STAMFORD -- Curley's Diner owner Maria Aposporos, who fought city hall and won when it tried to take her business, is running for public office.

The longtime Democrat switched her party affiliation Sept. 9 to run for the Board of Representatives on the Republican ticket.

Aposporos, 58, of 43 Sylvan Knoll Road is running to represent the Cove neighborhood where she has lived since 1962. She is replacing incumbent C. Stephen McDermott on the ballot in the 4th District.

She plans to announce her candidacy today at the West Park Place diner she has owned, along with her sister, since 1977.

"I think they are robbing the people in Stamford to bring in the big developers," she said. "I like Stamford the way it used to be -- not the greedy way it's turning."

She is still angry at the city for putting the Stamford Town Center in the center of Main Street.

"This is the only town in America where we don't have a Main Street," she said.

While she has been a Democrat on paper, she has long been a foe of Democratic Mayor Dannel Malloy, who she says tried to rob her by offering only $233,000 for her property across from Columbus Park.

The restaurateur took the Urban Redevelopment Commission to court after it tried to condemn her property in 1999. She lost at a lower court but won a permanent injunction against the URC from the state Supreme Court in 2002.

More recently, Aposporos and the city have sparred over a fence put up last October for construction that blocks vehicular access to the diner's rear parking lot. A fading, hand-drawn sign on the diner's front window has a stick-figure drawing of two women, a fence and a message for the mayor: "Mr. Malloy tear down this wall."

Aposporos is running against Democrats Paul Esposito of 105 Soundview Court, an incumbent with 16 years' experience, and newcomer William Giraldo of 637 Cove Road, Unit A-2.

The top two vote-getters will serve because every voting district has two city representatives.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Daniel McCabe said he initially planned to run McDermott and Aposporos together, and has been looking for another candidate since McDermott pulled out.

McDermott said he wasn't sure whether he was going to run for re-election when the party held its nominating convention in July. He said he left his name in as a placeholder while he made his up his mind. Anthony Corelli, son of Republican Registrar of Voters Lucy Corelli, also was nominated to run for the 4th District in July, but has since withdrawn.

Republicans expect to pick up seats in the Cove this year where residents are upset about illegal apartments, the mayor's plan to expand Terry Conners Ice Rink and the city's plan to build an interdistrict magnet school on the Clairol property, McCabe said.

"We feel we are really going to strike pay dirt in that area this year," he said. "All the frustrations of the middle-class community are felt in that area, the Cove-East Side."

McCabe said he asked Aposporos to run because she represents what he perceives to be a growing number of Democrats becoming disenchanted with their party.

If McCabe is right, and illegal housing is a big issue in the election, Esposito said he should fare well. He's spent more than a year working with Euclid Avenue residents, helping them report illegal units to the city.

"So if Republicans think illegal housing is going to be a big issue, they are going to help with my re-election," Esposito said, adding that he doesn't see illegal housing "a Democrat or Republican issue."

Having a Latino candidate -- Giraldo -- on the ticket in the Cove, where the Hispanic population is growing, should help the Democrats, Esposito said.

He predicts Aposporos will get some "sympathy votes" because of her plight to save her business.

"I just hope the voters don't look at that above experience and positions on issues," he said.

Originally published online here: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-curleys7sep21,0,6876850.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines