Unlike many communities across the state, two little Connecticut cities kept a Republican leader in the top spot.
Torrington Republican Molly Spino, formerly a member of the City Council, defeated Democrat Stephen Ivain 3,968 to 3,442, according to the Secretary of State’s website.
Spino succeeds Republican Mayor Elinor Carbone, who did not run for a fourth term this year.
All voter totals are unofficial until they are verified by the Secretary of the State’s office.
“Now that I’ve gotten some sleep, I feel a lot better,” said Spino Wednesday.
“I’m humbled, I’m grateful, I’m thrilled,” she said. “We had an incredible team of candidates, really smart, well-rounded people who love Torrington, love being involved, love giving their time.
“Four of them were under 30 and they were amazing,” she said. “They worked so hard. It was awesome to see a younger generation work so hard and be so involved.”
Across Connecticut other communities saw different outcomes, with, Democrats making gains. This included New Britain and Bristol, among others.
Spino, who served on the City Council member with her opponent, Ivain, congratulated him on his campaign.
“I want to congratulate him on a really well-run race,” she said. “We had a very similar message. We agreed on many of the same things. I appreciated the time I spent with him on the City Council, and I hope he continues to stay involved.”
Ivain said the Democrats gained about 800 votes in Torrington this year, which has closed a gap, he said.
“We’ve gained 800 votes from four years ago, and our data shows the Republicans didn’t gain any,” Ivain said. “We narrowed it, and I’m happy with that. We will continue to build our team and make contributions to our city.”
Spino, he said, ran “a good campaign.”
“The voters had a choice to make on who would be mayor, and they have,” he said. “They chose Molly.”
Absentee and early voting ballots were still being tabulated on Wednesday morning. Registrar of Voters Jacque Williams said he and his staff were still working on those ballots, as well as voters who registered on Election Day.
“We are trying to get the data out,” Williams said. “The ballots have been tabulated, but they haven’t been verified.”
Ivain, who gave up his City Council seat to run for mayor, said Wednesday that he made a congratulatory call to Spino.
“I left a voicemail message, congratulating her,” he said.
Although the absentee and early voting ballots were being counted, he said, “it was a little disconcerting that the registrar’s office was unable to share early voting totals last night,” he said. “They should have made that information publicly available. We take pictures of those totals and add them to our spreadsheets; they would not give that to us.
“Early voting and absentees are about 20 percent of the vote,” Ivain said. “Of course, the results are unofficial, but why not share those votes?”
Republicans held the majority on the Torrington City Council; unofficial totals show that incumbents David Oliver and Anne Ruwet retained their seats, along with Armand Manicci and Chris Beyus. Incumbent Democrat Paul Cavagnero also retained his seat, along with newcomer Democrat Rachel Hannon-Harrel.
Republicans win in Winsted
In Winsted, voters chose to support the Board of Selectmen’s Republican majority. Mayor Todd Arcelaschi was re-elected for a third term on the board, along with incumbents William Hester and Paul Marino, who ran unopposed. Also elected were incumbent Republicans Troy LaMere and William Pozzo, as well as Democrats Cheryl McGlynn and Kevin Bishop.
Democrat Candy Perez, a longtime member of the Board of Selectmen and a former mayor, stepped down in October.
“She said she was tired of campaigning, after 22 years,” Arcelaschi said. “Her father died last year, and I think she just wanted some time away.”
Perez, he said, will be missed. “She’s got a lot of history, and an institutional knowledge of Winsted,” he said. “We’ll do our best to keep her involved. At some point there will be a room (in town hall) with her name on it, because of the impact she’s had on this town.”
He said Perez’s run from Nov. 4, 2003 to Nov. 4, 2025, totaled 8,036 days, 694,301,400 seconds, 193,000 hours and 264 months. “That’s a long time. It’s pretty amazing,” Arcelaschi said.
His own time on the board is a record, too, he said.
“I am entering my 11th year, I’ve finished five terms,” he said. “I’m not the youngest member of the board anymore.
“My father (the late John Arcelaschi) served three terms as mayor, and I’m now in my third term,” he said.
Arcelaschi’s goals for the immediate future of Winsted include improving the town’s tax base.
“We really need to build our tax base, it’s too much of a burden on the residential side,” he said. “(W)e have more developers showing an interest in town, and that will pay dividends to us if we can win them over and have them invest in the town.”
Litchfied’s Raap wins third term
First Selectwoman Denise Raap secured another two years leading Litchfield, defeating Republican challenger William Zampaglione, 1,912 votes to 1,485, according to the Secretary of the State’s website.
Incumbent Democrats Jeff Zullo and JodiAnn Tenney were also re-elected to the Board of Selectmen, along with Republicans Dan Morosani and John Bongiorno.