Chris Officially Becomes the 2008 5th District Democratic Nominee

Last Monday evening at Crosby High School in Waterbury, Chris was officially nominated to represent the Democratic Party in Connecticut’s 5th congressional district election this fall. Crosby High School was a fitting location for Chris’ convention, since it was here two years ago that Chris was first nominated to take on Nancy Johnson, a twenty-four year Republican incumbent that Chris ultimately defeated in November of 2006.

The nominating convention was a great success. Turnout was high, as delegates from across the district came out to exercise their party responsibility and to support Chris in his effort to win re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mayor Michael Jarjura of Waterbury served as the Temporary Chair of the convention, while Chris Lafferty, Board of Education member in Watertown, was the Temporary Secretary.

Here’s Mayor Jarjura welcoming the convention delegates to Waterbury:

Chris Lafferty at the podium reading the “Call of the Convention”:

After the Temporary Chair and Temporary Secretary had performed their prescribed duties, elections were held for the convention’s Permanent Chair and Permanent Secretary. State Representative Bob Godfrey, Deputy Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, was elected Permanent Chair of the convention, and from that point forward, presided over the subsequent proceedings. The former Chair of the Farmington Democratic Town Committee, Liz Giannaros, was elected Permanent Secretary of the Convention. Dick Scapinni was appointed to be Parliamentarian of the convention.

Here’s a picture of State Representative Godfrey presiding over the convention:

Later in the program, the Permanent Chair asked for nominations of a candidate. Three individuals came forward to give speeches on behalf of Chris and propose that he represent the Democratic Party in the 5th congressional district election this fall. The three nominators were State Representative Joseph Taborsak of Danbury, First Selectman Ruth Epstein of Kent, and Gwen Samuel, a community organizer in Meriden. The nominating speeches were fantastic, as each nominator talked about their own personal experiences with Chris and highlighted how he has been the type of Congressman that they’re proud to say is their voice in the U.S. House of Representatives!

State Representative Taborsak gave the first nominating speech of the convention by talking about how Chris has brought new energy to Washington and promoted the reform agenda that 5th district residents wanted. To exemplify his point, State Representative Taborsak invoked how Chris took on a large government bureaucracy—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)—in order to make sure that FERC listened to the concerns of local citizens when it came to the agency’s dealings with Candlewood Lake.

Below is a picture of State Representative Taborsak speaking (Liz Giannaros, Dick Scapinni, and State Representative Godfrey are in the background).

As a municipal elected official in Kent, Ruth spoke about how important environmental issues are to her community. Ruth highlighted how Chris delivered for her town when he secured federal funding to protect Skiff Mountain, as well as how Chris, as Co-Chairman of the Congressional Land Conservation Caucus, has championed the land preservation issues so important to the Northwest Corner.

Gwen’s animated speech conveyed her inspiring life story to the crowd and emphasized how Head Start, affordable housing, and college loans programs—all of which Chris strongly supports—enabled her to lift herself up and get a college degree. Gwen thanked Chris for advancing these issues, and let him know that the community appreciates his attentiveness to his constituents and the issues of importance to them.

Once the nominating speeches were given, a vote was taken and Chris was named the 2008 Democratic nominee for the 5th congressional district. Here’s Chris and his wife Cathy after he was elected as the Democratic nominee:

Then, Chris enthusiastically accepted the nomination and went on stage to deliver his powerful and moving acceptance speech, which is a must read! You can view Chris’s remarks in their entirety here.

Peter Hargett of Meriden, one of Chris’s earliest supporters and volunteers, delivered the closing remarks to the convention and encouraged everyone to get involved with Chris’s re-election effort. Please heed Peter’s words and sign up to volunteer!

Following the convention, many of the delegates headed over to Nino’s in Waterbury for a post-convention reception, which was a fun conclusion to a wonderful convention night!

The Murphy Campaign would like to thank all of the participants and delegates that made this successful convention possible.

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