Election 2025 has turned in a stunning result, with candidates endorsed by the Wilton Democratic Town Committee sweeping all of the races.
While a handful of Republican candidates were elected to some seats, the outcome of this election means that of Wilton’s four primary boards, three of them — Board of Selectmen, Board of Education and Planning and Zoning Commission — will now have Democratic majorities, and the six-member Board of Finance will be split evenly between the two parties.
It’s not clear whether this outcome was a response to national politics — similar decisive Democratic victories marked elections across the country, including in heavily watched races like the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections, and California’s redistricting Proposition 50 — or reaction to local Wilton issues, including a controversial Charlie Kirk scarecrow and the politicized rhetoric brought into the race for Planning and Zoning, or a combination of the two.
Judging by brisk activity at the polls Tuesday — with final turnout numbers unavailable as of press time but estimated above 40% — voters were motivated to turn out and make their voices heard. Whatever they were saying, the final numbers send a clear message in a growing political divide.
DTC Chair Tom Dubin said that Wilton’s Democrats are thrilled with what he called the “historic results” of Election 2025.
“The most important part of the equation started many months ago when we convinced such strong candidates to take a chance and run. To a person, they worked their tails off, knocking on doors and meeting neighbors wherever possible. We’re excited to see what they can do for Wilton, and we invite all in town to be part of that process,” Dubin said.
GMW has reached out to officials from the Republican Town Committee for comment and will update the story when we hear back.
UPDATE: RTC Chair Peter Wrampe emailed GMW a statement this morning.
“I want to thank all our candidates who put themselves out there to run in races where they started with a numerical disadvantage, and to our dedicated volunteers who gave their time and energy to support them. You showed true commitment and spirit. At the same time, I also want to congratulate the DTC for their win. We wish success for Wilton and thus would love to see town officeholders be engaged and successful,” Wrampe said.
He added that the RTC will take a “hard look at what worked, what didn’t, and what we need to do better.”
“We’re already turning our focus to the next election — smarter, stronger, and more determined than ever.”
Here are the preliminary results, released by Wilton’s Registrars of Voters Karen Birck and Annalisa Stravato, at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, Nov. 5.
*(winners shown in bold, below)
Board of Selectmen
With Rich McCarty and David Tatkow winning seats on the Board of Selectmen, they’ll join fellow Democrat Ross Tartell. First Selectman Toni Boucher is a Republican, and after Nov. 19, she will be the lone Republican, as Second Selectman Josh Cole (R) announced his resignation effective that date. The Board has a limited 30-day window to fill Cole’s seat, and based on minority representation rules (C.G.S. 9-167a) the person who fills the vacancy must be a member of the same party as Cole.
This election creates an interesting situation in two aspects — it’s unlikely that the Democrats have ever held the majority on the Board of Selectmen, and their wins now put the first selectman in the minority party.
Board of Finance
In what may be the most surprising upset of the 2025 election, Matt Raimondi (R) ,the current chair of the Board of Finance, did not win re-election. Raimondi has put in an enormous effort to help bring order of Wilton’s finances following several sudden, high-profile departures at Town Hall, and he has helped increase transparency at times when information was not forthcoming from Town Hall. He also was instrumental in creating and running the town budget survey process each year, and he helped shore up a stronger relationship between the Boards of Finance and Education, making huge strides at reducing friction during the annual budget process.
The two Democrats who ran for the BOF — Eric Fanwick, who is finishing up his second term on the Planning and Zoning Commission; and newcomer Kari Roberts — will be first-timers on BOF.
Republican Kim Healy was one of the few members of her party running in this election to win a seat. Healy will be wrapping up her time on the Board of Selectmen, where she was a vocal presence in asking questions of First Selectman Boucher when information was not provided or projects hit operational snags. Healy is expected to increase her vigilance over accountability, transparency and diligent financial management from her seat on the BOF.
Their election will evenly split party affiliation on the BOF to 3-3: Fanwick and Roberts join current Democratic BOF member Tim Birch; Healy’s fellow Republicans currently on the board are Rudy Escalante and Prasad Iyer
What to watch for: No one who’ll be on the BOF as of Dec. 1 has much deep experience on the board. The three current members were all elected in 2023. So, it will be interesting to watch the board decide who will be chair.
Board of Education
With an uncontested race for the Board of Education, all three candidates will automatically be seated on the board, regardless of whether voters followed the same pattern seen in the other races. Already a board with a Democratic majority, including Chair Ruth DeLuca and member Pat Pearson, Shaner joins Republican Lori Bufano at the board table.
