The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Voter turnout was steady
Area officials report busy day at polls
Election races in Barkhamsted, Litchfield, Morris and New Hartford drew plenty of voters to the polls Tuesday, with registrars describing the flow as “steady and smooth.” Litchfield ran out of official ballots at 6 p.m.
According to Litchfield Republican Registrar of Voters Nancy Knowlton, 332 ballots were cast after 6 p.m., which had to be tallied by hand.
“It was just such a wonderful thing that we had such a good voter turnout,” Knowlton said. “Unfortunately, it means we have
to work even harder.”
The registrars provided the voter tallies without the hand-counted ballots, which were not completed at 10:30 p.m. Incumbent First Selectman Loe Paul
received 1,295 votes over challenging Democrat Matthew Blasavage with 880 votes. Petitioning candidate Dennis Rosa received 36 votes.
In the selectmen’s race, Republicans Jonathan Torrant received 1,184 votes, Paul Parsons received 1,167 votes, and Democrat Diane Knox received 976 votes. Incumbent Republican Jeff Zullo received 949 votes.
Town Clerk Lisa Losee, who ran unopposed, has received 1,773 votes.
Republican Fran Carpetier holds a victory over Democrat Betsy Glassman for town treasurer, 1453 to 786.
For the two available seats on the Board of Finance, Democrat James Stedronsky received 1,175 votes and Republican Richard Quay received 1,250 votes, defeating Democrat Jennine Lupo with 992 votes and petitioning candidate Erich Marrotti with 243 votes.
In the Plannning and Zoning Commission’s race with three open seats, Republicans John Cox received 1,191 votes, Max McIntyre received 1,125 votes, and Michael Thomas recieved 1,070 votes, while Democrats Denise Raap received 1,289 votes, and Robert Lupo received 975 votes.
In the Board of Education race, two seats were available. Democrat Lynn Stone received 1,027 votes, followed by Republican John Morosani with 1175 votes and Matthew Terzian with 1,097 votes.
Litchfield voters who arrived early in the morning had up to a 20-minute wait to cast a ballot, but by noontime the scene was quiet inside the Litchfield firehouse.
Barkhamsted, Morris and New Hartford voters also kept registars and poll checkers busy throughout the day with a “healthy” and “smooth” turnout, residents said.
Harwinton
Republican First Selectman Michael Criss emerged a winner Tuesday night, according to the Republican Town Committee’s tallies, posted on the group’s Facebook page.
Criss won with 1,383 votes over challenging Democrat Peyton Turpin with 466 votes.
The Republicans won a majority of the races in Harwinton. Selectman Evan Brunetti defeated challenger J. Richard Fowler 1,310 to 513. Town Clerk Janet Russo defeated challenger Robin Turpin 1,274-522.
Criss was elated to return to office for another term. “I’m feeling great,” he said. “I’m feeling tired, wet, cold and great. I was out there since 5:30 a.m., so it’s been a long day.”
Though the Republican Party swept this year’s elections, Criss said he worked just as hard on this year’s race as any other.
“I think anybody would be foolish not to have concerns going into elections with a challenge,” he said. "Every year you want to run and work very hard to represent the residents in the community. I learned a long time ago, work hard, and never forget your roots, and I always run with that in mind.”
As he prepared to head home, Criss thanked the voters for choosing him for another two years.
“It’s truly an honor just to work in our community, and to know that people have the faith in us ... they know that we are working hard to keep Harwinton Harwinton and to protect them in Hartford,” he said.
Barkhamsted
Incumbent Democratic First Selectman Don Stein was re-elected for his sixth term with 788 votes, while his challenger, Republican Mark Hemenway received 483 votes, and petitioning candidate Deborah Simon received 32 votes.
In the selectman’s race, Democrat Ray Pech defeated Republican Nicholas Lukiwsky, 713-560. Republican Town Clerk Holly Krouse, who ran unopposed, received 949 votes. Republican Sally Roy ran unopposed for town treasurer and received 910 votes.
For the Board of Finance, Republicans Matthew Kelly won with 874 votes, and Stephen Egbertson with 855.
For the Board of Education, Democrats Caprice Shaw received 699 votes, Donna Farr receied 681 votes and Kelly Mann received 641 votes. Republican Katherine Nelson received 623 votes, defeating Thomas Brodnitzki’s 606 votes and Maggie Weingarten’s 589 votes.
In the race for one seat on the Region 7 Board of Education, Republican Mary Duran defeated Frank Miceli 629-605.
Morris
Incumbent Republican Tom Weik faced Democrat Kevin DeRoehn in his second bid for first selectman and defeated him 555-396.
Republican Selectman Erica Dorsett-Matthews was reelected with 550 votes and Democrat Vincent Aiello with 420 votes.
In a statement, Weik said, “Kevin DeRoehn gave a good try, but Erica (Dorsett-Mathews) and I stayed positive throughout the campaign and that is what resonated with the voters. There was a lot of negativity expressed, and just recently I caught unidentified individuals stealing the Vote Today signs and reported that theft to the state police. Hopefully, all that is behind us and despite what is going on with the state budget, the town of Morris is in good shape. I am looking forward to starting on ‘Round two’ and will be back at my desk at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow.”
In other races, Town Clerk Laura Halloran, who ran unopposed, received 914 votes. Republican Nancy Skilton won a second term as town treasurer with 556 over opponent Democrat Joseph Ferraro with 373 votes. On the Boarrd of Finance, Democrat Larry Sweeney was defeated by Carrie Levin, also a Democrat, 456-439. Republican Chris Parkhurst won a seat on the finance board with 556 votes, and Hunter Weik won an alternate seat on the board with 679 votes. Tax Collector Dwight Rollins won re-election at 298 votes.
New Hartford
Incumbent First Selectman Daniel Jerram, a Republican, won re-election with 1,327 votes to Democrat Laura Garay’s 1,008 votes. Garay is a current member of the Board of Selectmen who was seeking the chief exeucutive role.
Selectman Alesia Kennerson, a Republican, also won re-election with 1,205 votes to former Pinewoods Health & Racquet Club owner Eric Claman Sr.’s 1,099 votes.
Town Clerk Donna LaPlante, Town Treasurer Gordon Ross and Tax Collector Linda Sheffield were all unopposed and all won reelection.
New Hartford has 4,814 registered voters.