[ad_1]
DANBURY — Danbury Democratic mayoral hopeful Roberto Alves is outpacing his opponent, Republican Mayor Dean Esposito, by nearly $40,000 in campaign contributions, according to recently released finance disclosures.
The two candidates, by state law, released their disclosure statements on Oct. 10. Those statements show that for the most recent filing period – July 1 to Sept. 30 – Alves brought in $58,810 from 305 contributors, including 158 from city residents. His campaign has $133,332 on hand and has raised a total of $249,018 so far.
In comparison, Esposito, who narrowly defeated Alves in 2021 for mayor, brought in $38,950 from 132 contributors, including 83 Danbury residents. His campaign has $154,173 on hand and has raised a total of $212,000 so far.
The two candidates are locked in a somewhat bitter campaign, with Esposito recently asserting that Alves wants to defund the police because he has the support of the Connecticut Working Families Party. Some factions within the national Working Families Party have called for defunding the police in recent years.
Alves has denied the claim, saying he supports social justice and good policing, and that the mayor is trying to detract from his two disappointing years in office.
Asked for comments on the latest finance disclosure statements, the two candidates continued to take swipes at each other.
In a statement to CT Examiner, Esposito said Alves “is paying over $12,000 per month on consultants to staff his campaign, which is funded by out-of-town, Hartford-based special interest groups. My campaign is fueled by a grassroots movement of dedicated volunteers and supporters who want to continue the ‘Danbury difference.’… I am proud that our campaign is funded by everyday hardworking Danburians who are invested in our forward progress and the future of our great city.”
Alves, on the other hand, pointed to receiving financial contributions from 158 Danbury residents this past filing period, as opposed to Esposito, who received donations from just 83 city residents.
“We have had significant support from individual Danbury donors,” Alves told CT Examiner this week. “A small percentage of my donors are max donors [giving the $1,000 maximum individual contribution as allowed by law]. … He [Esposito] continues to say my campaign is being funded by rich out-of-state friends, but I have more Danbury donors and he is the mayor, so how does that make sense? I’m proud of the money we have raised.”
During the last filing period, 16 individuals gave the maximum $1,000 donation to Alves, while 15 individuals gave that amount to Esposito. Alves also donated $1,000 of his own money to his campaign.
Four of Espositio’s $1,000 contributors were from employees at New York-based Concrete Structures, Inc., a highway construction business. Other contributors included six attorneys, six city officials/employees not from the school district, and seven real estate brokers/developers.
Alves received contributions from 23 attorneys, 16 educators from Danbury and other school districts, five from union members, eight from current state legislators and three from friends at Danbury-based Cartus Corporation, where Alves works as a technical sales engineer.
Below are some of the notable donations to the two candidates:
Mayor Dean Esposito:
- Jeff Rieck, Executive Director, Danbury Housing Authority, $1,000
- Taranjit Randhawa, Executive Director, Mill Plain Oil, Inc., $1,000
- Herman Sorcher, Sales, Danbury Hat Tricks, $1,000
- Erica Magalhaes, Accounting, Concrete Structures, Inc., $1,000
- Debra Howard, Controller, Concrete Structures, Inc., $1,000
- Sharon Koehler, Admin., Concrete Structures, Inc., $1,000
- Nelson Mendonco, Concrete Structures, Inc., $1,000
- Sylwia Kozlowski, Owner, Innovative Materials Sourcing, $1,000
- Teresa Kalivrousis, Owner, Real Estate by Teresa, $1,000
- Mary Elizabeth Salame, Business Consultant, Scope Realty Associates, $1,000
- Timothy Herbst, Attorney and Real Estate Developer, $500
- Michael Morris, Realtor, Vylia Homes, $500
- Peter DeLucia, Manager, DL Real Estate, $500
- Sydney Putnam, Customer Performance Manager, Hearst Media Group, $500
- Robert Putnam, Attorney, Kyndryl, Inc., $500
- Ken Piela, Business Development, Danbury Sports Dome, $250
- Teresa Buzaid, Executive Secretary, Danbury Library, $200
- Scott Ferguson, Danbury Tax Collector, $100
- Robert Edwards, City of Danbury Attorney, $100
- Robert Zarbock, Real Estate and GIS Analyst, City of Danbury, $100
- Timothy Nolan, Superintendent of Public Services, City of Danbury, $100
Roberto Alves
- Nilton Coelho, Business Owner, Banana Brazil, $1,000
- Ruzhdi Dauti, Builder, $1,000
- Alan Lazowski, CEO, LAZ Parking, $1,000
- Luis Matallo, Owner, Billy Beans Restaurant, $1,000
- David McKinnis, Consultant, $1,000
- Michael Gerstenfeld, Physician, Integrated Medical, $1,000
- Gwendolyn Davidson, Educator, Danbury Public School, $1,000
- Dave Simone, Professional Baseball Coach, Best of Connecticut Baseball, $850
- Diane LaPine, Realtor, $600
- Antonio Luis, Owner of a Paving Company, $500
- John Stafstrom, Attorney, Pullman & Comley, LLC., $500
- Tamar Gendler, Professor, Yale University, $500
- Hamilton Farias, Director of Sales, Cartus Corporation, $500
- Joseph Heyman, Real Estate Owner, $400
- James Blansfield, General Contractor, Blansfield Builders, $250
- Thomas Colin, Attorney and Former Judge, $250
- Peg Morton, VP of Government Affairs, Eversource Energy, $100
- Paul Pernerewski Jr., President, Waterbury Board of Alderman, $100
- Stacey Zimmerman, Associate Director, SEIU-State Council, $100
- Joan Bielizna, Democratic Registrar of Voters, City of Danbury, $100
- Matt Knickerbocker, Wilton Town Manager, $50
- David Kostek, Digital Director, Connecticut Democratic Party, $50
[ad_2]
Source link