Planning and Zoning
This battle for seats may have been one that motivated many voters to come to the polls in Wilton, as not only did much of the discourse revolve around planning and zoning topics through the entire campaign season, it came up in races other than this one, with candidates for selectmen and finance talking about P&Z too.
This commission has been led by a Republican-endorsed member for years, and with the majority on this nine-person board shifting so dramatically, this outcome will have major reverberations. The five candidates who won seats join fellow Democrat Mark Ahasic, who is two years into his first term, for a shift in control that could have lasting impact. That may be an understatement, judging by the heightened tone of the disagreements in the press between current P&Z Chair Rick Tomasetti and the re-elected member Ken Hoffman in the week leading up to the election.
What to watch for: How selection for chair and vice-chair will go.
Other Races
The other down-ballot races followed the same overall pattern, with large margins between the Democratic and Republican candidates.
Land Use Boards
Constables
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included information that was incorrect about the seat of Planning and Zoning Commissioner Chris Pagliaro, who resigned one month before the election. His seat does not need to be filled with an appointee as he would have termed out in November anyway.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the spelling and affiliation of constable candidate Sara Sclafani.
As someone who has lived here for the better part of 40 years, my jaw dropped when I saw the results last night. This town was SOLID red up until about 15 years ago. Things have shifted, along with the rest of CT, but the GOP still had a good footing here. But for a small suburb to show up like we did for this off-year election was genuinely shocking to me. And after seeing the blockbuster results from across the entire country last night, it seems as though most Americans have finally, finally, finally woken up to see who and what the GOP is at its core and showed that we’re just fed up with what they continue to do to this nation. Let’s hope this is just the beginning and next year we can finally wipe this party off the map and start holding politicians and their backers accountable.
Maybe having a Charlie Kirk scarecrow as your fun, friendly town Halloween contest entry wasn’t exactly the wisest choice, Wilton GOP…
Democratic Town Committee (DTC) Chair Tom Dubin was correct in pointing out the importance of identifying very qualified and hard-working candidates in Wilton this year. Also, a contributing factor in this election was Chair Dubin’s and Vice Chair Katie McSporran’s strategic leadership in overseeing the campaign, with special contributions from Trevor Hufford’s help in reaching out to such stellar candidates and Becca LaMantia’s experience in hands on campaign management. Quite impressive teamwork.
I am new to Wilton. This is my first time voting in a Wilton election. I read this article and the suggestion that Wilton voters voted blue in reaction to national events and a scarecrow.
A healthy republic with representative government needs at least two viable parties. Please consider if it’s the best course of action to have single party dominance.
We all have limited agency in ways we as individuals can act in ways to shape national currents. If the GOP of today doesn’t reflect the Nelson Rockefeller GOP of my youth in MA, it’s because of the membership of the GOP, and the response of individuals that best promotes a healthy body politic is, and this is my humble suggestion, for you to stick with the GOP and offer yourself as a candidate (as so many have done).
This is also a moment for Wilton’s GOP to consider how it can best communicate its vision to Wilton voters.
I don’t think we are in danger of single party dominance. This is avoided by staggered terms and rules regarding minority representation. https://www.wiltonlwv.org/how-wilton-works
Warm congratulations to the DTC from a former resident – this news makes me almost as happy as Zohran’s win here in NYC has.
I’m particularly delighted to see the emphatic BOS and P&Z flips – voters are tired of the many problems in Town Hall and the town’s lukewarm, inconsistent approach to housing construction and are ready for change.
I also derive some satisfaction out of seeing the Republicans suffer some of the same strategic consequences of partisan voting that plagued Democrats for years: they put forward two strong candidates for BOF expecting to win both seats, but instead they only won one and lost the current chair and now will be in a considerably less influential position on a 3-3 board than they would have been if they’d put only Mr. Raimondi forward for their one guaranteed seat. (they seem to have figured that out with the BOE, but they thought they could hold onto the BOF and turned out to be wrong about that)
I hope Democrats will take advantage of the opportunity of a BOS majority to make a push for charter reform; thermostatic public opinion means that Republicans will probably be in power again before too long, and pushing through some reforms in the meantime like allowing the Annual Town Meeting to increase the school budget rather than only decreasing it will help things run a lot better when that time comes. (with the looming threat of climate change blowing up the town’s infrastructure budget – last year’s flooding will not be a once-in-a-century event, sadly – it’s vital that there be a better process in place to deal with budget disputes in the future, because they are definitely going to happen)
Congratulations, Tom Dubin!
Start lining up Wilton’s best candidate NOW, to defeat current Mayor Toni Boucher, should she choose to run again.