Politics & Government

After The Polls Closed, The Waiting Began

The polls closed promptly at 8 p.m. Tuesday night. 

And then the waiting began. 

As Clinton Town Clerk Karen Marsden and the town's moderators worked in the Rose Room in Clinton Town Hall, a large and exuberant crowd of almost 130 people waited in the Green Room for results to be announced. 

Some of the moderators, optimistically, initially projected they might have results as early as 8:40 p.m. or no later than 9 p.m. They toiled away in the Rose Room, first with the door open and then with the door closed as the crowd down the hall grew smaller but somehow even more noisy as the minutes, and then hours, passed.

A number of factors contributed to a wait somewhat longer than usual. This year, for the first time, voter registration was allowed on election day statewide. And this year, for the first time, the Republicans and Democrats were running against Clinton First, a third party. 

When the town clerk and her moderators emerged from the Rose Room--several hours later--with their results, the crowd grew quiet as Marsden explained that some winners would be announced Tuesday night, and others Wednesday. Minority representation rules had to be taken into account, she said, before winners could be declared in some categories. And the close vote rule, which calls for an automatic recount anytime there is a margin of 21 votes or less, may have to be invoked in some cases, she said.

And, she said, she didn't want to move too fast and make too many declarations Tuesday night, because her "brain was fried." She wasn't the only one. Many in the room had been working the polls, or working the festive scene in the parking lot, since 5:30 a.m. And the candidates, of course, had been campaigning, many of them since this past summer.  

And then the results were announced. Democratic First Selectman Willie Fritz, the incumbent, won re-election by a safe margin, with 1,833, according to the unofficial tally. Republican Phil Sengle came in second with 1,224 votes, but that was not enough to win him a seat on the board. Clinton First candidate Vincent Cimino, likewise, with 844 votes, will not have a seat on the board. 

Fritz said afterwards he was grateful to be able to keep his team together. It appears, according to the  unofficial tally, that Selectman Carol Walter, R, won re-election, along with Raymond J. Rigat, D, and John Giannotti, R, and Lynn Pinder, D. 

Fritz congratulated his opponents on a well-fought race. 

Cimino was not immediately available for comment. Sengle was philosophical after his loss. 

"The results were predicted by many," Sengle said. "It was well known that the third party candidacy of Vin Cimino was mostly going to take votes from me. Their stated purpose was to defeat Willie Fritz. But that did not happen."

Sengle said he was "not bitter." "Some may be bitter, but I'm not bitter," he said. 

His fellow Republican, Selectman Carol Walter, was not sure if she was ready to make the same claim. 

"I'm upset," she said, on behalf of Sengle and other Republican candidates who lost. The Clinton First candidates were "spoilers," she said, who knocked strong Republican candidates out of contention. 

Sengle said, while disappointed not to be sitting on the Board of Selectmen, that he would most definitely remain involved in a variety of activities and roles around town. Again, like many in the room, he plays a wide variety of roles in the town. The Fair Rent Commission. The Police Commission. The Town Hall Renovation Commission. The Clinton Arts Project. 

"And I have my grandchildren. My golf. And my boat," he said. "You'll be seeing me around." 



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