On Tuesday evening 10/8/24, the Round Hill Association (RHA) presented a political debate by candidates for the CT 149th District State Representative and 36th District State Senator positions. The RHA historically hosts these forums at the Round Hill Community House in October before the November elections. Approximately 200 residents gathered for refreshments at 6:30 prior to the 7:00 start time.
Welcoming and opening remarks were presented by Brendon DeSimone, newly elected RHA Board President, who outlined the rules for the debate and some of the other activities in which the RHA is involved including; Backcountry Neighbor Day, development at the nearby Westchester County Airport, traffic and safety of the Round Hill area, and a new Halloween event for children. He also introduced the candidates for the 149th District (western and northern Greenwich and North Stamford) State Representative Democrat incumbent Rachael Khanna and her challenger Republican Tina Courpas, and the candidates for the 36th District (Greenwich and parts of New Canaan and Stamford) incumbent State Senator Republican Ryan Fazio and his opponent Democrat Nick Simmons.
Questions and topics for the evening were previously submitted by residents and covered a wide variety of topical subjects such as abortion and reproductive rights, gun and school safety, CT housing shortage and state statue 8-30g, crime, public school funding, taxes, environmental protection, electricity and energy, and bi-partisanship. While there was no set time for formal rebuttals, all the candidates used their own question-and-answer response time to oppose their opponent’s points of view and records.
Each speaker was well informed, confident and stated their views with clarity, conviction, and passion. The exchanges were highly spirited, pointed, and direct, while delivered with respect within the debate proceedings. In the senate debate, both candidates received enthusiastic applause for their remarks as the crowd seemed to be evenly divided in their support. While there were clear differences in candidates’ positions and approaches to specific subjects, all of them presented themselves as bi-partisan workers for the good of Greenwich. Based on this evening’s performance, it appears that this year’s election will likely be another one.
