Danbury Democrats Return Joseph DaSilva Jr. to Party's Top Spot

Joe DaSilva Jr., the son of Joe DaSilva, a leader in the Eriquez Administration of the 1990s, has replaced Lynn Taborsak as Democratic Town Committee Chairman.

Neither one of Danbury's political DaSilvas are the same Joseph DaSilva, who will be sentenced later today for negligent homicide.

Young Joe DaSilva said he isn't looking as far ahead as the 2013 election for mayor.

"We don't know too many things. We don't know if it will be an open seat. We don't know what the issues will be," DaSilva said. "There are too many different variables to predict 2013 with any reliability."

What the city knows is the Republican Town Committee and its candidates have swept most elections for the last 12 years under the Boughton Administration.

DaSilva lost the Democratic chairmanship after another losing campaign in 2009. Taborsak took the chairmanship and then ran for mayor in 2011, losing to Boughton, who won his sixth term.

Although he lost the chairmanship after the 2009 electio, people working the polls on election days in Danbury since then continued to see DaSilva checking the numbers and helping to organize the vote each day. It was difficult to tell the difference between Joe the chairman and Joe the town committee member.

DaSilva said 2012 will certainly be an interesting year, with U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy running for Senate, Robert Godfrey and Joe Taborsak running for the state house and President Barack Obama running for reelection.