Carr bests Grimes to easily garner Republican primary nomination

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD -- Tara Carr, who was largely unknown to local voters 26 months ago when she was nominated for her initial bid for first selectman, extended her winning streak with solid victories in all three voting districts over her Republican primary challenger Matt Grimes.

Carr, a 25-year U.S. Army veteran who attained the rank of lieutenant colonel, annexed 636 votes to 428 for Grimes, an attorney who at age 24 had been the chairman of the Brookfield Board of Education. The turnout represented about 28 percent of the GOP enrollment.

Grimes noted the turnout was lower than in each of the four Republican primaries between 1995 and 2003.

She will now face Democratic nominee Steve Dunn, her immediate predecessor as first selectman, in the November 7 election. It marks the first time in 22 years that an incumbent first selectman in town will face the person who immediately preceded them. Carr garnered a 218-vote plurality in the 2021 balloting.

At her victory party in Brookfield Town Center, Carr said that she believed that many voters in the primary recognized she was "the only candidate" that could unify the party and keep Brookfield in the Republican column in the general election. Between 2007 and 2019 the party had only once captured the first selectman's position.

"We need to have unity," she added.

Carr also said that although she has only been in office for about "20 months," she has posted notable accomplishments that have resonated with voters.

She said the list went beyond the items posted in her campaign literature.

Residents have praised her commitment to constituent service and visibility at events and through social media postings.

Carr commented that under her administration funds were approved to upgrade the security systems in the public schools.

"When I realized [after moving to Brookfield in 2020 following her Army tenure] that we didn't have school security, I was flabregasted," she exclaimed.

Carr also has dedicated a display in the municipal center with photographs of some of the town's military veterans.

Carr said that she and her husband, a West Point graduate, devoted more than a combined 50 years to the military.

"I felt that in town the least that we could do is to do something warm in our lobby of town hall to honor the people who have served," she explained.

At his primary headquarters in Candlewood Shores, Grimes said in explaining the results, "It is always difficult to beat an incumbent. Clearly they were better organized than what we saw. I think there was a lot of reliance on utilizing social media and advertising."

Carr commented, "Communication is really tough nowadays. There are plenty of people who use the Internet, but they don't necessarily fully engage in social media. The key factor is getting the mailers to everyone's mailbox."

Carr said she hosted two meet-and-greet events with voters and devoted two weekends to canvassing neighborhoods. Grimes said his team canvassed at least 800 homes during the primary.

Carr lauded the leadership of the Republican Town Committee - Chairman George Blass and Vice Chairman Rose DeMarco - for their organizing and strategy decisions.

Regarding DeMarco, Carr said, "She is a force. She is someone I really admire."

Board of Education candidate Austin Monteiro, who ran against Carr for first selectman as a petitioning candidate in 2021, told Patch.com in August that the Republicans could be "unbeatable" for years if they could reunify after the primary.

Regarding the reunification, Carr said that she believes that Brookfield Republicans realize that it is important to "remain a Republican town" after Dunn had served for six consecutive years.

Grimes said, "I congratulate the winners tonight and we certainly wish them well in the election ahead."

When asked if he had spoken by phone with Carr, he replied, "I have no intention of speaking with Mrs. Carr because she said that I'm not a person that she would like to associate with. So I am going to respect her wishes on that."

He commented, "I certainly will not work against the members of the party." He added that he was proud that a small number of candidates for his ticket will be on the GOP ticket in November.

Carr said she could not say if voters had reservations about Grimes' call to consider laying off municipal employees to lower the tax burden or his plan to get a proposal on the ballot in November 2024 for expanded police facilities.

She remarked that it would be very difficult to reduce the municipal work force that already is under a strain to complete all of their functions.

Carr added that the town has considerable debt to pay for the Brookfield High School renovations that were completed more than a decade ago and for the recently-opened Candlewood Lake Elementary School. She said it appears that remodeling the current police headquarters on Silvermine Road or building a new facility would unfortunately probably have to wait until 2026 when the high school project will be fully paid for.

She has said since the 2021 campaign that an expansion of the police operations is needed, since the current headquarters, which opened in 1984, has become outdated.

Other Selectman Harry Shaker, who ran on Grimes' ticket and was defeated in his bid for another term, said their campaign team was one of the best that he has worked with dating to his initial run for a seat on the Board of Education in 2003.

Grimes said that he will remain active in community activities.

He remarked that he will continue to seek to lower property tax increases. The mill rate went up by 3.786 percent for the fiscal year that started in July.

Grimes said, "There are people that are hurting."