When Waterbury voters went to the polls two years ago, they closed one of the ugliest campaigns in recent city history. That 2011 race was a showdown between Democrat Neil M. O’Leary, then a Board of Education member and former police chief; Independent Lawrence V. De Pillo, then an alderman; and then-Mayor Michael J. Jarjura, a five-term Democrat who became a Republican when it became clear the Democrats would nominate Mr. O’Leary.
As much as the candidates said they wanted an issues-oriented race, it seemed like they were trying to see who could lob the most personal attacks.
Mayor Jarjura was criticized for his personal real-estate ventures and his handling of a time-theft scandal involving former chief blight enforcement official Joseph “Capt. Blight” Davino, a personal friend. Mr. O’Leary, meanwhile, took heat for remarrying one of his ex-wives under a cloak of secrecy – allowing her to be a beneficiary of his police retirement deal – as well as for a report of a formidable gambling habit.
Indeed, when we endorsed candidate O’Leary, the eventual victor, on Nov. 6, 2011, we described the campaign as “a mud-fest, with dueling accusations of lies and skulduggery hurtling across the city’s battered political landscape.”
As I write this, Waterbury voters are going to the polls to choose their mayor for the next two years. Mayor O’Leary is seeking a second term; he’s being challenged by Republican Jason Van Stone, a Board of Education member, and Mr. De Pillo, who is making his sixth mayoral bid since 1999.
This campaign, unlike its predecessor, has been a calm affair. Save for the occasional swipes Mayor O’Leary and Mr. De Pillo have taken at each other, this campaign has been driven mostly by the candidates’ views on the issues facing Waterbury; a relatively mellow campaign is something of an anomaly in Waterbury.
I believe the difference in tone can be chalked up to one factor: personal distaste among the candidates is not as potent now as it was two years ago.
During an Oct. 23 debate, Mayor O’Leary praised Mr. Van Stone for the positive nature of his campaign. While the mayor and Mr. De Pillo seem to passionately dislike each other, the animosity between them doesn’t seem to be in the same league as that which existed between Mayor O’Leary and his predecessor.
Famously, when Mayor O’Leary announced his 2011 campaign, he claimed then-Mayor Jarjura had broken his pledge to not seek re-election and support the former top cop. Mayor Jarjura, of course, insisted there was no such agreement.
That, I believe, set the stage for the craziness that marked the rest of the campaign.
In 2011, we as an editorial board were quite critical of the candidates for the negative nature of the campaign. As such, it was quite nice that there was no torrent of negativity this time.
