Speck wins second term: ‘So grateful to the people of Kent’
KENT — In a close race for first selectman, Democrat Jean Speck was reelected for a second term over her three opponents.
Speck, who was at Town Hall when she heard the news, has been first selectman in Kent since 2019 when she beat Republican Ed Matson, a Selectmen who ran against her again in this municipal election.
Also running for first selectman in this year’s election were petitioning candidates Rufus de Rham and James E. Rundall.
In unofficial results as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, Speck received 466 votes, de Rham received 401 votes, Matson received 202, and Rundall received 47.
“I’m so grateful to the people of Kent to put their trust in me for another two years,” said Speck, who learned of her victory while at Town Hall.
She added she’s “very excited to do great things for our town with our new board.”
Moving forward, she said she’s looking forward to making “serious forward progress on the Streetscape project.”
Additional projects on Speck’s to-do list include re-opening the senior center and working on the budget.
“We’ve been through a lot together in the past two years and have much to be proud of. I’m so honored to be able to continue working for the people ofd Kent,” Speck added.
Speck was one of only four women running for the highest elected offices at the local level in the Danbury area — making up just 18 percent of the total candidate pool of those vying for mayor and first selectman.
In a prior interview, Speck said if she’s elected for a second term, she plans to continue
to educate residents on preparing for weather emergencies, focus on technologyrelated initiatives to better protect the town’s data from cybersecurity attacks, and form a Broadband committee.
De Rham, who is chairman of the Board of Assessment Appeals, said he wants “to thank everyone who supported me. I will do what I can do to try to bring what I heard from them to light. I put my best effort into it.”
He added he brings to Selectman meetings “the points of view that I’ve heard from a lot of people who supported me.”