NORWICH – With Nov. 7 quickly approaching, political matters have taken the forefront. This year, a mayoral election will take place to see who will fill the vacancy left by late Mayor Robert C. Raphael. Whoever wins this election will serve the remaining year of Raphael’s term before having to run for reelection next November. Running for this term are Democrat Michael Carnrike, Republican Joseph Maiurano, and Independent Vince Anthony.

Carnrike, born in 1953, has lived his whole life in Norwich. A graduate of Norwich High School, Carnrike went back to college and obtained his master’s degree in business and economics in 1999.

“This campaign is about my desire to bring the city back to life,” Carnrike said.

He will run a door-to-door, grass roots campaign, in an attempt to meet the people of the city, he said.

“I can remember when Norwich was a community-owned town,” Carnrike said. “Now it’s completely the opposite.” Carnrike said the city offers little incentive for young people seeking work. He advocates bringing more jobs to the area, so people will want to stay in Norwich. “There’s nothing to bring people back to work here,” he said. Carnrike pointed out that bringing in new industry is a difficult thing to do because you need the cooperation of the politicians, but stated that we need any industry we can get.