With the exception of state treasurer, the margin of victory for Democrats in West Hartford was at least 10 percentage points.

By Ronni Newton

[Editor’s note: The original version of this story indicated that Brian Becker and Mark Zydanowicz were candidates in the 20th district, rather than the 19th district.]

Although the governor’s race remained too close to call statewide, the atmosphere among West Hartford Democrats was jubilant on election night as posted vote counts from the town’s precints confirmed an overwhelming victory for party candidates.

“Our win tonight was accomplished through coordinated and hard work,” West Hartford Democratic Party Chairperson Rosemarie Tate told the crowd that had assembled at the American Legion to await the vote tallies.

“Publicly, I want to say thanks to Rae,” Tate said. Tate became party chairperson following the death of Rae Marra-O’Toole in May 2014, and she joined other party leaders in thanking and acknowledging O’Toole’s commitment and contributions.

“I have never seen an election like this. I have never been prouder to be a Democrat,” said State Sen. Beth Bye, who won West Hartford over challenger Bill Wadsworth with an overwhelming 67.5 percent of the vote. Wadsworth won in his hometown of Farmington as well as in Burlington, and Bye won in Bloomfield. Overall, Bye beat Wadsworth 58.2 percent to 41.8 percent based on total votes not including absentee ballots.

The only contested West Hartford-only race was in the 19th State House district, where incumbent Democrat Brian Becker faced Republican challenger and Board of Education member Mark Zydanowicz. Absentee ballots have not yet been counted, but unofficial totals gave Becker 4,417 votes to Zydanowicz’s 2,934, a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.

Democratic State Rep. Andrew Fleischmann ran uncontested in the 18th district, as did Democratic State Rep. Joe Verrengia in the 20th district.

West Hartford unofficial vote totals in the governor’s race had the team of Democrats Dannel Malloy/Nancy Wyman leading Republicans Tom Foley/Heather Somers 62.1 percent to 37.4 percent. The name of West Hartford resident Joe Visconti, who had successfully petitioned to run as an Independent but dropped out of the race last weekend, was still on the ballot. Visconti received 108 votes – .5 percent of the total – in his hometown. Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin Sullivan, a former lieutenant governor and former West Hartford mayor, read the vote totals aloud, and said that the spread in the governor’s race in favor of the Democrats in West Hartford was even greater than it was four years ago.

The mood was somber at Beachland Tavern, where West Hartford Republicans had gathered to await the results of local races.

“Mark [Zydanowicz] was very disappointed. He made a good race but it’s very hard to beat an incumbent,” said Dennis Swanton, who served as Zydanowicz’s campaign manager. Swanton said that Zydanowicz had made a concession speech earlier in the evening, thanking everyone who supported him, and had also called Brian Becker to congratulate him on the victory.

“It’s disappointing to be the only Republican who won in West Hartford today,” said Beth Kyle, who was elected Republican Registrar of Voters. Although voters are only permitted to vote for one candidate, a Registrar is elected from both parties.

“I am really looking forward to working across party lines for the Registrar’s office, making sure the process runs smoothly,” Kyle said.

Vote totals for 5th District State Senate race in West Hartford, by voting district:

Candidate	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WH Total
Beth Bye	1,396	1,963	1,939	1,551	1,321	1,467	1,455	1,918	1,340	14,360
Bill Wadsworth	615	772	628	531	693	941	950	1,159	638	6,927

 

Vote totals for 19th District State House, by voting district:

Candidate	7	8	9	Total
Brian Becker	1,368	1,788	1,261	4,417
Mark Zydanowicz	996	1,233	705	2,934

 

District polling places: District 1: King Philip; District 2: Bristow; District 3: Town Hall; District 4: Elmwood Community Center; District 5: Wolcott; District 6: Conard; District 7: Sedgwick; District 8: Braeburn: District 9: Hall

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