Kerton wants to end half century of GOP rule in 107th District

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – The last time a Democrat took the checkered flag in the 107^th state House District, Chuck Noll wasn’t sure if Terry Bradshaw should be his starting quarterback and Gerald Ford was distributing WIN (Whip Inflation Now) buttons.

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The district, which has always included all of Brookfield, and currently also includes the Hawleyville section of Newtown and the Stony Hill portion of Bethel, has elected six Brookfield Republicans consecutively since 1976.

Republican victories are more common than the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team going to the Final Four.

Some of the 107^th District Republican players became prominent names on the Connecticut movie theater marquee.

M. Jodi Rell was governor for six and half years and lieutenant governor for nine and half years before that.

Stephen Harding ascended to the state Senate and is now the caucus leader.

In a three-minute convention acceptance speech, Brookfield Democrat Julie Kerton said that she is determined to end the “50 years of a one-party controlled seat.”

Interestingly, over those 50 years in only two of them – 1985-’86 when Rell was in her first term – have the Republicans been in the majority in the state House.

State Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury, who was first elected in 1988, has said the Democrats are winning seats that weren’t on its map in previous election cycles.

The Democrats had 79 House seats entering the 2018 election and now have 102.

Could the 107^th District be added to the list?

Brookfield Democratic Town Committee Chairman Shannon Riley said that Aaron Zimmer narrowed the gap in 2024, annexing 47.4 percent of the ballots against Republican two-term incumbent Marty Foncello, who served as the town’s first selectman from 1999-2003.

It was the best that a Democratic contender had done in years.

Zimmer is now running against Harding for the state Senate seat in the 30^th District.

Kerton, a real estate associate and the chairman of the Brookfield Board of Assessment Appeals, said she would vote to protect Medicaid and Medicare funding and try to make it more affordable form young professionals to live as adults where they grew up.

She said that with the dismantling of the federal Department of Education under Republican President Donald Trump, it will be up to the General Assembly to “keep Connecticut among the top states in education.”

Kerton commented that the wealthy and large corporations should “be paying their fair share of taxes.”

That has been a prominent component in Hamden state Rep. Josh Elliott’s gubernatorial campaign platform.

However, Kerton said she has “not yet” decided whether she will endorse Elliott or two-term incumbent Ned Lamont in the August 11 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Should the state enact a gas tax holiday with prices up about $1.50 per gallon over the last 80 days?

It temporarily suspended the 25-cent a gallon charge on gasoline and 49-cent a gallon levy on diesel fuel for nine months during the 2002 inflation surge.

Said Kerton, “I’d have to learn more about it. I don’t like paying $85 tat the pump to fill up my SUV.”

The House voted during the recent regular session to ban mobile phones int eh public schools. The state Senate didn’t vote on the measure.

Kerton commented, “I think kids should be able to have phones. Perhaps they could be dropping them off.”

She said that her son is a teacher he has his students place their smart phone “in a special spot in the classroom.”

Kerton – who was nominated at the convention by Julie Blick and seconded by Tara Peterson, both of Brookfield - said that she is continuing to collect contributions toward qualifying for the Citizens’ Election Program. She said she hopes to reach that threshold by the end of Ju ne.

Reports indicate that Democrats tend to attract more college graduates. The 107^th state House District is highly educated.

However, other reports state that Democrats are not attracting enough young male voters.

Riley, the mother of school-age sons, said the male voting demographic is “leaning toward the Republican Party. We need to connect with them.”

Kerton has been canvassing in municipal elections since 2017, when she first ran for a seat on the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Zimmer ran an ambitious canvassing drive two years go.

Riley said local Democrats are committed to “duplicating that” in 2026. “Well be knocking on a lot of doors.”