By Jody Dietch
Orange Democratic Town Committee
Jody Dietch
After each election, we look back and see how things went and what the numbers tell us.
Two years ago, the Orange Democratic Town Committee leadership looked at how things had been going and decided we needed to do things differently. We always ran a first selectman campaign separately from the candidates. This time, we decided we needed a reboot. This year we ran as one team.
Our team of candidates, led by first selectman candidate Dan Fitzmaurice, worked harder than any campaign in more than a decade. The results proved it. Their hard work of more than 12,000 outreaches helped increased voter turnout by about 5 percent, but more importantly saw the Democrats win more votes than ever individually and in decades collectively.
This election was by no means a mandate to the Republican leadership that “staying the course” is what the constituents want. If they think so, I encourage them to take a look at the results. Not one Democratic candidate got less than 2,100 votes for the first time. Did we win enough to flip seats? No, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t successful.
The gains we made in this election were significant, and the energy the campaign generated is a strong foundation for the future of the Orange Democratic Party. In only one week since the election, we have had more interest from people wanting to join the ODTC than ever before. This interest in getting involved is from many different demographics of our town. We welcome them and look forward to maintaining the energy we have generated.
There was an element of this election that tried to fly under the radar. Every voter in Orange should be very concerned about the game the Republican Party is playing.
Each party holds their caucus to nominate and endorse candidates in July. After the Republicans held their caucus and endorsed the candidates, one candidate withdrew from the Republican ticket. He had previously changed his party affiliation from Republican to a member of the Independent Party just a few months earlier.
The Republican Party chose not to replace him on their slate of candidates. Why, you may ask? Because the former leadership of the Orange Republican Town Committee worked with this candidate to create a shell party of the Republican Party called “Common Sense.” This is right out of the national Republican playbook.
What is their goal? For this election, their goal was to win 1 percent of the vote to establish “The Common Sense Party” as a recognized party. What does that do for them?
In Orange, our charter calls for minority representation. That means no one party can hold all of the seats for any board. There are no clean sweeps. There is a maximum number per board one party can hold. By doing a bait and switch, the Republicans are trying to grab the minority representation under the unethical guise of “The Common Sense Party.”
They tried this in Woodbridge as well, trying to run as the Common Ground Party. They are trying to eliminate a democratic system and steal your vote.
We expect this party to run candidates for three boards in 2027: Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and the Amity Board of Education.
What can you do? Let our first selectman know that this is unacceptable. As the face of the Orange Republicans, he should denounce these unethical bait and switch party politics. Let your friends and neighbors know about this game the Republicans are playing. Encourage them to read this column and not be fooled by the name of this third party.
The Orange Democrats will continue to be a voice at the board meetings and will continue to be the thorn in the side of first selectman when the deemed necessary. Yes, Jim Zeoli, we will be the proud thorns you want to “pull out with a pliers and discard.”
If you want to join our movement, please reach out to me at 203-314-9975 or via email at JLDOrange@yahoo.com.
Jody Dietch is the chair of the Orange Democratic Town Committee.