Monday, August 16, 2010

Probate primary done; GOP must unite and move forward

Matt won the primary and has earned the GOP nomination for Probate Judge. I enthusiastically support Matt. But while I now offer him public support, I didn’t do that for either candidate before the primary.

Why?

In a nutshell, by the time I realized there was going to be a race I also realized it was going to be extremely ugly because both candidates had some supporters who were completely irrational and were going to bash and undermine everyone and everything that wasn’t 100% supportive of their cause. And as TWL regulars know, I’m fine with people pushing the envelope here and challenging things. But I also prefer when people stick to the issues and discuss the merits of those issues. My record on monitoring and deleting comments is imperfect, but I clearly wasn’t going to be able to maintain even a remote semblance of civility in this race. So I basically stayed out of it because I didn't have time to deal with the ugly comments that were IMO finding a whole new level of vitriol.

But before I decided to stay out of it, I did ask Matt to assure me that he would support the Republican victor. And that he did, in writing:So I post this here because I want the Republican Party of the 18th Probate District to see that although Matt challenged the party’s endorsed candidate, he was always focused on winning the seat from the incumbent. I believe it’s important that we all know that because defeating the incumbent is important and will require a unified party.

I hope the party can move beyond the primary, join together and work toward victory in November. Go Matt!

I also applaud the GOP Chairman, Adam Grippo, for staying out of the race. I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to help bring the party back together for a strong victory in November!

Tim White

13 comments:

jmarkley said...

I'm with you, Tim.

Matt is an exceptionally intelligent young man, ideally qualified for the position of probate judge. I know from knocking on doors that people are ready to make a change, and I am confident Matt will serve us ably and honorably. I support him, and I'm sure he'll do what it takes to mend fences and bring our party a victory in November.

Joe Markley

Anonymous said...

Watching the probate judge position unfold was amazing. I can't speak for party members in general but as an independent I can say the party choice was just crazy. The young nominee, with a law license that no doubt still has wet ink on it has almost ZERO experience as a lawyer.

Who amongst us would hire such experienced for any important service which is licensed by the state in order to protect consumers of such services?

What next, experimental brain surgery by a nurse-trainee? What, if anything were local Republican functionaries thinking when they selected an unqualified candidate to represent and serve local voters?

Anonymous said...

Tim, you're right. Lets stop talking about the primary and focus on the election. We have a clear choice between an incumbent who is corrupt and/or incompetent, and a challenger who is clean and competent. Lets get him elected.

PS: will Peter Bowman endorse Matt publicly? This is what the party rank and file most want now.

Anonymous said...

I don't quite understand what the RTC delegates were thinking when they endorsed Peter. My concerns have nothing to do with Peter directly but obviously the RTC delegates were not in tune with Republican voters on this one. Granted, I believe Matt put together a fantastic campaign to come back and win the primary but obviously there was strong voter support for him from the beginning.

I'm not certain there are any fences that Matt needs to mend...rather the RTC needs to do some splainin' and reach out to the voter community to mend it's own fences.

Kudos to Matt though!

judge judy said...

probate is not necessary if you just either put everything in a non revocable trust or put everything and/or. also this is the last year a probate judge does not have to be an attorney so the experience issue is moot right now. also do not put the obit in the paper.

Anonymous said...

judge judy,
you may be right about using a non-revocable trust to avoid probate, but as explained to you in a previous post, not publishing an obituary does not avoid probate.

first, the state death certificate is automatically reported to probate. second, no bank, registry of deeds, or other authority holding assets will release those assets without an executor certificate issued by probate. why is it so difficult for you to understand this process?

Anonymous said...

In all fairness, the RTC is not completely to blame.

The delegates to the convention which endorsed Mr. Bowman were not selected by the Cheshire & Southington RTC’s; they were selected by open party caucuses held during March in each town.

It’s true that participants in these caucuses tend to be mostly RTC members, but any registered Republican could have attended their caucus and voted to send either Jalowiec or Bowman delegates to the May convention. One candidate got his supporters to the caucuses, and the other did not. (And even if Ray Voelker didn’t announce his retirement til the last moment, both candidates should have been prepared to turn out their supporters to the caucus).

The primary is over, the party rank and file have spoken. Let’s stop pointing fingers and get on with the election. The most important thing we need to hear now is that Peter Bowman is publicly endorsing Matt Jalowiec. How about it Peter?

Anonymous said...

Probate judge Bryan Meccariello (D) is not merely incompetent, he's CORRUPT and presides over a corrupt system of sleazy lawyers who steal from little old ladies.

The Hartford Courant has been following this for months:

"Judge Bryan Meccariello ignored the law and allowed a dying woman's will to be radically altered, removing Sam Manzo as heir to the Smoron farm, and handing it to three local churches — which, in turn, had a deal to sell it to a developer. The elderly woman, Josephine Smoron, had stated in a will that she did not want her farm given to a church."

If ever a local race was a clearcut case of good versus evil, its this one. Matt Jalowiec for probate!

Anonymous said...

2:47 your logic on experience being a moot point because this is the last year a judge does not have to be an attorney is flawed at the least.

I guess you are trying to say that up until the present time inexperienced candidates were the norm but today, modern times, we have seen the error of our ways and now we will be requiring experienced candidates?

Reality is that judges and candidates for judges have always needed experience for their positions.

Anonymous said...

"In all fairness, the RTC is not completely to blame"

Give me a break. Sure not all of the RTC can be blamed, but many members can be as they played an important roll and some of them went further out of their way to write letters to the newspapers in support of Bowman who was not qualified for this job.

Thank goodness Matt ran.

The lsson to be learned is that money and influence don't always win. In this case the people of Cheshire and Southington won.

The whole process of selecting the party's candidate has been very disturbing and disappointing.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness Matt ran. The lesson to be learned is that money and influence don't always win. In this case the people of Cheshire and Southington won.
COMPLETELY AGREE.

The whole process of selecting the party's candidate has been very disturbing and disappointing.
DO NOT AGREE.

As previously pointed out:
The delegates to the convention which endorsed Mr. Bowman were not selected by the Cheshire & Southington RTC’s; they were selected by open party caucuses ... any registered Republican could have attended their caucus and voted to send either Jalowiec or Bowman delegates to the May convention. One candidate got his supporters to the caucuses, and the other did not.

Let’s stop pointing fingers and get on with electing Matt Jalowiec.

Anonymous said...

"Judge Bryan Meccariello ignored the law and allowed a dying woman's will to be radically altered, removing Sam Manzo as heir to the Smoron farm, and handing it to three local churches — which, in turn, had a deal to sell it to a developer. The elderly woman, Josephine Smoron, had stated in a will that she did not want her farm given to a church."

Would anyone think that a Bowman would have done the same thing? I DO!!

Anonymous said...

Could this continuing Bowman bashing and RTC bashing be a Dem ploy to split the Republicans?? Just wondering. It certainly doesn't help Matt Jalowiec get elected.