Copyright 2006 The Record-Journal Publishing Co. 05/17/2006

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