Monteiro, Carr To Run As Ticket For Brookfield Selectmen Seats

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD -- In the late spring of 2021 it appeared that Tara Carr and Austin Monteiro would head the Republican ticket in the municipal election.

The Republican Vacancy Committee had endorsed Carr, a decorated Army veteran who had appeared in a reality television show, and Monteiro, a real estate professional and fitness instructor, for the two seats on its recommended slate for the Board of Selectmen.

Carr would go on to win the office of first selectman that November.

However, Monteiro was defeated in a Republican Town Committee vote for a seat as an Other Selectman by incumbent Harry Shaker, who had also previously run for first selectman and had a long tenure on the Board of Education.

This week Monteiro announced via social media that he is running for first selectman and Carr, who lost her bid for a second term in 2023 but did garner enough votes for a seat on the three member board, would be his running mate.

After he didn't get the Brookfield Republican Town Committee endorsement in 2021, Monteiro mounted a petitioning drive and qualified for the ballot for first selectman, which made it a three-way race between him, Carr and Democratic incumbent Steve Dunn.

Dunn lost that election but recaptured the position in 2023.

Despite being competitors through the fall of 2021, Monteiro and Carr appeared to forge a close working relationship after she became first selectman.

He served on ad-hoc panels and spoke out in favor of her positions during the public comment portion of the monthly Board of Selectmen's meetings.

Last year after being elected as vice chairman of the Brookfield Republican Town Committee, Monteiro moved to Danbury and ran as the Republican candidate in the 110th state House District. He lost to incumbent Democrat Bob Godfrey.

Carr offered an enthusiastic endorsement during Monteiro's legislative campaign.

To date, the only other Republican to announce for the office of first selectman is Karl Hinger, the vice chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

In March, Dunn formally announced that he would seek a nonconsecutive fifth term for the position, which pays $123,719 a year.

Dunn will be running again with Other Selectman Bob Belden, an unaffiliated voter and former Republican who has been chairman of the Board of Education and the Board of Finance.

According to recent figures from the Brookfield Registrars of Voters, the town has 4,993 unaffiliated voters, 3,787 Republicans, 3,045 Democrats and 214 registered with other parties.