Democrat David Baram Elected State Rep. For 15th District
HARTFORD COURANT

David Baram, the endorsed Democratic candidate for the 15th House District special election, cruised to victory Tuesday.

The election was made necessary by the death of state Rep. Faith McMahon, a Bloomfield Democrat and former mayor. She died in January, shortly after being sworn in for a fourth term.

Baram, 56, defeated Joseph Merritt, the Republican Party's endorsed candidate, and write-in candidate Devaughn Ward, a University of Connecticut Law School student.

Unofficial results gave Baram 1,513 votes, Merritt 1,038 and Ward 165.

"I want to assure all of you that I will do the best I can," Baram, a former mayor of Bloomfield, told supporters and campaign workers Tuesday. "I think Faith would have been proud."

Baram said he plans to work on balancing the state budget and advocating for health care reform, mass transportation, smart growth and the elimination of unfunded mandates. He also plans to serve out his term as town committee chairman.

Merritt, a Bloomfield town councilman, wished Baram well. He said he was not surprised by the loss in a heavily Democratic district.

"It's like a district in Hartford," Merritt said. "But you have to keep trying or you don't have a two-party system anymore."

The 15th District encompasses parts of Bloomfield and, to a lesser extent, Windsor, which has a population of about 28,000 and no hometown representation at the Capitol in either the House or Senate.

Windsor Mayor Donald Trinks congratulated Baram on his victory Tuesday, but added that he hoped that he and other legislators whose districts include other parts of Windsor would work on redistricting.

"I'm optimistically hopeful that he's going to aggressively seek a seat for Windsor," Trinks said.