Time for some local news, of the just desserts variety. New London held a primary yesterday. A fairly important primary. For years a local pol named Michael Buscetto has been campaigning to institute a strong mayor system in New London. It may come as no surprise that he considered himself the perfect, indeed the inevitable, candidate for the position. Buscetto has made a career out of alienating the black community in New London, persecuting the homeless, and undermining the most recently appointed police chief, who just happens (?) to be a woman. Nonetheless, he had every reason, given the power he has wielded in New London, to think he’d win walking away.
Buscetto’s opponent was a young guy who campaigned as a progressive. He’s more than a bit of a carpetbagger, having only recently moved to town.
When the dust had settled, Buscetto was the loser by a landslide. Classless and clueless to the end, he blamed his defeat on the fact that people voted:
In dissecting Tuesday’s vote, Buscetto said a lot of people sat out the primary, assuming they could vote for him in November. Some, he said, organized a campaign to vote against him. He criticized City Councilor John Russell, who he said registered homeless people and then drove them to the polls to vote for Finizio. “No to both,” Russell said Wednesday when asked about the allegation. “Even though there is nothing wrong with it, I didn’t do it.”
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Buscetto also said Police Chief Margaret Ackley — with whom Buscetto has been sparring for about a month after she publicly accused him of unethical behavior and of meddling in police affairs — switched her party affiliation and voted against him, he said.
That accounts for maybe 10 of the votes against him, so he’s about one fortieth of the way toward accounting for his opponent’s margin of victory. Pity the guy. The job he created to give himself more power will deprive him of the power he’s had up until now. Yet more proof of the old adage that you should be careful of what you ask for, lest you get it.
New London dodged a bullet yesterday, but it’s not home safe by any means. The Democratic nominee, Daryl Finizio, is an unknown quantity, and he’ll be facing three petitioning candidates as well as the endorsed Republican. Anything can happen in a five way race. Who knows, petitioning (and now perennial) and ethically challenged candidate Andrew Lockwood ( I have a personal history with Andy, see here, here and here– I really don’t like the guy. ) might just sneak in.
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