Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton gestures during a March 2014 Republican gubernatorial debate sponsored by Hearst Connecticut Media, the Business Council of Fairfield County and News 12. File photo.
Big Poppa — a.k.a. Mark Boughton — has got a brand new bag.
The state Republican Party announced Tuesday that it will bestow its highest honor on the seven-term Danbury mayor, who goes by the nickname Big Poppa, during a June 4 fundraising dinner with GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio.
Boughton, 51, is this year’s recipient of the Prescott Bush Award, which is named for the late Bush familiar patriarch and U.S. senator from Greenwich.
“It’s an honor, and much appreciated by the Republican Party,” Boughton told Hearst Connecticut Media, the parent of The News-Times of Danbury, by text message Tuesday afternoon.
A self-proclaimed “blue collar” Republican who previously taught social studies at Danbury High School and served in the Legislature, Boughton ran for governor in 2014 but was forced to suspend his campaign because of a lack of funding. In 2010, he came less than a half a percentage point from being elected lieutenant governor with then-running mate Tom Foley.
“Mark Boughton has shown remarkable leadership as the Mayor of Danbury and as an advocate for the principles of limited government and economic growth at the state and local level,” Jerry Labriola Jr., chairman of the state GOP, said in a statement. “When people ask me if Republicans can govern effectively at the local level, I tell them Danbury is a case study in effective governance, primarily because of Mayor Boughton.”
Boughton, who is widely thought to be positioning himself for another run for the state’s highest office in 2018, has carved out an impressive niche on Twitter that has earned him nearly 20,000 followers and frequent mentions from national media outlets for his often-humorous and pop culture-influenced commentary.