Wait, what?! A pro-gun-rights Republican won a vote in Connecticut this week?
Since Newtown, gun prohibition advocates, especially March for Change, told the public and legislators that any politician who did not support gun-prohibition efforts in Hartford would never win another election. That standing up for gun-owners-rights was political suicide. Sadly, many Hartford Republicans and moderate Democrats bought into those threats. Well, that thinking failed its first real-world test.
This reality check came on Tuesday when Republican Samuel Belsito captured the Connecticut State Legislature’s 53rd House District. This special election was held to replace Democrat representative Bryan Hurlburt who resigned to take a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At its highest level, this victory marks the first time a Republican has won the district in 40 YEARS.
The winner Belsito, who attended the Massachusetts Military Academy, served in the Massachusetts and Connecticut Army National Guard, attaining the rank of first lieutenant said:
“I didn’t win. The taxpayers and citizens of the 53rd District won. They voted for me and put me in and they wanted change,” Belsito said at his campaign party at Willington Pizza on Tuesday night. “I’m the 53rd Republican from the 53rd District — it was an omen.”
The district comprises Ashford, Tolland and Willington and has been solidly Democrat as indicated by the 40-year drought in the district for GOP representation in Hartford.
So how does gun prohibition play into this election? Well, Belsito has been an outspoken supporter of gun owners' rights and has said on multiple occasions that he would have voted NO on the recently passed CT gun law. But that is not all, supporters of gun owners' rights were not passive in this contest as reported by theCourant:
"Last week, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League put out a call to members on its website seeking campaign volunteers to help Belsito. Before Tuesday's vote, gun rights activists traveled to Tolland, Ashford and Willington, the three communities that make up the district, to knock on doors and make phone calls.
"This was the first chance we had to put in a legislator who cares about the Constitution,'' said Brian Saucier of Windham, a member of both the National Rifle Association and the Connecticut Citizens Defense League.
Jerri MacMillian of Essex, another NRA member who volunteered to help Belsito, said she spoke with many voters in the district. "The 2nd Amendment was driving their vote,'' she said."
Find out what's happening in Wiltonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
OK, so maybe gun prohibitionists were not active in this contest but here is the REALLY WIERD THING given the past six months, Belsito's Democrat challenger was also vocal in his opposition to the new gun law. The Courant again:
"But the role that gun control played in the race is complicated by the fact that both Belsito and Horn say they oppose the gun bill. "I would have voted 'no','' said Horn, a self-described conservative Democrat. "Even though they say it is just registration, I don't think that's the end of it."
Horn said he heard a lot about guns on the campaign trail. "People in a rural area have a different outlook on guns and that's because there's probably a higher percentage of legal gun owners out here," he said. "Every day I was out knocking on doors, I would get at least one person who was really ticked off about the gun bill. There were an awful lot of people, including Democrats, who are really ticked off about the gun bill -- and the budget.''
Final emphasis mine - even Democrat voters are questioning the gun prohibition and budget priorities of those currently in Hartford.
Of course, all politics is local but this result should get the attention of politicians who may have been cowed into supporting gun control effort for fear of their political livelihood.
The apparently successful efforts of the CCDL and other gun right supporters at voter education and mobilization should serve as a lesson to like-minded folks - it is not just the vocal prohibitionists who can make a difference at the polls.
The significance is that, particularly in Connecticut, where draconian measures were enacted in the wake of Newtown, and where Gov. Malloy has made “gun control” a defining platform of his administration, voters are not always in support of their representation. Also, that certain factions may be vocal but all voters count the same in elections. Also, that among voters, those at the far ends of the gun-rights vs gun-prohibition spectrum are set in their votes, but the ideological middle is persuadable and not one-issue voters.
And, ironically in this case, both Belsito and Horn were competing for the gun owner vote, not for the citizen disarmament faction who have been yelling the loudest.
