Recount Changes Outcome For Candidates Separated By 1 Vote In Fairfield Election

FAIRFIELD, CT — Preliminary numbers after last week’s election saw two Representative Town Meeting candidates separated by a single vote. After a recount this week, the pair were still only one vote apart, but the winning candidate had changed.

Initial totals showed incumbent Democrat Bill Gerber placing fourth in the race for Representative Town Meeting member from District 2 with 679 votes, in which case he would have become one of the district's four representatives. However, following Tuesday’s recount, Gerber was outpaced by fellow Democrat Hal Schwartz, who got 683 votes to Gerber’s 682. Initial totals showed Schwartz with 678 votes.

“We thank Bill Gerber for his many years of service to the people of his district and the town on the RTM,” said Steve Sheinberg, chairman of the Fairfield Democratic Town Committee, in an email. “We congratulate Hal Schwartz on his election to the RTM. He will fairly represent all the people in his district.”

Because Gerber and Schwartz are both Democrats, the outcome of the recount does not affect the 23-17 town meeting majority the party won Nov. 2, after losing a 22-18 majority about 10 months ago, when two Democratic representatives switched parties.

The other three winners in District 2 were unchanged by the recount and include Republicans Jeff Steele and Karen McCormack, as well as Democrat Cindy Perham.

In addition to District 2, automatic recounts were conducted in Districts 6 and 9. State law provides for a recount in any contest where the difference between the last winning candidate and the first losing candidate is less than 0.5 percent or 20 votes.

While there were small changes to the vote totals for some candidates in Districts 6 and 9, the outcomes were not altered by the recount. In District 6, Democrats Lisa Havey, Steve Berecz and Andrew Graceffa, and Republican Hannah Gale won seats on the town meeting. In District 9, spots on the body went to Democrats Dru Georgiadis, Christine Brown and Margaret Horton, as well as Republican Kelly Scinto.