Tonight in Newtown: Democrats will endorse candidate for 106th House District in contested caucus.

Months of skirmishing will come to a head tonight at the Newtown Middle School when local registered Democrats attend a 6 p.m. caucus.

Board of Education chair Michelle Embree Ku and Newtown newcomer Brandon Moore are vying for the 106th House District nomination to take on incumbent Republican Mitch Bolinsky. Embree Ku came within just under 600 votes, 3.8%, of defeating Bolinsky in 2024.

This is Moore’s first bid for public office. He did spend four days working for Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz and was an intern in Governor Ned Lamont’s office. Moore says that while an intern for the popular governor he spent his time  “implementing workforce policies that helped thousands of residents secure well-paying jobs.”

Moore is foregoing the state’s campaign financing program and reported raising $24,863 in the first quarter of the year, much of it from outside Newtown. Embree Ku has collected $8,779, enough to qualify for a pubic grant under the Citizens Election Program.

Bolinsky ran unopposed in 2022. He has had some close races. He won his first term in 2012 by 15 votes. He was re-elected in 2014 by 908 votes. His largest margin came in 2016. That year he defeated party activist Eva Zimmerman by 1,862 votes. Zimmerman challenged Susan Bysiewicz in a primary for lieutenant governor two years later.

Embree Ku in 2024 and Rebeka Harriman Stites in 2018 and 2020 came close to tipping over Bolinsky.

Moore was busy in 2024 managing Nick Simmons’s historic campaign against Ryan Fazio, the Greenwich Republican seeking a third term in the Greenwich-based 36th Senate District. Fazio is the Republican nomination for governor. He won that competitive seat on his second try.

The combination of headwinds facing Republicans and voters’ familiarity with Embree Ku could be the winning formula that has eluded Newtown Democrats. There is something to be said for sticking with a candidate who ran a strong race, fell short, and is willing to try again. There is value for local party organizations in demonstrating loyalty to the stalwarts who put in the years on local boards and in municipal elections Or caucus goers can send a different message on what it means to labor for years for one’s community and party.

The 106th is a single-town district, a configuration that allows any registered party member in the district to participate in the nominating caucus. The endorsed candidate would face an August primary if the caucus challenger collects sufficient signatures from district Democrats.

Published May 26, 2026.