UPDATE 6:00 p.m. — Wilton Registrar of Voters Karen Birck released the “official” vote count for Wilton, the numbers that have been formally submitted to the Secretary of State. These totals still need to be certified by the Secretary of State, but as far as the town is concerned, these are Wilton’s official results from Tuesday’s election.

The registrars have reported that of the 12,638 eligible registered voters in Wilton, there were 8,422 voters who cast ballots in the 2022 midterm elections — in person and via absentee ballots. That makes for a 66.64% voter turnout.

UPDATE 1:15 P.M. — With all the precincts now reported in to the Secretary of State, we’re updating the vote tallies. (As a reminder, any vote counts are still considered unofficial until they are certified by the Secretary of State later this month.)

State Senate 26th District

Ceci Maher (D) won the State Senate 26th District race by a 57%-43% margin over Toni Boucher (R). Boucher issued a statement on Wednesday morning, Nov. 9. thanking supporters, and had a message for Maher and other candidates that will now head to Hartford with a “huge responsibility to do what is right for the people of our district.”

“Make our state more affordable and safer, defend local control, and protect parents’ rights and decisions over our children’s education. Most important, respect and listen to those that differ from your point of view. Always remember that being in office is not about you but the office you hold,” she wrote.

After serving in the state legislature for 22 years until she lost the same seat to Will Haskell in 2018, she implied this run was her last. “It is now up to the next generation to carry the torch and I remain here to help whenever needed,” Boucher added.

State Representative 42nd District

With all of the precincts now in, the Secretary of State’s numbers updated slightly for the State Representative 42nd District race. Keith Denning (D) won the seat with 52% of the votes to Kim Healy (R) with 48%.

Denning said he was “honored” and “humbled” after the win, and he “acknowledged” Healy “for a fair, close and hard-fought race” before making a pledge to the constituents of the 42nd district.

“I have talked with thousands of voters during this campaign and have heard their concerns about quality schools and healthcare, the high cost of living and taxes, and their desire for rebuilding our state’s infrastructure and providing more affordable and renewable energy. I promise to make those concerns my priority. And I will support Gov. Lamont as he continues to restore the positive business climate in our state,” Denning wrote, adding that he welcomes hearing from constituents with “input and concerns.”

Healy sent a short comment on Wednesday morning congratulating Denning and said she planned on issuing a longer message in the coming week. “I want to thank everyone who supported me yesterday and throughout the campaign. While I am, of course, saddened by the results, I could not be more proud of the positive, fact-driven campaign that we ran and that we never went negative. I will continue to proudly serve the people of Wilton in a non-partisan manner with the professionalism it deserves. I love our town and our state and only want the best for our future. Congratulations to my opponent,” she wrote.

Democratic Town Committee chair Tom Dubin issued a statement about his party’s wins.

“Wilton’s Democrats are thrilled with last night’s local and statewide election results. Locally, Ceci Maher and Keith Denning proved through tireless campaigns that knocking on doors and listening to voter concerns is the key to victory. Statewide, Ned Lamont and his team were rewarded for their strong work on both social and fiscal matters over the last four years. And of course, we are ecstatic to see Wilton’s Representative Stephanie Thomas moving up to the Secretary of the State’s office.

“We recognize that many of our victories were close races. Toni Boucher has served Wilton and the 26th District honorably in Connecticut’s House and Senate and she ran a strong campaign once again this year. Similarly, Kim Healy has earned the support of a sizable portion of our town. We hope that the close local races foster an understanding in both parties that we have all chosen Wilton as our homes for similar reasons. There are plenty of good ideas to share to continue Wilton’s positive path.”

ORIGINAL STORY 2:30 a.m. — Wilton will have two new Democratic legislators representing the town in Hartford for the next two years. Ceci Maher (D) won the State Senate 26th District race over Republican Toni Boucher, and Keith Denning (D) won the race for State Representative 42nd District, defeating Republican Kim Healy.

After a long day that started well before polls opened at 6 a.m., Wilton’s Registrars of Voters Karen Birck and Annalisa Stravato provided vote tallies to GOOD Morning Wilton shortly before midnight. They reiterated that all results as of now are preliminary and unofficial until certified by the Secretary of State’s office.

Voter Turnout

Voter turnout was brisk. Of the 12,638 eligible voters (which included voters who registered on Election Day and voted at Town Hall), there were 8,421 voters who cast ballots (66.63%). That’s down from the last midterm election in 2018, which saw a “huge” turnout of 72.19%

State Senate 26th District

The 26th District race between Maher and Boucher was very close in Wilton, where both candidates live; Maher led by only 76 votes (4,179 to Boucher’s 4,103), with all votes counted.

But it was in more heavily Democratic towns in the 26th District that the split moved the scale in Maher’s direction, like in Westport (63.76% for Maher, 36.24% Boucher) and Weston (61.31% Maher, 38.69%); Maher also won in Ridgefield, but by a slimmer margin (53.76% vs. 46.28% for Boucher).

Maher celebrated with area Democrats in Westport. She sent GMW a comment about her win.

“I’m excited to be the next state senator for the 26th District. I heard from people at front doors in our communities that they want safe schools, stricter gun laws, reproductive rights protected, action on climate change, good paying jobs, and a transportation infrastructure that works. The future is bright for Connecticut and I look forward to working for the district and being their voice in Hartford. I’m honored to be elected and can’t wait to get started. My thanks to all those who supported this campaign with their vote, time, and hard work, and send thanks to Toni Boucher for a race well fought,” Maher said.

[Editor’s note: the complete results for the full 26th District were not available at publication time; GMW will update the article with the full vote count when available.]

In the State Representative 42nd District race, Denning won Wilton by a wider margin: 4,424 votes (52.54%) vs. 3,845 votes (45.66%) for Healy.

The district also includes small parts of Ridgefield and New Canaan, and with two-thirds of the precincts reporting by publication time, Denning won 5,500 votes (52.30) to 5,017 votes (47.71%) for Healy.

Other Statewide Races

Gov. Ned Lamont (D) declared victory on Tuesday evening, shortly before midnight. With 78% of the precincts reporting at press time, he was leading 53.81% to 44.99% for Bob Stefanowski (R). Supporting that declaration by 1 a.m. were ABC, FOX, CNN and the Associated Press.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) won an easy re-election (55.6% to 44.4% by publication time), so easy that the Associated Press called the race before 8:15 p.m., just 15 minutes after polls closed. His opponent, Leora Levy (R), took a few more hours before she conceded.

Jim Himes (D) will return to Washington as Wilton’s U.S. Representative (4th District). His race was called by the AP just after midnight. He defeated Jayme Stevenson 59.4% to 40.6%.

Stephanie Thomas (D) will be Connecticut’s next Secretary of State. In her three-way race, she was leading at deadline time with 57.4% to Dominic Rapini‘s (R) 40.7% and Cynthia Jennings‘ 1.9%

Following the statewide trend, Democratic candidates were the majority vote-getters in every race in Wilton. Below are the vote tallies, per the registrars of voters, for all the races outside of the state legislative ones.

*Editor’s note: It’s important to point out (again) that the vote counts from the Wilton registrars of voters are considered unofficial and preliminary until they are certified by the Secretary of State.

WILTON VOTES

Ballot Question

Just as state voters did, Wilton voters gave their approval on the Early Voting ballot question: 5,262 people voted ‘yes’ on the question (63%), while 2,494 people voted ‘no’ (29.6%).

CORRECTION, Nov. 10, 8:30 a.m.: An table with incorrect official Wilton votes in the State Senate race has been updated with corrected figures.