Matt Maxwell to Challenge Esty for 5th Congressional District

First of a four-part series written by Scott Benjamin

DANBURY, CT-- Real estate investor Matt Maxwell says he would be “more of an advocate than an administrator” as congressman from the Fifth District by acquiring a wish list from municipal officials and then recruiting companies to come to a state where many business owners are on the verge of leaving.

“That’s the difference between me and previous [Republican] candidates” in the district, such as GOP nominees Andrew Roraback, the former state senator of Goshen who lost by less than 8,000 votes in 2012, and developer Mark Greenberg, of Litchfield, who fell more than 15,000 votes short in 2014, he said.

Maxwell, 35, lives in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown with his wife, who is a business executive, and their son and foster son. He said his sixth great-grandfather was Thomas Fitch, who was the governor of the Colony of Connecticut.

He said he wants to change “the Band-Aid” approach that has failed in reviving the Fifth District’s economy.

Maxwell said he believes there is huge potential for manufacturing and that some of the empty industrial buildings could be converted into movie studios.

Reportedly much of the job growth in the state over the last 25 years has been entertainment-related as a result of the opening of the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos in the southeastern corridor, the rapid expansion at ESPN in Bristol and the relocation of NBC’s sports channel to Stamford.

Maxwell is competing against John Pistone of Brookfield, who ran as an independent candidate in the sprawling Fifth District two years ago and for the GOP nod in 2010; Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope, a longtime civic volunteer who is now in his third term as the chief municipal official; and business executive Bill Stevens of Newtown, who has been an advocate for gun owners before the General Assembly.

Maxwell, who has never sought elected office before, has temporarily left his real estate investment business to run full-time for the seat.

Maxwell, who has already started making door-to-door visits to the delegates for the party convention slated for May 9, said he is “confident” that he will have at least the 15 percent of the vote needed to automatically force an August primary. He said he hasn’t definitively decided if he would seek a primary if he doesn’t capture the nomination at the convention.

Cope received endorsements from Greenberg, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and other state and municipal leaders from the southern tier of the district when he formally launched his bid January 27. Over the recent weeks he has distributed news releases criticizing the performance of two-term Democrat Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire.

“The delegates have been receptive, and I think they are presently surprised that somebody is out there so early,” Maxwel said of his door-to-door campaigning. “That doesn’t mean that they are ready to endorse me right now, but they’re willing to talk and willing to consider my positions on the issues.”

In contrast, Greenberg, the 2014 nominee in the district, has said that when he initially ran in 2010 during as a newcomer, some Republican Town Committee chairmen didn’t return his phone calls.

Maxwell said he can interact easily with all constituencies since he is “a blue-collar guy.”

“Clay talks about taking a company on Seventh Avenue from $10 million to $100 million,” he said of one of his opponents. “The people in the cities can’t relate to that because they’re trying to go from $10 to $100.”

Cope said in a recent interview that he has built a record as a civic volunteer in Sherman and that as first selectman he finds is “a joy” to serve his friends and neighbors “24/7.”

The sprawling district covers 41 municipalities and has elected eight congressmen over the last 44 years. However, the voters have sent Democrats to Washington since 2006, first, Chris Murphy, currently a U.S. senator from Cheshire, and now Esty have held the seat. Esty was first elected in 2012.

Initially, when Connecticut’s allotment of congressional districts was reduced from six to five starting with the 2002 election, the Democrats weren’t able to reach the 15,000 combined-plurality threshold that was reportedly needed in the five cities – Waterbury, New Britain, Danbury, Meriden and Torrington – to take the seat. Murphy and then Esty have each achieved that goal in the last five elections.

Regarding the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Maxwell said he disagrees with former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan that the Republican Party is shattering as a result of the insurgency of billionaire businessman Donald Trump.

“We’re just experiencing our Kardashian moment,” he said.

Photo by Scott Benjamin