The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL OK’D
IN VOTING MARKED BY FEW AT POLLS, WOODROW WILSON CONSTRUCTION REFERENDUM WINS BY 1,590
MIDDLETOWN — In a municipal election devoid of mayor and Common Council elections because of changes to the charter, voter turnout for those vying for seats on the Board of Education and Planning and Zoning Commission was very low this year.
The new $87.35 million middle school complex referendum question didn’t attract as many residents to the polls as expected. It passed by a landslide, in preliminary numbers: 3,283 to 1,693 votes. The proposal calls for the construction of an $87.35 million complex that would incorporate the city’s sixth- through eighthgraders.
Republicans won a fair number of seats on the boards.
In unofficial tallies, school board candidates Sean King had 2,883 votes, Vincent Loffredo, 2,802, Ed Ford Jr., 2,057, Christopher Sugar, 1,774, Lisa Loomis, 3,064, Kevin Kelly, 1,669, Patricia Alson, 2,823 and Jon Pulino, 1,852, according to Town Clerk Linda Bettencourt.
Planning and Zoning Commission candidates Stephen H. Devoto had 2,979, Steven M. Kovach, 2,669, Nicholas Ficaro, 2,525, Amy Albert, 2,786, Nicholas Fazzino, 2,064, Anthony Moran, 1,585 and Tyrell Brown, 1,745.
Totals do not include absentee ballots or Election Day registration, according to Bettencourt, and results will be determined Wednesday according to minority representation on the panels.
“It’s been a steady trickle of voters: better than I expected,” Planning and Zoning candidate Stephen Devoto said Tuesday evening as rain began to fall in the cold temperatures. “We’ve got a nice diverse group and I’ve enjoyed talking to voters at Moody and Woodrow Wilson Middle School. People are really enthusiastic and seem quite engaged with both the two elections and ballot measure.”
Devoto’s distinctively light green campaign signs, recycled from his primary election for the zoning board four years ago, contrasted with the Republicans’ blue and Democrats’ red lawn signs. Devoto ran as a Democrat on Tuesday’s ballot.
The 6 p.m. numbers showed unexpectedly low voter turnout, according to the registrar’s office, with 4,542 —17.11 percent — of Middletown’s 26,560 registered voters hitting the polls. In two hours, the results had climbed by just over 1,000: at 4 p.m., 3,511 voters had cast their ballots in the city’s 14 districts, or 13.22 percent.
Many across upper Middlesex County speculated the cold, raw weather played a part in the low turnout, especially among senior citizens. Still, candidates and moderators were pleased with residents coming out to the polls, they said.
Board of Education candidate Republican Ed Ford Jr said he had been out since 8 a.m.
”It’s been an amazing experience, my first election. I’ve honestly loved every minute of it," he said. “The responses that I’ve been getting to the referendum have been very mixed, to be honest. There are a handful of people for it and a handful of people that are against it. I’m really not quite sure what the final result will be.”
For said he is in favor of the new school being built.
“Now is the best time do it, with the state giving 57 percent aid to get it done,” Ford said. “The school is a safety hazard. It’s been a safety hazard for years, and it’s something we have to take care of as soon as possible for the safety of our children, for their educational environment to be the best it can be. We don’t want to hinder their educational process at all.”
He predicted his party would fare well.
“I feel optimistic. I still think it’s going to be a good result and at the end of the night, we can all say we ran a good race,” Ford said.
Former Common Council clerk Marie Norwood was a moderator at Woodrow Wilson Middle School. By early afternoon, she said, there was “moderate” voter turnout, at 8 percent. Frank Augeri was manning the District 12 tabulator, which showed 329 people had fed the machine.
In District 11 at the same time, 412 had voted.
“I thought we would have more people because of the referendum question,” Norwood said.
Traditionally, Middletown has been an overwhelmingly Democratic populace. The city has 12,007 active Democrats, 4,091 Republicans, 9,987 Unaffiliated and 475 Independents. Check our website Wednesday for full official results for all candidates.