By John Schwing 

WESTPORT — A leadership contest is taking shape for the chairmanship of the Westport Democratic Town Committee.

At least two contenders announced plans this week to seek the top post of the local Democratic Party — Mark Friedman, currently the committee’s vice chairman, and Rob Simmelkjaer, the selectman candidate on the party’s 2017 ticket.

Ellen Lautenberg, the committee’s current chairwoman, has decided not to seek election to another two-year term, as has Lisa Newman, the current secretary.

“I do think it is generally a good thing when you have people willing to step up and do the work,” Lautenberg said of the contest in an emailed statement Friday.

Town committee members are scheduled to cast ballots for the leadership of the local party at 8 p.m. March 16. The place of the organizational meeting has yet to be decided, according to the latest update from the party.

Democrats hold a large advantage among registered Westport voters, but as Simmelkjaer noted in a veiled criticism of current leadership, the party has lost the last three first selectman contests to Republicans.

Democrats, however, hold the elected majorities to nearly every other major town commission or board in town.

Friedman, the founder of iheartfreedomofthepress.com, according the candidacy letter he sent to members of the Democratic Town Committee, joined the group in 2018.

He is serving a third term as a Representative Town Meeting member from District 3.

Friedman wrote to DTC members that he previously had “knocked on doors in Pennsylvania during the 2016 election and participated in numerous events and meetings as a non-member. Before long, I was chair of the Campaign Committee, and I became vice chair in the summer of 2019.”

In his pitch for support, he wrote, that as party chairman, “I will seek to enlarge further the DTC’s tent so that evermore Westporters find a home within it.”

Friedman promised to continue focusing on issues that he prioritized during his time as vice chairman, which he said include helping to quadruple the reach of the party’s mailing list; helping to draft the DTC “communications expectations,” and working to deepen the bench of local Democratic leaders.

Freidman’s running mates include: Michael Rea for vice chairman, a former member of the Board of Finance and RTM; Marla Cowden for secretary, a former Democratic Registrar of Voters, and Alan Shinbaum for treasurer, the incumbent seeking re-election after 18 years.

Simmelkjaer, the chairman of Connecticut Lottery Corp. and a former broadcast executive, in announcing his candidacy for the DTC chairmanship, said he is dropping his bid to win this year’s Democratic nomination for secretary of the state.

In addition to running for a selectman’s seat five years ago, Simmelkjaer was a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the 26th Senate District representative to the Democratic State Central Committee.

In his candidacy letter to DTC members, Simmelkjaer is critical of the party leadership’s recent record, writing: “Why have we lost three straight elections for first selectman despite a significant (and growing) party registration advantage?

“I believe we would have won last year’s election had the DTC been unified and rowing in the same direction.  That’s why I believe we need a reset …”

Simmelkjaer said his key goals as party chairman would be transparency, engagement and decentralization.

Lautenberg on Friday also responded to Simmelkjaer’s criticism, saying, “I believe there are a number of reasons why we did not win the last election for first selectman, but I don’t think it comes down to us not rowing in the same direction.

“Having all DTC members in agreement on a specific candidate or the best approach to a campaign would be highly unusual as anyone in politics knows,” she said. “Of course, leadership bears some responsibility for any outcomes in an election, but I think that is an oversimplification.”

And, Lautenberg added, “I and the other officers, as well as our Executive Committee always did what we thought was the right thing for the DTC and ensured that all rules were followed. The past two years had some hurdles that made it harder to operate as a cohesive organization, including COVID causing us to meet via Zoom rather than in person and some other unprecedented events.”