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Missed the Next Game

After scolding the Guilford Courier for having “failed to acknowledge” why last fall’s elections saw no Republican candidates, Kendall Svengalis elucidates (“A Dark Underbelly,” Dec. 28, 2023). Looking in the mirror, he blames 2021 Republican candidates and supporters like himself. Just kidding! Svengalis apparently stared instead into his trusty conspiracy-world “looking glass,” which turns “up” into “down”… and “lost-by-a-landslide” into … well, fraudulent conspiracies.

Svengalis counts 300 registered independent voters; 3,371 Republicans; 6,112 unaffiliated. In 2021, he says Democrats and faux-independents “fabricated” a ticket that “destroyed the long-established minority representation rule.” He identifies the perps: First Selectman Matt Hoey, Superintendent of Guilford Public Schools Dr. Paul Freeman, Board of Education (BOE) Chair Katie Balestracci, former BOE Chair Bill Bloss … “and the rest of the cabal.” In essence, he blames everyone … except Republicans. Svengalis grouses that “[by] their actions, Democrats … marginalized [Republican and unaffiliated voters] … who were left with no alternative choices on Election Day.” This he likens to “totalitarianism.”

I gotta admit the guy’s entertaining. But here’s a suggestion for Svengalis: turn on your GPS and locate yourself. You live in Guilford. Guilford doesn’t do crazy, a lesson learned in 2021 when voters had plenty of “alternative choices.” Five Republican candidates ran for five open BOE seats against two Democrats and three independents. In normal times, “traditional” Republican candidates would have won seats. But 2021 wasn’t normal, and the Republican platform was hardly traditional. Did Svengalis assume the “minority representation rule” guaranteed Republicans seats, regardless of their toxic, race-based conspiracy claims? Wrong! They all lost by huge margins.

Republicans could have run “traditional” candidates last fall. Svengalis implies they’d taken their ball and gone home after 2021. In other words, they’d completely missed the next game because of … ya know … Democrats.

Greg Kinsella

Guilford