Greenwich Sentinel Endorsements for Local Races-Kathleen Stowe

November 3rd is fast approaching, and early voting this year means voting can begin as early as October 2, just 15 days from now.

Once again The Greenwich Sentinel offers its endorsement of the local candidates we feel best deserve your vote.  We do this in the spirit of providing information that will be helpful to voters as they decide who would best serve our collective common interests in the state legislature.

As we described in an earlier editorial, we’ve approached this exercise differently this year by organizing an Endorsement Board to independently arrive at our endorsement decisions. The Board was comprised of six Greenwich residents, chosen for their dedication to Greenwich, their individual acumen, their varying demographics, varying backgrounds and spectrum of political philosophies. The Endorsement Board includes two Republicans, two Democrats, and two Independent/Unaffiliated voters. 

They gathered and reviewed a variety of sources about all the candidates including education, responsibilities, and accomplishments in the public and private sectors, news articles, op-eds by the candidates, voting records, candidate profiles by third parties from previous elections, campaign websites and social media pages and campaign literature. The Board also prepared a list of questions for the candidates and conducted socially distanced interviews with those individual candidates who chose to participate.   

The Board met (virtually) multiple times over the period from August 26 through September 14. The ground rules were that the endorsements were to be made on people, not party, and by unanimous consensus or at least supermajority (i.e., 5 out of 6).  Members brought open minds, thoughtful questions, insightful analysis, and a light touch of humor to the task. The Endorsement Board was a small group of people coming together with complementary knowledge, skills, and experience – a real team.

All of the following endorsement decisions were made by the Board either unanimously or by supermajority vote, and each member of the Board fully supports them all.

State Rep., House District 149 
Kathleen Stowe (Democrat)

Kathleen Stowe is running for the seat long held by Livvy Floren, who announced in April that she would not be seeking another term.  Her opponent is Republican Kimberly Fiorello.  A first-time candidate for statewide office, Stowe has made significant contributions to the work of the Greenwich Board of Education since her election in 2017, particularly by leveraging her two decades of experience in the financial industry to help manage budgetary issues.  Self-identifying as a fiscally conservative Democrat, Stowe plans to leverage that experience and those skills in helping to grow our state and local economies. 

The endorsement board was particularly impressed with Stowe’s balanced, moderate and creative approach to issues, and her collaborative style, all of which will be a welcome breath of fresh air in the midst of the current partisan rancor.  Raised in a Democrat-leaning household and identifying as a moderate politically while also advocating for fiscal responsibility, Stowe readily acknowledges that that mix comes with certain challenges.  She explains: “That sometimes feels like a lonely position in the hyper-partisan world we seem to inhabit, but I believe it is the right place for me.  I often felt Livvy voted not based on party, but on her ideals, and I think you will find I am quite balanced on all issues, but identify more closely with the Democratic Party today on social policies from public education to the environment and individual rights.”

Stowe has proven her ability to work “across the aisle” to get things done.  Board of Education chair Peter Bernstein has said that her skills have “truly aided” the board as it has had to work with tighter and tighter budgets.  “She has a firm grasp on the need to find efficiencies and make an impact by doing more with less,” Bernstein, a Republican, said.  “This is demonstrated regularly by her ability to see both the forest and the trees; she can take a large amount of data and distill it to the important points.”

Stowe’s opponent, Kimberly Fiorello, is likewise new to state politics.  The endorsement board was impressed with Fiorello’s clear articulation of her views as a solutions-focused advocate for limited government, free market economics, reduced taxation and individual liberty, and her decision to reject funds from the state’s public campaign finance program (“I want to earn the financial support of people who support me”).  Born in South Korea and educated at West Point and Harvard, Fiorello worked on Wall Street and was a reporter in Hong Kong for The Wall Street Journal.  A 7-year Greenwich resident, she is a member of the RTM and helped found the Charter Oak Leadership Program. 

While neither candidate has had statewide political experience, the endorsement board felt that Stowe’s leadership experience on the Board of Education and record of bipartisan collaboration gave her candidacy the edge.

Accordingly, hoping to add another voice of reason, civility, and collaboration to the legislative process in Hartford, The Greenwich Sentinel endorses Kathleen Stowe for State Representative serving the 149th District.