A late entry to the race for Republican Party Chairman, Jerry Labriola Jr., 53, walked away with the chairmanship after only one ballot. He beat out three other contenders for the spot vacated by Chris Healy, who decided not to seek re-election.
Winning 43 votes from the 72-member committee, Labriola said “job number one is to unite the party.”
A Republican who seems to flow freely from established Republican gatherings to the more grassroots Tea Party events, Labriola said he will be dedicating his full attention to uniting the “diverse factions” of the GOP to make sure it’s “a force to be reckoned with.”
He said a system of two party government is healthy and he’s ready to make sure the people of Connecticut enjoy a two party system.
“One party rule is not cutting it,” Labriola said in a phone interview Tuesday evening.
Connecticut is controlled by a Democratic governor and General Assembly. All of its constitutional officers and Congresspeople are Democrats.
Labriola ran against U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro in 2010 and lost.
Labriola, who owns a law practice with his brother state Rep. David Labriola, said he plans on hitting the ground running and working to support municipal candidates in 2011 as he prepares for the bigger races such as U.S. Senate in 2012.
He said it’s likely there will be some staff changes at Republican State Central Committee, but there are also some employees of the party he will ask to stay.