Even as the country waits for a definitive answer in the presidential election, the state legislative races were decisively over Tuesday night. The three Democrats running to represent Wilton–Will Haskell in the State Senate, Stephanie Thomas in the State House of Representatives, and Jim Himes in the U.S. Congress–won majorities not only overall but in the Wilton vote too.
What that may mean in the state assembly is that not only will Democrats hold on to their majority in both houses, they may actually increase their margin over state Republicans. With votes still being counted in some districts, that’s still a question waiting to be answered.
[Editor’s note: as of press time Wednesday, results are still unofficial and preliminary. Wilton officials are still waiting for additional absentee ballots to be counted. Votes are not official until certified by the Secretary of State’s office.]
Representative in Congress, 4th District
Incumbent Jim Himes was the clear winner of the 4th district race over Republican challenger Jonathan Riddle by an almost 2-to-1 margin, earning 180,486 votes (60.81%) to Riddle’s 111,884 votes (37.7%). Independent Brian Merlen won only 4,430 votes (1.49%). Those results reflect 91.79% of the precincts reporting.
In Wilton, Himes received 6,451 votes (59.54%) to Riddle’s 4,271 votes (39.42%), while Merlen was a very distant third at a mere 112 votes (1.03%).
State Senate, 26th District
The Secretary of State’s office reported 100% of the votes were counted across all precincts for this race, giving Will Haskell a decisive victory over his challenger Kim Healy. Haskell’s 37,937 votes (58.44%) bested Healy’s 25,632 votes (39.49%) on the Republican line and 1,346 Independent votes (2.07%).
Although Healy did win New Canaan, where it may have stung the most was in Healy’s hometown of Wilton, where Haskell’s winning margin was by eight points (54% to 46%). Here’s how the voting breaks down across the entire district:
Town Haskell Healy (R) Healy (I) Wilton 5,828 (54%) 4,808 (44%) 254 (2%) Bethel 4,170 (53%) 3,488 (45%) 142 (2%) New Canaan 2,547 (46.6%) 2,819 (51.6%) 99 (1.8%) Redding 3,563 (60%) 2,223 (38%) 134 (2%) Ridgefield 9,063 (56%) 6,585 (41%) 406 (3%) Weston 2,536 (66%) 1,228 (32%) 71 (2%) Westport 10,230 (68%) 4,481 (30%) 240 (2%) TOTAL 37,937 (58%) 25,632 (40%) 1,346 (2%)
*I–Independent
State House of Representatives, 143rd District
Republican Gail Lavielle has held the district for 10 years, and before her, aside from the one two-year Democratic term of Peggy Reeves, the district had been securely Republican with Toni Boucher in the seat. But Tuesday night, Stephanie Thomas flipped the district back to the Democrats, and solidly so, besting Patrizia Zucaro 8,047 votes to 6,459 (56% to 44%).
Thomas won all three towns in the district, and here’s how:
Town Thomas (D) Thomas (WF) Zucaro (R) Zucaro (I) Wilton 3,576 (51%) 88 (1%) 3,136 (46%) 158 (2%) Norwalk 3,472 (55%) 134 (2%) 2,575 (41%) 110 (2%) Westport 753 (60%) 24 (2%) 439 (35%) 41 (3%) TOTAL 7,801 (54%) 246 (2%) 6,150 (42%) 309 (2%)
*WF–Working Family
*I–Independent
State Representative, 125th District
Incumbent Republican Tom O’Dea ran unopposed, garnering 9,228 votes–6,870 in his home town of New Canaan and 2,358 in Wilton.