Politics & Government
Granby Elections Uncontested, But Candidates Still Grateful
Municipal election in Granby marked by low voter turnout, as there were no challenged seats and residents continue to deal with ongoing power outages in town.
The municipal races may have been uncontested, but that doesn’t mean that the winning candidates in Granby were any less grateful for their victories on Tuesday.
“I am very honored and proud to serve the citizens of Granby for the next two years as their first selectman,” said John Adams, who received 764 votes in running unopposed for re-election. “We’ve got a great group of elected officials both Republican and Democrat. Everybody pulls together to make the best things happen in town and I look forward to the next two years.”
About 1,000 votes were cast out of 7,033 voters on the town's active registry, representing a 14.2 percent turnout.
Republicans fared better than their Democratic counterparts in every race, including maintaining a 3-2 majority on the Board of Selectmen with all four incumbents - two Democrats (Sally King - 403 votes and Ronald Desrosiers - 373 votes) and two Republicans (Mark Neumann - 574 votes and B. Scott Kuhnly - 552 votes) securing re-election.
Democrat Francis Brady (584 votes) joined Republicans Michael Guarco (770 votes) and Robert Clark (746 votes) on the Board of Finance.
On the Board of Education, incumbent Republican Ed Ohannessian (747 votes) is joined by Rosemarie Weber (768 votes), a Republican, and newcomers Democrats Lynn Guelzow (561 votes) and Jenny Emery (590 votes)
Republican Cal Heminway, the school board chairman, ran unopposed for the Board of Education’s two-year seat, receiving 738 votes.
More of the same on the Planning and Zoning Commission, as all four candidates - Democrat James R. Sansone (608 votes) and Republicans Linda C. Spevacek (726), Paula H. Johnson (740) and Charles O. Kraiza (713) - are incumbents.
While voter turnout was low, understandable considering the uncontested races and the power outages residents experienced over the course of the last 10 days, many people still showed at , the lone polling place in town.
“It’s every citizen’s duty to vote no matter what,” Granby resident Thelma Bugbee said outside of the polling area. “Too many people are dying for this privilege. And it’s such an especially nice day, there’s no excuse for not being here.”
Don and Mary Short agreed.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Don Short said. “I vote any chance I get to vote.”
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