August 30, 2012

By Juliana Simone

Torrington, CT – At the city hall yesterday, the five Republican candidates seeking their party’s nomination at the State Convention this May 18th and their constituents vote on the primary being held in August, met to debate at an event sponsored by the Register Journal. The candidates agreed to answer prewritten questions by the moderator for an hour and a half between three o’clock and four thirty in the afternoon. Despite the mid day timing of the discussion, over one hundred people attended and filled the auditorium room to hear what each of the five had to say.

Mayor Ryan Bingham (R) opened the debate and welcomed anyone who was from out of town to the city of Torrington and thanked them for coming. The moderator explained the candidates would have opening and closing remarks, and three minutes to answer the first set of questions and then thirty seconds for the latter portion of the debate which they were calling ‘a lightning round.’ He added numbers were drawn to decide who went first.

Opening remarks presented by the candidates consisted of their biographies that are familiar now to those of us who are in or follow politics and what they would do if elected to Washington.

Those with business backgrounds, Lisa Wilson Foley who sought the 2010 Lt. Governor nomination and 2010 fifth congressional candidate Mark Greenberg who is running for a second time, described this trait as their asset in terms of understanding the economy and being able to find solutions. Veteran State Senator Andrew Roraback (R-30) described his 18 year experience in the legislature and the skill set that came with this as being the right person to be the voice of the fifth district in D.C. Justin Bernier, who also ran in 2010 for the fifth congressional district nomination, talked about the importance of electing Republicans this fall and how with more jobs created we have more taxpayers. Mike Clark, a three term town council Chairman from Farmington, former FBI and UT employee, also spoke about the need to elect more Republicans and to keep the Democrats from being re-elected – from the President down to Congress.