Republicans Announce New Council At-Large Candidate

Peter Santana has joined the Bloomfield Republicans as a candidate for Council at-large.

Santana, an eight-year Bloomfield resident, replaces Carol Meyer Humphreys on the ticket. At a campaign event last week, Mayoral candidate Russ Mollica said Humphreys has stepped down to care for her sick father who is living out of state.

Santana joined Mollica and council at-large candidates Sharon Soon and Maribel Perez and was on hand to christen the Bloomfield GOP Broad Street campaign headquarters last week.

The switch from Humphreys to Santana is the latest change for a fluid Republican lineup. Former School Board member Perez replaced original council at large candidate Robert Goworek in July after Goworek stepped down for personal reasons. 

Santana, an attorney and a licensed real estate broker emphasized public safety and quality of life issues in his address to party members on Thursday. He said that he believed people had moved to Bloomfield for opportunities for themselves and their families but that those opportunities were becoming scarce.

"That's taken a beating in recent years," he said.

Santana suggested increased concealed carry gun permits as a safety measure for Bloomfield, saying he'd like to see 200-300 Bloomfield residents with concealed carry permits. 

He closed by stressing that he believed it was a winnable local race for Republicans.