Copyright Hartford Courant
After four years of Republican control in Bristol, Democrat Ellen Zoppo-Sassu defeated Mayor Jeff Caggiano in a close and heated election. When the first vote tallies came in shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m., Caggiano was up over 600 votes, but that lead was cut short by early voting totals. As news spread that early voting was favorable to Democrats, excitement began to spread at the city’s Democratic headquarters on North Street. Zoppo-Sassu, who previously served two terms as mayor before serving as town manager of Enfield, defeated Caggiano by 117 votes, according to unofficial totals, which equaled around a 1% margin, the close results of a contentious election that saw residents fighting back and forth over the candidates’ merits and concerns about taxes and school funding. While Caggiano did well with district totals, early voting heavily favored Democrats. Over 3,000 ballots were cast through early voting in the city. “Our attention to detail on this campaign, the strength of our slate, the thoughtfulness we put into the issues resonated with the people,” she said. “Over the course of the last five months I knocked on so many doors, met so many people, and listened to their concerns. There are so many families across the income spectrum that are really struggling and concerned. I made sure to take the time and listen to what was important to them.” Caggiano, who has served as mayor since 2021, said that he is proud of his record in Bristol despite his loss. His defeat comes amid a wave of Democratic victories across the state and country Tuesday night. Caggiano said that he felt the election got swept up in the same way other elections doomed Republican candidates. “This was a close one, obviously not the result we were looking for, but I leave proud of my record,” Caggiano said. “I’m not going anywhere and will continue to be on the Republican Town Committee and will be a voice for Bristol. I don’t think there’s ever been a mayor that will be coming into this job where the city is in such a good position. I am proud that we were able to accomplish as much as we did over four years.” Pre-K school debate becomes part of harsh election rhetoric in CT city. The roof collapsed last year On Tuesday, Bristol voters had a choice between the two very well-known candidates. Zoppo-Sassu, who served for years as a city council member, ran for mayor in 2015 and lost by a thin 128 votes to Republican Ken Cockayne. When his administration hit a series of scandals that infuriated taxpayers, though, she charged back in the 2017 race crushing him by nearly 2,400 votes. She coasted to re-election in 2019, turning back Republican Dante Tagariello by a roughly 1,850-vote margin. But in 2021, Caggiano defeated her by about 600 votes, and then scored a crushing re-election win over Democratic challenger Scott Rosado with a roughly 2,600-vote cushion. Caggiano campaigned on his record of business growth and particularly development downtown, where a long-planned but stalled revival has gone into overdrive with the addition of two large, modern apartment complexes on North Main Street. Zoppo-Sassu appealed to residents’ discontent over tax increases and concerns in the schools. “These past four years have been unsettling to watch,” she said, “from the consecutive tax increases, reduced programs, flat Grand List growth, lurching priorities, no new economic development projects, and a fractured relationship with the Board of Education that has resulted in financial and political finger pointing, at the expense of our students and staff.” She said national trends worked against her four years ago but favored her Tuesday. “I do believe that the national politics boomeranged on me in 2021 and that reversed course this year. I do believe there is an effect on how people feel about what’s going on nationally and what they can control. There is a think global, act local response. So that was a part of this election as well,” Zoppo-Sassu said. Bristol, once a solidly Democratic power base, has edged to the right over the past 20 years, despite a hard shift to blue in the 2017 election. Observers are eager to see how voters decided a race between two extremely well-known candidates. Democrats on Tuesday also took back the city’s Board of Education after four years of GOP control. Education funding and the city’s budget were top concerns for voters. “We are very pleased with the result, now we can get to work and really get things done,” said Democratic Board of Education member Barbara Tedesco. “Republicans kept saying we were being irresponsible with the budget, but we were actually underfunded. I think now we can accomplish a great deal.”
