Up till this point, local political races for the state rep and senate seats was pretty boring. It’s almost as if the public financing sucked all the energy out of campaigning, at least in Fairfield County. All thos unopposed races may have something to do with that.

Notably, look around. The number of lawn signs and bumper stickers announcing races is pretty much at an all time low. Not that I’m complaining about that. But the serious part of good old fashioned debate and discussion over issues seems absent as well. It may be a sign of the times. Are we more focused on the daily economic meltdown, or just burnt out by the endless presidential coverage?

Fortunately Brian Petronella has stepped into the ring against Larry Cafero in the 142nd race. This is not the first time they’ve matched up, in 2004 Cafero trounced Petronella. But in 2006, the race was much closer with Democratic challenger Lex Paulson coming within a few hundred votes of Cafero. So is there angst out there in the 142nd? Maybe not so much. But there sure is angst in the Norwalk Democratic party these days. Or maybe I should say apathy.

Which is why it seems that some candidates seeking office are taking a close look at the Working Families Party. There are rumours afloat that Petronella is not the only candidate seeking office, and not just the state rep spots.

The interesting angle on this is how much of a campaign infrastructure Petronella will be able to put together to make a race of it. While it’s true that throughout the state Democrats have turned out to vote in higher numbers, the presidential primary Norwalk turnout once again demonstrated the problems with GOTV efforts. Norwalk underperformed, again.