Republicans endorse candidates for November municipal elections

Posted By: Staff July 31, 2023

By David Fortier and Jack Krampitz

Around 100 members of the Republican Town Committee and friends gathered mid-July at Luna’s for dinner and a vote to endorse candidates for this year’s municipal elections in November.

At the end of the evening, there was one surprise endorsement for the Board of Education, but as expected the City Council endorsements went to incumbents as did current Board of Education seats.

Rob Parenti, a special education teacher and chief education officer at MOVIA Robotics, lost in his bid for an open Board of Education position to Jennifer Van Gorder, a real estate agent who ran and lost in a bid for state representative in the 79th district in the 2022 election.

Parenti ended up being endorsed by the RTC for city treasurer and is scheduled to run against incumbent Democrat David Preleski.

Van Gorder joins Kristen Giantonio, Russell Anderson and Lisa Osenkowski as the Republican Board of Education candidates, who will face Democrats Shelby Pons, Maria Simmons, Jill Fitzsimmons-Bula and Corey Nagle.

The endorsement of Van Gorder was alluded to in an RTC Facebook post, the day following the endorsements, which initially called the endorsements “unanimous” resulting in a comment from a member who objected to the word, “unanimous.”

Also associated with the situation is a YouTube post featuring Van Gorder in a heated discussion with her campaign manager for her run for the Connecticut State House, who at the time was a 19-year-old college student. The campaign manager, Logan Williams, has since left the Republican Party.

Williams objected to use of “unanimous” in the Facebook summary. “Unanimous” has been replaced with “majority.” The orginal comment on the post has since been removed and the following statement added, “Bristol Republican Town Committee limited who can comment on this post.”

The video, entitled “Logan unhinged” was posted July 19, the day after the dinner and endorsements, by K. Bevins, in a newly opened account. A Kristen Bevins is listed as Van Gorder’s treasurer in the 2022 state house campaign.

The RTC endorsed mayoral and city council incumbents Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano and City Council members Cheryl Thibeault, Andrew Howe, Sebastian Panioto, Susan Tyler, Jacqueline Olsen and Erick Rosengren, who was appointed to replace Jolene Luistani.

Correction: It is Rob, not Bob Parenti, and he is a special education teacher, not a former one, as stated in the original post.

All TBE readers, supporters and donors                

The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.                

  • Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
  • Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
  • Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.                

Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.