Copyright Hartford Courant
Connecticut voters will head to the polls Tuesday in sometimes-contentious local municipal races that are often decided on small-town issues in relatively low turnout contests. State officials are expecting turnout in the range of the recent municipal average of about 33%, compared to the average presidential year turnout of 78% when voters are highly engaged regarding the future direction of the country. But officials noted that the local races are also important for everything from making zoning decisions to setting the tax rate in every town. “Presidents do not fix our street lights,” said Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, the state’s chief elections official. “They don’t decide how many teachers are in our child’s classrooms, or whether our neighborhoods get a sidewalk. … Voting in local elections is how we shape those communities. It is our chance to have a say about our property taxes, police, parks, fire, everything in between.” She added, “If you care about your town, [Tuesday] is the time to come out and show it at the polls.” Voters will cast ballots in 168 of the state’s 169 municipalities from Greenwich to Stonington to Salisbury. The lone exception is the small town of Union, where voters already cast their local ballots in May. Union, which touches the Massachusetts border in Tolland County, is Connecticut’s smallest town with only about 800 residents. Voters will decide contests for mayor, first selectman, school board, zoning appeals board, and other local offices. Democrats and Republicans disagree on whether the ongoing federal government shutdown and continuing policy clashes in Washington, D.C. will influence those races. Although President Donald J. Trump remains the single most dominant political figure in the United States, state Republican chairman Ben Proto says he does not think that Trump will be a key factor in the Connecticut races that are often based on local disputes and small-town infighting. But Democratic state chairman Roberto Alves sees it differently, saying that many Democrats are energized due to their distaste for Trump. Thomas said she has heard both sides about the national divide on politics, adding that she is not sure how national issues and the ongoing shutdown of the federal government, which will be in its 35th day on Election Day, will impact the voter turnout. “I don’t have a sense,” Thomas told reporters. “It’s hard to know, so we’ll see at the end of the day” on Tuesday. While Connecticut is widely known as a blue state, it is not that way on the municipal level. Of the state’s 169 municipalities, Republicans control the mayor or first selectman’s office in 92 towns, officials said. Democrats control 73 towns, while unaffiliated voters hold the remainder. Since Democratic mayors run the largest cities like Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford, the party controls municipalities with a combined population of 2.15 million, while Republicans oversee communities covering 1.48 million residents, according to calculations by the state Democratic Party. Every two years, the pendulum swings back and forth in some places. In Westport, traditionally known as a Democratic stronghold where Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by a 3-1 margin, Republican Jennifer Tooker has served as first selectwoman since 2021 when she defeated Democrat Jonathan Steinberg. She briefly ran for governor before recently dropping out of the race. By comparison, Democrats hold all the constitutional offices statewide like attorney general and treasurer, along with all five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and both U.S. Senate seats. For the past 15 years, Democrats have controlled the governor’s office, covering the tenures of Dannel P. Malloy and Ned Lamont. Early voting Voters have shown enthusiasm as more than 212,000 people have already voted before Election Day. Of those, 192,000 were early voters, while the remainder were absentee ballots and same-day registration voters. By comparison, 882,000 had cast early ballots in the 2024 presidential race — about four times higher. The town with the most early votes was Stratford, where there is a contentious race for mayor. Two-term Republican incumbent Laura Hoydick, who is a former state legislator, is battling against Democrat David Chess, who has gained momentum through endorsements by both the police and fire department unions. More than 5,300 voters cast early ballots in Stratford, officials said. Besides Stratford, the rest of the Top 10 turnout towns included Milford, Greenwich, Norwalk, Trumbull, Fairfield, Hamden, West Hartford, Stamford, and Bristol, according to the latest numbers from the Secretary of the State’s office. While early voting is still relatively new to some residents, elections officials have already gotten practice because early voting was allowed during the presidential preference primaries in April 2024 and that year’s August primaries that included numerous local races and a statewide Republican primary for U.S. Senate. At a news conference Monday in Hartford, Thomas unveiled one of the 2,500 new tabulating machines that were purchased to replace the state’s previously outdated equipment. The state spent $20 million, including software, shipping, and various ancillary costs, for the new equipment. That includes 2,402 standard machines at about $6,000 each, according to the state’s contract. The state also purchased 51 more advanced machines, known as DS450s, for about $64,000 each. The fastest and most advanced counting machines cost $133,000 each, and 20 of those machines will be used in high-volume, high-turnout areas. Enfield to Old Lyme While each side is predicting victory Tuesday, Democrats and Republicans have different lists of the most important towns that they are watching across the state. Democrats say they are expecting to hold seats for mayor in Danbury, Stamford, and Newington, as well as first selectman in Litchfield and Colchester. They also expect to hold the town council majorities in Wethersfield and Coventry, among others. Democrats are also hoping to flip the majority in Enfield, where Republicans control the town council by 6-3. In a town that was once run by conservative Democrats, Republicans currently hold the majorities on both the council and the school board in Enfield. In an unusual twist, two state legislators are running for the town council. State Rep. Carol Hall still has another year remaining on her term in the legislature in Hartford and would serve simultaneously on the town council if elected. At the same time, state Rep. John Santanella is seeking reelection to the Enfield council, where he currently serves as the Democratic minority leader. On the Republican side, Proto said the party is expecting to do well in Torrington, Wallingford, Brookfield, East Haven, Fairfield, Old Lyme, East Lyme, East Hartford, and Danbury, among others. Both sides are battling in the small town of East Granby, where two-term Republican first selectwoman Eden Wimpfheimer is defending her seat against Democratic newcomer Jason Hayes. Wimpfheimer won her last race in 2023 with 53% of the vote, but Hayes has run an aggressive campaign by knocking on nearly every door in town. In Old Lyme, Republican challenger John H. Mesham is facing a rematch against the incumbent first selectman Martha H. Shoemaker, a retired teachers’ union president who won their race two years ago as Democrats took control of the board. In Simsbury, there is a three-way race among candidates who are well known at the local level. First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis is running for reelection against Republican Heather Goetz, who currently serves on the board of selectmen. They are both facing independent Eric Wellman, the former first selectman for four years who lost against Democrat Melissa Osborne for a state legislative seat that was vacated by longtime Rep. John Hampton. Alves is not only seeking to flip some seats across the state, but he is also running for reelection in Danbury, where he is the first Democratic mayor in 22 years. He has outraised his opponent, Republican city council member Emile Buzaid, by a margin of nearly 6 to 1. In Bristol, Republican Mayor Jeff Caggiano is facing former Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu in a closely watched rematch of their 2021 race in a community where the two major political parties have gone back and forth in holding the mayor’s office. In New Britain, there is an open seat for mayor for the first time in more than a decade as six-term mayor Erin Stewart is not seeking reelection. Instead, Stewart is running for governor in a potential Republican primary against state Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich. The winner would then run against the winner of a Democratic primary between Gov. Ned Lamont and state Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden. State Rep. Bobby Sanchez, who has served for 16 years as a lawmaker in Hartford, is facing Republican city council member Sharon Beloin-Saavedra in the battle to replace Stewart. Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.
