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Minority Representation Law Determines Outcome of 2nd Taxing District Race

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NORWALK, Conn. — When results for the 2nd Taxing District commissioner race were posted, the outcome surprised some voters. Republican Luigi DiMeglio, who received just 304 votes, was listed among the winners, while Democrat James Del Greco, who received more than 1,000, was not.

While this may seem strange, it was required by the Second Taxing District Charter, which mandates that commissioner elections be conducted “with due regard for Section 9-167a of the Connecticut General Statutes, Minority Representation.”

Vote Totals

According to certified results:

 Martha Wooten-Dumas (D): 1,055 votes (44.31%)

 James Del Greco (D): 1,022 votes (42.92%)

 Luigi DiMeglio (R): 304 votes (12.77%)

Because both top vote-getters were Democrats, seating them both would have violated the charter’s requirement for political balance on the board. That rule ensures that no single party holds all commissioner seats, even when the top two vote totals come from the same ticket.

Minority Party Representation

Section 1-78A of the Second Taxing District Charter states that commissioners “shall be elected … with due regard for Section 9-167a of the Connecticut General Statutes, Minority Representation.” That section of state law limits how many members of one political party can serve on a multi-member board.

Sec. 9-167a. Minority representation. (a)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the maximum number of members of any board, commission, legislative body, committee or similar body of the state or any political subdivision thereof, whether elective or appointive, who may be members of the same political party, shall be as specified in the following table:

Section 9-167a of the Connecticut General Statutes,
Total MembershipMaximum from One Party
32
43
54
64
75
85
96
>92/3 of total membership

Officials Confirm the Outcome

Town Clerk Rick McQuaid said the decision was reviewed and verified by the Secretary of the State’s Office.

“There’s no discrepancy with the ballot,” McQuaid said. “[The commission] can only have so many Democrats. So James Del Greco will not be able to serve. That’s straight from the state.”

He added that his office confirmed the winners and filed the official certification accordingly.

“These are the official winners of the election,” McQuaid said. “Martha Wooten-Dumas and Luigi DiMeglio were declared elected.”

Certified Result

According to the official certification filed with the Secretary of the State, Martha Wooten-Dumas (D) and Luigi DiMeglio (R) were elected to six-year terms running from Nov. 5, 2025 through Nov. 5, 2031.

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Comments

11 responses to “Minority Representation Law Determines Outcome of 2nd Taxing District Race”

  1. sue Haynie

    This makes sense. Norwalk is about 40% Republican but you would never think that by the makeup of the city leadership which is almost totally lead by Democrats.
    Republicans pay taxes too.

    1. David Muccigrosso

      Norwalk Republicans should support Proportional Representation: 40% of seats for 40% of votes.

      That’s what’s fair. It rewards seats for votes, not seats for LOSING votes.

      DiMeglio did NOT earn 40%, by the way. He earned 12.77%.

      1. John Levin

        David: “Proportional Representation” is not something that is available under existing state law. It should be, but there currently is simply no vehicle to accommodate that concept — in fact it appears that no state currently requires proportional representation in municipal legislative bodies. Connecticut comes close with its minority party representation statute, the subject of this article, which applies to only some elected bodies and to appointed boards and commissions. As you clearly recognize, the MPR statute is a blunt tool, and can deliver perverse results. The 2nd Taxing District Commissioner election last week is an example: because four of the five continuing Commissioners are Democrats, state law permitted only one more Democrat (either registered as such, or appearing as an endorsed candidate for that party) to be elected. Under state law the next highest vote getter in the election would be awarded the seat – regardless of what party that candidate ran under, and regardless of the absolute number of votes garnered in the election.

