Hamden residents filled 19 of 20 Row A’s available municipal seats with Democrats in Tuesday’s election, leaving District 9 Councilwoman Marjorie Bonadies as the only Republican representative.
Due to the town’s minority party rules, incumbent Councilwomen Betty Wetmore and Lesley DiNardis will continue to serve, but Bonadies was the only candidate to win a competitive race. Bonadies attributed her success in the election to her connection with the constituents in her district, in which she has lived for 26 years.
“I know a lot of the parents from grammar school and up, serving this district for eight years doing a lot of constituent service,” Bonadies said. “Always very open, people call me, they text me. I have a great rapport with people in my district. That’s no secret… (Democrats) would have loved a full sweep and to get all the districts. I’m thrilled that I prevented them from having that.”
Bonadies made sure to note that although the Democrats won the vast majority of races, most of the council races were decided by only a few dozen votes and the Republican candidates drew a lot of interest from voters for this year’s election.
“We have never raised as much money as we were able to raise this election,” Bonadies said. “We never had requests for as many lawn signs as we had in this election.”
For the last two years, Bonadies has been the only Republican representative on the council. She first began serving as a councilwoman after defeating Democrat Sarah Gagne for District 9 council. She conceded that representing the minority party in Hamden’s municipal government made it difficult for Republicans, but she also said it helped her progress as a politician.
“It’s really solidified me into being a warrior,” Bonadies said. “I didn’t realize I was a warrior. But that’s what people call me.”
The Hamden council after the election will be split 12-3 in favor of Democrats, but Bonadies said she is not intimidated by the lack of Republicans representing the board.
Given Hamden’s recent heavily Democratic government, Bonadies said she and other Republican representatives have gotten used to fighting against the majority and now consider it a strength.
“Even though there were only three of us, we were able to get a big legislative win,” Bonadies said, referencing the council voting against the town’s most recent town charter update. “So don’t count us out. Even though we have small numbers, we’re strong fighters.”
Even though the Republican officers have succeeded at some junctures in their terms, the lack of Republican voters in Hamden has made Bonadies’ job harder. There are 4,059 active Republican voters in Hamden, dwarfed by 19,215 active Democratic voters.
“It’s very hard to overcome,” Bonadies said. “We did see some crossover, we had a lot of Democrats telling us they have never voted Republican before in their lives, and this was the first time they were going to and it was a struggle.”
Despite the disadvantage Republicans are facing in the town council, Bonadies said she will not stop fighting for what she thinks is right.
“I mean, they are going to run roughshod over Republicans, let’s face it,” Bonadies said. “It’s 12-3. I’m gonna be loud. I’m going to be proud and I’m not gonna stop swinging… I’m only going to be digging my heels in deeper. I’m only going to be more vocal. I’m going to call them out on every single thing.”
4 replies on “Marjorie Bonadies wins reelection, becoming the only GOP with victory in Hamden races”
Bonadies is a Party of Trump (Republican) foot soldier and residents should be wary of her intentions. Looking forward her focus shouldn’t be fighting Democrats but fighting for our Hamden residents. Having an axe to grind gets old.
The Republican Party is not the party of Trump. Although I enjoyed the results of Trump’s policies on gas prices and higher wages, job market growth, etc. I don’t worship a single person but I seek to uphold the ideals of Republicanism. Things Mike Devine knows not a thing about. Talk about an axe to grind, Mike, you’ve tried for years to remove Leng because of a personal vendetta) The GOP was formed with the express purpose of ending slavery. We believe in individual rights because the individual is the smallest minority. You can’t say you care about minorities if you overlook the minority of one. I support the rights of all ( not listing every class, culture, national origin or orientation) to be free as a god-given right. If government is powerful enough to give the people their rights then it’s also powerful enough to take them away. The democrat socialists are a very authoritative bunch, they love their mandates. I will act as an impediment to their agenda if it puts unlawful mandates ( such as vaccine mandates) on municipal employees but I always make my voting decisions on the benefit and well being of my constituents whom I frequently poll when big decisions are coming up. I prioritize the town of Hamden not my personal agenda.
“I’m not gonna stop swinging… I’m only going to be digging my heels in deeper” —Sounds like Marjorie Taylor Greene Bonadies will truly be a bridge builder. I’m sure in between being a “strong fighter”, she’ll be delivering some terrific bipartisan victories for our town… Like voting down the Town Charter Revision, that volunteers worked on for tirelessly for about a year, and the town wasted tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees on.
Marjorie has been deadweight on the council for 8 years, her only legislative priority, being a Republican. Congratulations to the 9th District for voting for “change”. Here is to a decade of a wasted Council seat.
All that we need to know about Marjorie Bonadies is in these three quotations.
(1) After receiving the nomination [to run for Hamden’s Legislative Council as a Republican], Piper expanded in this article about his presence at the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C., his promotion of vaccine hesitancy theories (including one involving magnets sticking to arms), and his belief that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 presidential election.
(2) Council member Marjorie Bonadies, whom Piper has called his primary supporter in Hamden, said that she was “sorry to see him go,” asserting that “with time and grooming and learning about politics” he could have been successful.
(3) “I do share his views,” she said.
Any questions???
(Quotations from https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2349948622989/trump-booster-vaccine-skeptic-drops-out-of-race)