Former Danbury Mayor Opens Up on Marriage, Family and Gov’s Office

Mark Boughton is the former Mayor of Danbury, CT, serving nearly ten terms in office. He's currently the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue Services. Boughton has been a weekly guest on the Ethan and Lou Show for years now, but we've never taken the proper time to get personal with the man and find out what makes him, him.

Get our free mobile app

We did a "getting to know you" segment with Mark on Friday (March 12) and he opened up about his public divorce in 2016, what went wrong in his candidacy for Governor and his current relationship. These are the highlights of that interview (See Full Interview Below):

Lou: You had a very public divorce some years ago, you are currently in a relationship, the time period between the two relationships, did you enjoy that time in your life?

Boughton: "Look, I was probably, you know, sad about being, you know about the divorce, I mean it wasn't fun. Thankfully, we are friends today, but you know, you go through this, there's like an evolution you go through and you don't expect it, but it happens and it is, what it is.

I'm trying to think, no I didn't go, you mean did I go nuts? Like zip off to the Netherlands or where do they go, Amsterdam? No.

I was like, the Mayor, I had stuff to do. You know, I was busy twenty four-seven."

Lou: You are currently in a relationship and have been for some time with a woman we refer to as "Mulva" or "Delores." The old Seinfeld bit, because you play your personal life very close to the vest and this is why we don't even say her name. She's way out of your league - she's a beautiful, intelligent woman. Do you have plans to make "Delores" your wife, ever? 

Boughton: "Well, there's no question that I'm fighting above my weight class there. I totally understand, and I'm just thankful for her everyday, but, you know, both of us being divorced, we're just going to see what happens.

We don't have any super plans on the table or do anything like that, right now. You know, I consider her the closest person to me and I'm lucky to have her in my life. She's taken care of me when I've been really sick and all kinds of things like that. So, you know, right now we'll just have to see how it goes."

Ethan: Why take a job, if you loved this area so much, why did you take a job in the Government up in Hartford?

Boughton:"That's a great question. But look at the end of the day, like everybody, I get old too, right?

And I've got to start thinking about my future and am I gonna have enough money for retirement, you know I've got to make a career move. I can't stay Mayor forever or, eventually the voters will decide to put you out and then you are looking for a job, at, not the best age.

I frankly, was at the height of my earning power, I had to figure out what to do and I had to set something aside for the future, you know?

Plus, I am helping Danbury in a different way and I like that. I'm helping the State in a different way and I like doing that too. So, it's in public service."

Lou: If there is any inaccuracy in what I am about to say just stop me in the middle of it. When you ran for Governor, in the primary, you beat Stefanowski, who ran against Lamont, correct? 

Boughton: "No, no, no, so they have the convention. I won the convention, Stefanowski ran a primary against me, I was the nominee and he won the primary."

Lou: Yeah, so you were betrayed by your own party in the state because they thought you didn't have enough name recognition, throughout the state? 

Boughton: "I think it was more, I give Bob credit. He got on TV early, he front-loaded all his advertising. So, he was on TV in January, our convention wasn't until May, so people thought Bob was the nominee. We just didn't, we didn't calculate that and we didn't factor that in. So, he had a good play, he spent a couple million on TV to begin with to get his name I.D. out there and then I just go get the signatures and he's in the primary.

I wish we had, if I had to reevaluate, I probably would have done it a different way, but we were going by the old model. You win the convention and then you are pretty much going to automatically win the primary, and that's just not how it works these days.

And, I think there's definitely a it wasn't about name I.D., more than it was about, there is a Trump strain in our party and I think Stefanowski was being more Trump-esque."

Lou: When we talk about Governor, I know how much you wanted that. Is that dream of yours, is it gone, do you see any possibility of that, in your future, anywhere? 

Boughton: "I'm going to get really corny here but I think that, you know, you are always in the right place, where you are supposed to be, right?

So, if God wanted me to be Governor, I'd be Governor. And, it wasn't like I didn't give it a good shot, it wasn't like I didn't try a couple times. You know, it just wasn't in the cards and I don't know if we'll elect a Republican Governor in the next couple of cycles, given how bad the party's been damaged.

So, I think that, if it was going to happen, I think it would have happened. I don't know if I'll have another shot at it, I probably won't. You know, you never say never but I don't think that's anything in the cards for me."

You can listen to  Ethan and Lou conduct the entire interview below. You can learn additional information like, who is Mark's favorite sibling? What he learned from his time in the Army Reserve in the 1980's and what has kept Mark from becoming Lou Milano's best friend?