DeLuca wins town moderator race amid fight to keep Senate seat
The veteran Republican lawmaker has been under fire for asking a Danbury trash hauler with alleged mob ties to threaten his granddaughter's husband, who he believed was physically abusing the woman. DeLuca pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor threatening charge earlier this year.
DeLuca, who was seeking his second two-year term as moderator, defeated write-in moderator candidate Mark Alvarez by more than 330 votes of about 2,300 cast. The town moderator is charged with ensuring that rules and procedures are followed at town meetings where issues such as the budget are settled.
"I received the count with a feeling of relief and gratitude," DeLuca told The Associated Press. "This is something that everyone can see that they support me."
Alvarez, a former selectman, said he believes DeLuca has ethical problems and has demonstrated a lack of respect for the law. Alvarez said he wanted to give the town an opportunity to counter DeLuca's claims that Woodbury overwhelmingly supports him.
"I guess I misread the tenor of the town," he said. "That makes me sad."
DeLuca's supporters, including First Selectman Dick Crane, accused Alvarez and his supporters of playing politics and trying to "pile on" a man who has helped the town over the years.
"I think people recognize that there's something going on that isn't right," DeLuca told The AP. "This was a chance for them to express it."
A six-member, bipartisan Senate committee is weighing whether to recommend to the full Senate that DeLuca be punished for his actions. On Tuesday, the lawmakers said they are leaning toward recommending censure or expulsion.
The panel voted to seek new subpoena powers to demand audio tapes or transcripts of two conversations DeLuca had with an undercover FBI agent in 2006.
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