It has been quite a week for Newtown's Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, a former town Legislative Council representative who is running for Lieutenant Governor.

She told The Newtown Bee this week that she walked into the Democratic State Nominating Convention May 19 confident that she could retain 38 percent of the her promised delegate endorsements despite the "wheeling and dealing," Ms Zimmerman said is a commonplace at such political gatherings.

What was humbling, delightful, and even somewhat shocking to Ms Zimmerman, is that when all the dust settled, she walked away with 40 percent of the delegates' support. And much of that additional support came from convention attendees who live in and around Middletown, the home of her sole competitor for the LG seat, Susan Bysiewicz.

"I was having conversations about becoming a running mate and debating on whether I should go into the convention as a single Lieutenant Governor candidate, but when Susan switched her candidacy [just days before the convention] that solidified the decision," Ms Zimmerman said.

"On the day of the election, on the floor, I held my [38 percent delegate] support. So given the opportunity for one more day, or one more hour, who knows if I could have gotten that 50 percent plus one of delegate support."

The Hartford-raised transplant - she now resides in the Riverside community on Lake Zoar in Sandy Hook - came away from last weekend's convention with more than enough delegate support to automatically qualify to be on the August 14 state Democratic Primary ballot.

Ms Bysiewicz, a former Secretary of the State, temporary gubernatorial hopeful, and two-decade-plus political fixture, flipped after being invited to be the running mate for endorsed nominee for governor, Ned Lamont.

She won her party's state convention endorsement with 59 percent of the delegate vote, but may have reason to worry because her plucky Newtown opponent garnished her 40 percent just three days after declaring her candidacy for the state's second highest executive office.

If she is successful in both the primary and the general election this November, Ms Zimmerman would make history as the first Latina state executive office holder. But leading up to at least the August primary, she remains one in a rapidly growing field of aspiring minority candidates seeking local, state, and federal offices in 2018.

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American Born Ingenuity

While proud of her Puerto Rican heritage, Ms Zimmerman said she is committed to working hard on behalf of every state resident, whether American born like her, or brand new to Connecticut - if they are willing to trust her with their support in the voting booth.

As much as she would like to turn her full attention to November now, Ms Zimmerman said she is splitting her focus and putting much of her energy toward making sure voters in every corner of Connecticut know that her opponent is not a foregone winner just because she has hitched onto the Lamont campaign.

"Connecticut voters have given us a process that permits Lieutenant Governor candidates to primary on their own merits, regardless of whether they have committed to a running mate or not," she said. "That office, as far as the primary is concerned, is in the hands of the voters. The nominee at the convention may not be the candidate the Connecticut Democratic voters want as their Lieutenant Governor, and they have 100 percent of the voice in that decision."

Ms Zimmerman, who first entertained a run for Secretary of the State has, according to a post convention report in The Connecticut Mirror, played a major role in forcing Connecticut Democrats to reexamine the diversity of their slate this year.

"I had my numbers; I knew I was secure," Ms Zimmerman said after the voting. "I knew that I had momentum. I knew that I believe in something and that was going to take charge and take change."

State Senator Mae Flexer of Killingly, who delivered one of the nominating speeches for Ms Zimmerman, cast her candidacy as generational change, as well as an embrace of diversity.

"We need to elect someone as Lieutenant Governor who has the skills that Eva has," Sen Flexer said. "It's time for young people to take over the Democratic party by electing leaders in our party who look like the Democratic party as a whole and who look like our state. We have that opportunity today. When we see Eva, we see ourselves."

A labor negotiator and child care director with Service Employees International Union, Ms Zimmerman is no stranger to state politics after an unsuccessful bid to serve Newtown in the General Assembly's 106th District.

She said she spent a lot of time ahead of the convention meeting with individuals that have specific political and campaign skills, amassing a ready team who will become her campaign staffers and operatives both before, and especially after the primary if she perseveres.

"You never come into an election believing you can fail, you go in as a winner," she said. "And with the time frame being so short, I was having those conversations and cultivating new relationships with talented people. So I'm growing my team and making sure I go into the general election surrounded with a chief of staff and a policy analyst - talented people who will fill these requisite specialties."

So with certain political pundits already saying there are no apparent differences between the two primary LG contenders, how does Ms Zimmerman differentiate herself from her opponent?

"We are completely opposite," Ms Zimmerman said. "She has dedicated her life to public service, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm not qualified for the position. When you're looking at values, and the time spent really talking to people in Connecticut about how you might be able to help them and help make their lives better, I'm there day in and day out doing the job. I represent these people, and I represent ideals and public policy that will help child care providers, that will help educators, that will help middle class families.

"I'm surrounded by entrepreneurs as part of my livelihood, and we're just completely different candidates," she said. "She has a track record for years as a moderate Democrat, and now she's in a position where she can create a new narrative for herself in this campaign. And while her narrative may sound more progressive, I'm talking the talk and walking the walk - and I have been for all of my life. My platform is my reality and I have my own track record in Newtown and in Hartford. My work speaks for itself and the things that have gotten me to this point in my political career are organic to the life I've lived."

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Listening To Her Challenger

Ms Zimmerman said coming out of the gate, voters should listen to what her opponent has been saying in her stump speeches.

"She's been very careful to be more broad and not open herself to early criticism." Ms Zimmerman observed. "I've been trying to nail down actual policy conversation. And I think right off, people will find we differ on the state employee and state teacher pension programs."

The Newtown LG hopeful said while her opponent seems to favor "chipping away" at these pension plans, Ms Zimmerman believes that will be detrimental to the entire state economy.

"These are middle class and upper middle class families who can tremendously help our economy," she said. "So if we put them in a situation where they don't have a vibrant pension after a collective bargaining agreement was already negotiated, then we're going to give ourselves even more room for error when it comes to the state deficit and our state finances.

"I believe she is willing to chip away, and change in the way we negotiate and invest in our pensions," she added. "We are different candidates with different Democratic principles. But in her stump speech, she hasn't been very up front about her platform or what she believes in. This is where debates are a perfect opportunity to differentiate myself from her and give the voters a clear distinction."

Ms Zimmerman believes although her time serving on Newtown's Legislative Council was relatively short, her term came at a time when her hometown was at a crossroads and facing issues about whether to close an elementary school, how to move forward with post 12/14 recovery, and the prospect of losing substantial Education Cost Sharing funds.

"I was serving at a key point in our town's political history, and my service on the council allowed me to see different perspectives than I did in my daily job at the time," she said.

Ms Zimmerman said as a result of her time serving Newtown, she was able to see the difficulties a stable middle class society faces.

"I am moving forward in this campaign knowing we will not be able to balance a budget here in Connecticut, we will not be able to move the state forward and do great things if we're pitting Hartford against Newtown, and if we're pitting Bridgeport against Ansonia," she said.

"If there is a resounding message that I want to send to my hometown and voters across the state it's every single vote can give me an opportunity, if elected, to come up with alternatives that aren't dipping into our wallet, and that aren't asking voters to sacrifice their values between a major city and a small town," she added. "I know that because I've served, and because I'm a Newtowner who grew up in Hartford."

Learn more about the Eva Bermudez Zimmerman campaign at evaforct.com.