Branford Election 2017 Results: Vote Totals For All Races

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

BRANFORD, CT – If there is one thing clear from Tuesday night’s election results it is this – Branford seems happy with its current first selectman. Republican First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove easily won re-election, capturing more than 60 percent of the vote.

Cosgrove totaled 4,389 votes to Democrat Lynda Mollow’s 2,857.

The race for Town Clerk was tighter. Republican Lisa Arpin held onto the job – winning by a 54 to 46 percent margin over her Democratic challenger, Margaret Bruno. Arpin got 3,855 votes to Bruno’s 3,281.

The race for town treasurer was also tight, with Republican Michael Nardella winning by a 3,700 to 3,439 count over Democrat Kurt Schwanfelder. The tax collector race was also tight, as Democrat Roberta Gill-Brooks won. She got 3,692 votes to Sandra Kraus’ 3,450.

In the Board of Selectmen contest, Republican Joseph Higgins and Democrats Jack Ahern polled almost exactly the same numbers. Higgins got one more vote – 3,577 than Ahern’s 3,576. Both Higgins and Ahern will round out the Board of Selectmen.

For Board of Education, the top voter getter was Democrat Shannen Sharkey, who got 3,600 votes. Fellow Democrat Judy Hotz polled 3,507. Republican John Prins got 3,463 and fellow Republican Sarah Lockery got 3,440.

For Representative Town Meeting, in the 1st District the top vote getter was Republican Frank Twohill with 680 votes, followed by fellow Republican Jennifer Zambrano with 671, followed by Democrat Clare Torelli with 638 votes. Next came Republican John Carter with 597, Republican George David Wells with 576, Democrat Jessica Buchanan with 572, Democrat Michele Sember with 571, and Democrat Anthony Chieffo with 508.

In the 2nd District, the top vote getters were Democrats Peter Hentschel and Raymond Dunbar, who both got 456 votes; Republican Jim Walker got 350, Nathanael Andreozzi got 276.

In the 3rd District, leading the way were Democrats Robin Comey with 484 votes and Peter Jackson with 453; Republican Peter Black got 325 and Dawn Perrotti got 323.

In the 4th District, Republican Sean Kelly was top vote getter with 583, followed by Democrat Adam Hansen with 569, followed by Republican Darren Lawler with 543, followed by Democrat Dorothy Docknevich with 542, followed by Democrat Dan Adelman with 533, then Republican Jim Stepanek with 529 and Republican Vinnie Behal with 472.

In the 5th District, Republican Ray Ingraham with 768 votes led the way, followed by Republican Dennis Flanagan with 764, then Republican Donald Conklin with 717, and Republican John Leonard with 653. The top Democrat vote getter was Mary Lincoln Hall with 645, followed by Bruce Storm with 614, then Randy Reinhold with 596 and Louis Siegel with 581.

In the 6th District, the top vote getter was Republican Ed Prete with 544, followed by Republicans Marc Riccio with 520 and Anthony Alfone with 513. For the Democrats, it was Chris Sullivan with 459, Ellen Michaels with 421 and Becca Lowry with 404.

In District 7, leading the way was Republican Tricia Anderson with 431, followed by Democrat Tom Brockett with 427, Republican Bruce Sandler with 417 and Democrat J.L. Pottenger with 350.

For the Board of Assessment Appeals, Republican Dennis Nardella with 3,953 votes beat Democrat Ali Abulugma with 3,022; to fill a vacancy on that board Republican Robin Sandler with 3,700 votes beat Democrat Rick Pittman’s 3,209.

For constable, the top vote getter were Democrats Francis Walsh with 3,949 followed by Eunice Lasala with 3,653, and Charles Tiernan with 3,418. Next came Republicans Susan Barnes with 3,346, Robert Zetttergren with 3,328, Dennis Nardella with 3,319, Kyle Nelson with 3,249, followed by Democrat Robert Dargan with 3,087.

Photos and story by Jack Kramer