Search Results for "Jack Perry"

Jack Perry, a Southington Democrat, became the second member of his party to announce he is running for his party’s 2026 nomination in the First Congressional District. Perry joins Hartford school board member Ruth R. Fortune in the growing contest to challenge 14-term Democratic incumbent John Larson.

Daily Ructions reported in March that Perry was included in a survey asking respondents their choice from a long list in a Democratic primary that included Larson and 10 other Democrats, including Perry in the pole positing against Larson. Contacted at the time, Perry said he knew nothing of the poll. It did not include Luke Bronin, the former Hartford mayor seen as Larson’s most formidable potential challenger. It did include state Representative Jillian Gilchrest (D-West Hartford), who sounds tempted nearly beyond her strength to jump in to what may be an epic contest–and the state’s first primary challenge of a Democratic member of the House since primaries were enacted more than 50 years ago.

The prospect of five candidates vying for delegate support could complicate next year’s town committee elections. Candidates will want to win 15% of the delegate votes in order to avoid the time consuming and expensive task of collecting thousands of signatures to qualify for the primary ballot. Town committees choose the delegates to the convention and that could cause some intense contests within local party organizations. It will also require Larson to measure his support in many of the district’s 27 party committees.

Gilchrest is popular in West Hartford, one of the district’s powerhouses. Bronin should be able to count on the large Hartford delegation and several other towns where he has successfully cultivated support.

Published July 23, 2025.

Some prime Democratic voters received text messages Saturday inviting them to participate in a First Congressional District survey for the 2026 election. Respondents were reminded of incumbent Democrat John Larson’s 42 years in elected office—as a shove to get out of the way rather than a tribute to longevity.

The questions included a list of Larson and 10 Hartford area Democrats as possible choices next year. That sprawling questions was followed by a more revealing one: What if there were only three candidates, Larson, Jillian Gilchrest, and Jack Perry? Gilchrest is the West Hartford Democrat serving in the House of Representatives who activists and observers expect to mount a campaign for higher office when an opportunity arises.

Who is Jack Perry and why did he make it into the second round with only Larson and Gilchrest? Perry is a member of Southington’s town council. He is also a small businessman and a member of a prominent member of the entrepreneurial Perry family.

The 2024 election of loathsome demagogue Donald Trump and a quisling-infested Republican congress has caused alarm among sentient Americans. Democrats have grown particularly agitated at their leaders’ inability to thwart Republican unity in the service of damaging the United States and its democratic allies.

Perry, who sold his dumpster and hauling business last year, told Daily Ructions Saturday that he has been contacted by and is talking to Democrats about their shared fury and frustrations. The Southington Democrat said he was not familiar with the survey but sounded like someone itching to make the leap to a higher office. Perry mentioned Larson’s recent medical incident on the floor of the House as one more reason to look upward on the greasy pole of political ambition.

UPDATE: Democratic campaign consultant Cole Haymond has worked on Jack Perry town council campaigns. Some Daily Ructions readers assumed from this post that Haymond would sign on to a Perry bid for the Democratic nomination for the 1st CD. He will not. Haymond performs work with the state party and contractors who muck about in challenges to Democratic incumbents soon find themselves in the chilly wilderness. Haymond has a hands-off policy on any Perry gambit against Larson.

Published March 29, 2025. Updated March 30, 2025.

Eighteen Democratic women serving in the legislature have signed on to an emphatic call to action in the First Congressional District. No more “being told to sit quietly and wait.”

The declaration conveys a sense of urgency and endorses Jillian Gilchrest for Congress. Her election would, they note, give Connecticut a House delegation with a majority of women.

Gilchrest represents part of West Hartford in the state House of Representatives. She is seeking to unseat incumbent Representative John Larson as he seeks a 15th term. Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, Ruth Fortune, a Hartford school board member; and Southington council member Jack Perry are also challenging Larson.

Democratic delegates will meet next May to endorse a candidate. A primary is expected to follow in August. It will be the first time in more than 50 years of primaries in Connecticut that an incumbent member of House of Representatives has been challenged in one.