        I think your remonstration that “Republicans should support Proportional Representation” is more aptly applied to Norwalk’s Democrats, who currently hold all but one of the city’s elected offices, and have been awarded a complete monopoly of elected positions by last week’s election. I expect that Norwalk’s Republicans (I do not speak for the RTC), as well as the Norwalk Independent Party and every other political party participating would be thrilled to have Proportional Representation. Sadly, it just doesn’t exist. Yet. Norwalk’s Democrats must be happy with things as they are: taking just the 5 at-large Council seats as an example, the five Democratic earned 57% of the votes last week but will be awarded 100% of the seats. In the election two years ago, they earned 55% of the votes and got the same skewed outcome.

        Two months ago, our Council’s Democratic supermajority was given an opportunity to address this unfair election system by adopting a Charter Revision proposal that would have added 2 at-large Council seats while capping any party nominations at the current 5 – essentially reserving at least 2 seats for non-majority party candidates. They initially voted to support that idea, along with the proposals for extending Mayor and Council terms from 2 years to 4 years, and increasing Council pay (for the first time in 40 years). Alas, at the last minute a majority of the Democrats in the Council decided to dump the Council change they had previously approved, while keeping all of the other changes: https://www.nancyonnorwalk.com/opinion-norwalk-charter-revision-we-almost-got-a-fairer-way-to-elect-the-council/.

        Solutions are possible. Courts in some jurisdictions have forced compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by requiring some cities and boards of education to use cumulative voting as a remedy for systemic dilution of minority voters. Connecticut could permit its cities to do the same but currently does not. Is it too much to hope that our state legislature might have an interest in improving the fairness of local elections by adopting this change? Proportional Representation might then become possible. It’s worth a try, right?

        1. David Muccigrosso

          I think we should just do the hard work of advocating for PR.

          More kludges aren’t fixing anything. And Democrats are the party most amenable to PR as it is. Republicans stand to gain the most benefit, but they’re hung up on MPR as their supposed savior. It’s not going to cut it!

          The state should repeal its ban. Period. It’s a foolish ban, and it’s a pillar of the odious two-party duopoly.

          IMO it’s telling that neither party wants to undo the ban on PR. Neither is an honest dealer here. They just want to fight each other while preserving their duopoly.

  2. David Muccigrosso

    Congratulations Republicans on getting your Political Affirmative Action for yourselves. You absolutely did NOT earn this seat. How does it feel to be dependent on the generosity of the public teat?

    1. Kimmi Krieger

      It feels good, David.

      Required minority party representation is required by state law for every elected board in Connecticut. Norwalk is the only municipality in Connecticut that does not obey this rule on its town council (don’t ask me why, I don’t understand why we have an exemption!) Fortunately, South Norwalk Electric and Water does obey the state requirement. It’s a benefit to every citizen to have a diversity of points governing critical public utilities.

      1. David Muccigrosso

        This is NOT the way to achieve it.

        Minority party representation rewards failure.

        Proportional representation rewards actual effort — seats for votes, not seats for LOSING votes.

        MPR is a backwards canard that should be consigned to the dustbin of history, not some treasured innovation.

      2. Peter Marino

        Can’t agree more.

  3. Kimmi Krieger

    This article misses an important point: James Del Greco is not a registered Democrat. He is an unaffiliated voter.

    Norwalk Democrats knew this, and ran him as a candidate on the Democratic line anyway. That’s OK. What’s not OK is that after the election, Norwalk Democrats tried to claim he was actually a member of a minority party (of one!) and that therefore he should qualify for the SNEW commissioner seat reserved for a minority party member.

    The state rightly denied this flawed reasoning, and prevented voters from being disenfranchised.

    It’s heartening that our charter was respected, but concerning that this appears to be not a just mistake, but an active attempt to subvert the rules.

    I hope this does not reflect the future mode of operating for the Democratic Party. It certainly does not reflect the values of the majority of Norwalk voters.

    1. Tysen Canevari

      I agree with Kimmi. How do we have any kind of valid discussion in this town when only one side of the table is full? Good for them following state protocol and shame on our council for not!

      1. Bryan Meek

        Rules are rules. Thanks Kimmi for bringing the facts.

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