Republicans to battle for 8th District seat


SIMSBURY — State Republicans will see a fight for the nomination to run for the 8th District Senate seat being vacated by party member Tom Herlihy this fall, as Simsbury Selectman Moira Wertheimer has announced she will force an Aug. 12 primary to determine the 2008 GOP nominee.

Wertheimer is challenging state Rep. Kevin Witkos (R-17), a three-term Republican from Canton who received his party’s nomination during a May 13 convention at the New Hartford Senior Center. Witkos received the support of every town in the 8th District except Simsbury, which went for Wertheimer.

"I captured a large enough percentage to force a primary and that’s what I’m going to do," Wertheimer said in an interview last week. "I’m not sure Kevin is happy about my decision but I feel it’s important to give all Republicans a chance to listen to a discussion on the issues and to decide for themselves who they would like the nominee to be."

Whoever wins the Republican nomination will ultimately face Democrat Arthur House of Simsbury, who ran unopposed for his party’s nomination.

Witkos said he was not surprised Wertheimer chose to challenge him in a primary contest, since she won the support of her Simsbury constituents. "My end goal is to run against the Democrat in November and we’ll just consider this a warmup game," he said.

A former member of the Canton Board of Education and chief of the town’s volunteer fire department, Witkos said he brings more experience to the campaign. "It’s such a different process than town government," he said. "It takes at least a session to get used to, and I have that experience behind me."

The 8th District includes Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Hartland, New Hartford, Norfolk and Simsbury, plus parts of Granby, Harwinton and Torrington. The district has been held by a resident of Simsbury for nearly two decades, with Herlihy finishing his fifth term after taking over for four-term Republican Sen. James Fleming, who served as majority leader in the 1990s and later as commissioner of Consumer Protection and Public Works.

Wertheimer, a registered nurse, is currently serving her second term as Simsbury selectman. She was elected in 2005 and re-elected in 2007. In her campaign announcement last week she said she plans to run "a positive campaign that focuses on issues and solutions" and she invited Witkos to debate her in the coming weeks.

"I intended to work very hard to bring my thoughts on the issues out to the voters in the 8th District," Wertheimer said in an interview with The Winsted Journal. "I’m open to talking to all 8th District voters, not just Republicans."

Herlihy announced in February he will not seek re-election to a sixth term in the Connecticut State Senate. He currently serves as deputy minority leader and ranking member of both the Legislature’s Education Committee and Energy & Technology Committee. He is also a member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee as well as the Regulation Review Committee. He has served as a member of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Children and the governor’s blue ribbon task force on affordable housing.

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