Not every Democratic woman serving in the legislature agreed to sign the Gilchrest endorsement. Most of those on the list do not live in the First Congressional District, but they all have some experience in raising campaign money. That will be one test of the Gilchrest supporters’ commitment to the campaign and will be seen in the Democrat’s fourth quarter fundraising report that she files in January. It will need to be significantly better than Gilchrest’s third quarter report. Primaries are expensive, especially when the result determines who wins the November election.

Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the last time the district elected a Republican to the House.

Published December 10, 2025

State Representative Jillian Gilchrest raised only $54,000 in her first 36 days as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress from the 1st Congressional District. The West Hartford Democrat is seeking to unseat 14-term incumbent John B. Larson in the safe Democratic district.

Luke Bronin, former mayor of Hartford, raised nearly $1.18 million since announcing his candidacy a month before Gilchrest. Bronin’s fundraising haul on his first day as a candidate was an eye-catching $500,000. Larson, who had nearly $300,000 in the bank when Bronin announced his candidacy, raised an additional $800,000 in the third fundraising quarter of the year.

Larson is an old hand at raising money from special interests, the source of most of his campaign funds over nearly three decades of campaigning every two years. Bronin impressed politicos and others when as a first-time candidate he collected $1 million for his 2015 race for mayor of Hartford. Gilchrest’s fundraising has been considerably more limited because she relied on the state’s generous public financing program for her West Hartford legislative races. It’s not easy to convert $100 contributors into $3,500 ones. The social worker contributes $4,696 to her campaign coffers. Gilchrest is expected to bring some grassroots organizing prowess to the race, but that requires some money.

Hartford Board of Education member Ruth Fortune and Southington Town Council member Jack Perry are also seeking to unseat Larson. Fortune has raised $41,353 since becoming the first candidate to launch a challenge to Larson. Perry made a $500,000 loan to his campaign and raised $28,810 in his first six weeks as a candidate.

Local parties will choose delegates to the district’s May nominating convention early next spring. An August primary is expected to follow. It will be the first one an incumbent member of the House of Representatives has faced in more than 50 years of primaries in Connecticut.

The nation’s most successful Democrat in a red state will be the star attraction at the annual Bailey dinner on November 15th.Governor Andy Beshear will venture forth from Kentucky to tell Connecticut Democrats how he does it. Beshear has served as Kentucky’s attorney general and is enjoying his second term as governor. 

The party’s chief fundraising event will be held at the Connecticut Convention Center 11 days after municipal elections in the state and two crucial gubernatorial elections test the appeal of moderate Democratic nominees for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. If both Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger defeat their Republican moment, the state Democratic dinner will be Beshear’s chance to point to other winners from the party’s sensible wing. 

The dinner will take place in Hartford, hometown of Luke Bronin, the former mayor and one of four Democrats challenging 14-term incumbent and Tier 1 retired state employee U.S. Representative John Larson. The evening will provide an opportunity for feats of strength from the audience of party loyalists by supporters of Larson, Bronin, state Representative Jillian Gilchrist, Jack Perry, and Ruth Fortune. 

Published September 26, 2025. 

Defense contract consultant Arianna Larson wants Democrats in the First Congressional District to know: “It’s game on.” Her Uncle John is ready for any challenger to his renomination next year. In an email to Democrats and others on Rep. John Larson’s 77th birthday, His niece assures recipients she likes fresh ideas as much as the next person and is “part of the next generation of Democrats eager to make change,” but not so fast. “[T]his is not the moment to be testing the bench,” the Manchester resident warns. Others, maybe many others, may disagree. They might also “respect the value of new voices and fresh ideas” enough to vote for them in a primary next August.

The email suggests Team Larson may be struggling to find its message for a shapeshifting campaign that will require Larson, who has spent 38 of the part 42 years in public office, to appear fresh and energetic.

The birthday request is not for money. Washington lobbyists and their PACS will continue to provide plenty of that. “The pitch is for momentum.” That’s harder to rustle up for a veteran congressman’s 15th campaign for the House.

With more than 12 months to go before the 2026 primary, Arianna Larson, has inadvertently set out a theme that may also suit the challengers, “Let’s make sure folks know what’s at stake, and who’s ready to deliver.”

Larson is calling upon his inner circle of longtime political allies to help him prepare for a quartet of rivals. They are Luke Bronin, Ruth Fortune, Jillian Gilchrest, and Jack Perry.

Published July 22, 2025.