The Residents of West Hartford
We aren’t members of different teams that need to oppose each other - We are all the same… Residents of West Hartford. We all want to make West Hartford a better place for all of its residents.
We are: A Connecticut Party.
Lee Gold
Former Town Council Member, Attorney
Former West Hartford Town Council member, Lee Gold has resided in the Town of West Hartford, Connecticut since 1997. He is married to Monica and has two school-aged boys, Jack and Adam.
A lifelong Connecticut resident, he attended Kingswood-Oxford School and matriculated to Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania earning a bachelor’s degree in History and membership in Phi Beta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society. Lee attended The University of Connecticut School of Law during which he served as a legal intern for the State’s attorney’s office in Norwich and New London. In 1997, Lee joined Butler, Norris & Gold, in Hartford, Connecticut and has continued to practice law there as a principal of the firm.
Lee was elected to the West Hartford Town Council in 2019, and initially served as its Minority Leader. He presently serves as a Trustee at the Kingswood-Oxford School, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, as well as the Chair of the Board of Chabad of Greater Hartford. He is also very active in West Hartford Little League where he has been a coach and sponsor for over 7 years. He has been on the Board of Directors as Vice President for Tumble Brook Country Club and was the President of Talcott Glen Condominium Association. Lee is active in a number of bar associations, including the Connecticut Bar Association and the Hartford County Bar Association. Mr. Gold was a former member of the Board of Trustees for the Emanuel Synagogue.
Mark Merritt
Financial Professional
Mark is a husband, father of three, community volunteer, and an experienced financial services professional. As a corporate leader in building and leading teams in the financial services industry leading and managing corporate relationships. As a 28 year resident of West Hartford, Mark has always taken pride in giving back to the community as a volunteer coach, an active member of civic and Jewish organizations.
Mark realized that the community of West Hartford needs and wants an alternative to the current 2-Party system. He and a few others decided to establish the “A Connecticut Party”in West Hartford to establish a Rational Alternative to the current political landscape. The “A Connecticut Party” is a party that reflects fiscal conservative values and promotes dialogue on social issues.
We will not be beholden to the principals of the current political parties. We want to be the party of strategic consolidation, constructions - cranes in the skyline, open and equal education to modernize the progress made to date. Our community is diverse and engaged thus requires an alternative view on how we should approach governing.
The current dynamics of our national and state political landscape needs a break from the political divide and have a voice that is based on moderate perspectives, respect for different views and creates unity, a Rational Alternative.
Ari Shell
Finance Professional
Ross Jacobs
Corporate Management
Ross Jacobs and his wife Kristyn Rosen-Jacobs were married in 2018 and Ross has lived in West Hartford since 1998. They have two children – Jack a 4th grader and Arielle a 1st grader at Norfeldt Elementary School. Ross has served as the Chair of the UCONN Co-op and on the JCC committee for Camp Shalom.
Ross is the senior vice president at Candid Worldwide. As a store media, event and campaign branding professional he works with Fortune 500 companies internationally to make their corporate, retail and event spaces come to life. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut (B.A. Economics). Ross brings to the board over 20 years of management experience and logistical planning in the international market. As a parent in the community, he has a vested interest in the needs of all children.
Our Journey
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1990
ACP was formed
A Connecticut Party was a political party formed by former Republican senator and gubernatorial candidate Lowell Weicker in 1990.
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1992
Party Convention
The party held its first convention with 350 delegates attending. At the convention the party endorsed more than 100 candidates for the General Assembly
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1994
Carrying the Torch
Weicker's lieutenant governor, Eunice Groark, carried the ACP banner into the governor's race, but was defeated, finishing third with 18.9% of the vote.
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2021
A New Start
Four former Republicans make the decision to re-convene the party establishing a ‘Rational Alternative’ to the current political landscape.