State Rep. Vickie Nardello (D-Prospect), one of the two co-chairs of the General Assembly’s Energy & Technology Committee, appears to have lost her bid for re-election.
According to unofficial tallies reported by CT News Junkie, Republican Lezlye Zupkus beat Nardello by 231 votes in the legislative district covering Prospect, Cheshire, and Bethany. Absentee ballots still have to be counted, and the Connecticut Secretary of State still has yet to release an official vote count for the race.
If Nardello’s defeat is upheld, that will end her sometimes contentious relationship with fellow energy committee co-chair John Fonfara, the Democratic state senator from Hartford. The duo would often battle over the best approaches to energy policy for the state, although they did work together in instances such as passing the comprehensive policy reform in 2011 that formed the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.
The contentious relationship may have been coming to an end anyway without Nardello’s election defeat, as House Speaker Chris Donovan will leave office at the end of this term, and the new House leadership can pick a new co-chair for the energy committee.
Nardello sometimes struggled with her status as energy co-chair and the representation of her district, most notably in 2011 when the citizens of Prospect and Cheshire proposed a wind turbine development that aided in the state’s renewable energy goals. Nardello ultimately proposed legislation that would have slowed down the wind development, but the proposal never gained traction in the General Assembly.
