While a number of political hopefuls have already announced their intentions to seek elected office in Newtown this coming Election Day November 7, a significant number of volunteers who have offered to serve will be formally endorsed and approved for placement on the fall ballot by members of their respective major parties during caucuses scheduled for later this month.

Locally registered members of the Democratic party are being called to their caucus, scheduled to be held in the Alexandria Room at the Edmond Town Hall on Monday, July 24, at 7 pm. The following evening, Tuesday, July 25, all of Newtown’s registered Republicans are asked to gather for their caucus at 7:30 pm in the Edmond Town Hall gymnasium.

This election cycle, local Democrats have already aligned behind their Town Committee’s recommended First Selectman candidate Dan Cruson.

Although anything can happen during a caucus, there has been no evidence hinting the Democratic gathering will reveal an upstart candidate making an effort to sway party members to choose an alternate to any of those who have already been selected for nomination.

The Republican caucus may spin a different story, however, because the local GOP has already selected Jeff Capeci and his running mate John Madzula II to run for First Selectman and Board of Selectmen, respectively. But several weeks before those candidates were announced, Republican Matt Mihalcik announced in The Newtown Bee that he would also be seeking a nomination for First Selectman at the July 25 GOP caucus.

This eventuality will produce one of two possible outcomes. Either local registered Republicans will select the Capeci/Madzula ticket along with the rest of the Town Committee’s selected candidates and Mihalcik will acquiesce to the will of his Republican cohorts; or Mihalcik will arrive at the caucus with enough supporters to carry the majority that will endorse him for the town’s top elected seat on the November ballot.

It is also possible that no matter who wins the ballot positions at the caucus, Mihalcik or Capeci will opt to take things further and force a primary, giving GOP voters a final opportunity to select their preferred candidate for first selectman — who will then run against the presumed Democrat Cruson in the general election.

While on the subject of Republican candidates, there will be one conspicuously absent from the party line this fall, but whose name will still likely appear on the ballot.

Incumbent Police Commission member Neil Chaudhary, who has — up to now — sought and won elected office as a Republican, has chosen to petition his way onto the November ballot as a member of the recently-formed Forward Party. In an announcement that appears in today’s edition of The Bee, Chaudhary stated his departure from a major party affiliation is being driven by a desire to focus on solutions.

He explained that Forward Party is not driven by politics, but by the motivation to get things done and find ways to build bridges that lead to forward progress in our country. So he is hoping all Newtown voters will continue supporting him for another term as he works to move the Newtown Police Department and all its related activities forward.