Democrats dominate in Wilton election

WILTON — Wilton, once a reliably Republican town has seen a surge in recent months of voters registering as Democrats. And that showed in Tuesday’s election, with Democratic candidates winning in each of the competitive races.

Unofficial numbers were released late Tuesday night.

As they did in 2016, voters went for the Democratic presidential ticket. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris received 7,113 votes, nearly double the 3,605 cast for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., received 6,451 votes, compared to 4,271 for his Republican rival Jonathan Riddle. The Independent candidate Brian Merlen received just 112 votes.

In the state Senate race for the 26th District, Democratic incumbent Will Haskell of Westport edged Republican challenger Kim Healy of Wilton 5,828 to 5,062. The 26th District includes Ridgefield, Wilton, Redding and parts of Weston, Westport, Bethel and New Canaan and as of Tuesday night a winner had not been declared.

Likewise, in the race to represent the 143rd state House district, a seat being vacated by Republican Gail Lavielle of Wilton, Democrat Stephanie Thomas received 3,664 votes to Republican Patrizia Zucaro’s 3,294. This district also includes portions of Norwalk and Westport and a winner was yet to be declared Tuesday night.

State Rep. Tom O’Dea, the Republican incumbent in the 125th state House district, ran unopposed and received 2,358 votes.

The registrars of voters, who were endorsed by their political parties, ran unopposed. Democrat Karen A. Birck received 6,054 votes and Republican Annalisa Stravato-Favarolo received 4,559 votes.

The registrars did not release total vote numbers or a turnout percentage on Tuesday night.

While polls were busy during the day, by 7 p.m. it was very quiet.

At Middlebrook School, Andy Meyers was one of the voters casting his ballot in the evening. He said he had planned to vote absentee, but “with everything Trump has said, I felt I had to vote in person. Something inside my stomach said this ballot should count.”

A voter named Scott, who did not provide a last name, said he went to cast his ballot in person “because that’s the way you vote.”

Early Republican lead

In-person voting was dominated by those voting Republican, as evidenced by results in the state legislative races.

With 3,631 votes Healy had a lead over Haskell who won 2,868 votes.

Zucaro received 2,388 votes to 1,838 for Thomas.

Meanwhile, Himes and Republican challenger Jonathan Riddle each won 3,195 in-person votes to represent the 4th congressional district.

Trump and Pence did not fare as well as their down-ballot Republican colleagues. The machine vote gave the president and vice president 2,802 votes compared to 3,568 for Biden and Harris.