Will Rodgers Withdraws From State Legislative Race

By John Voket

Stating that speculators should make no mistake about his motivations, Republican Selectman Will Rodgers withdrew from a planned run for the 106th District statehouse seat Thursday morning, laying out his reasoning in a press release. The move appears to open an unrestricted path for freshman Councilman Chris LaRocque to receive the local GOP’s nomination at a caucus planned for May 18.

Mr Rodgers acknowledged that he had just received the endorsement of a majority of Republican Town Committee members to seek the legislative seat, and that he subsequently sat down with his wife, Moira, who is engaged herself in a contested race for the GOP nomination for a regional probate judge’s position.

In his release, Mr Rodgers said that first and foremost, he made his decision to better focus on supporting his wife’s candidacy.

“Simply put, I want to support her campaign as fully as possible and could not do so if engaged in my own campaign,” Mr Rodgers said, adding that her successful campaign would have a greater overall public benefit than if he was elected to the legislature.

“She has supported me faithfully over the years, and I am happy to support her exclusively in return,” he stated.

Secondly, Mr Rodgers said that if he was successful in achieving a legislative seat, it would create a situation where the Board of Selectmen might lose the current GOP majority. Since state statutes provide for the remaining selectmen to appoint a replacement, and failing to do so would trigger a special election, Mr Rodgers said he was concerned about the taxpayer cost to mount such an election, when the result could also spell a loss of GOP control on the board.

Thirdly, he cited local Republican considerations.

“While political choice is generally healthy, within the context of trying to unseat even a vulnerable incumbent, a contested caucus and [possible resulting] primary would not, in my view, benefit Republicans,” Mr Rodgers said.

Mr Rodgers said that while he expected to be able to carry the day by winning a GOP caucus and prevailing in a [possible] primary, “a level of divisiveness would emerge from the process.”

“To those who may question why I waited until this point to make this decision, I can only say that private, not public, developments with respect to each of the reasons set forth...over just the last 72 hours [since the GOP endorsement] have led to my decision,” Mr Rodgers stated. “To those who will inevitably try to read between the lines to find some hidden reason, I can only point to my record as indicating I am honest, straightforward, and rarely subtle.”

He closed by asking local voters to support his wife, Moira, in the upcoming probate race, and said that he is open to considering seeking other elected offices in the future, if circumstances allow.

Reached following the announcement, Mr LaRocque said he first wanted to thank Mr Rodgers for his continued service to Newtown, while also recognizing his recent service to the country during a volunteer stint in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine Corps Reserve officer.

“Mr Rodgers will be instrumental in helping Republicans, and myself as their candidate, take back this legislative seat,” Mr LaRocque said. “We have a lot of work to do.”