Middletown Election 2016 Results: Suzio Declares Upset Victory, Incumbents Win State House Seats

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Republican challenger Len Suzio apparently won back the 13th District State Senate seat he lost to Democratic incumbent Danté Bartolomeo in 2012 with an upset victory on Tuesday.

Suzio declared himself the winner, however, Bartolomeo wasn’t ready to concede, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

The Middletown Press reports unofficial numbers had Suzio leading with 19,488 votes to Bartolomeo’s 18,513.

In other races, five-term Democratic incumbent Paul Doyle defeated Republican challenger Earle Roberts in the 9th State Senate District.

Longtime Democratic incumbent Joseph Serra won another term in the 33rd State House District by defeating Republican Linda Szynkowicz 5,648 to 3,811, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of the State’s office.

Democratic State Representative Matt Lesser won a fifth term in the 100th District, defeating Republican Anthony R.J. Moran 6,417 to 3,136.

MIDDLETOWN, CT — As voters went to the polls in Middletown, some were greeted with malfunctioning tabulators and long lines. Additional police were brought in to direct traffic near the polls as a result of the high volume of traffic, Mayor Dan Drew announced on Tuesday morning.

The Middletown Press reports that ballot-reading machines broke at five of the city's polling places. Read more at the Middletown Press here.

Polling places in Middletown remain open until 8 p.m. On the ballot, registered voters in Middletown will be able to select candidates for president and vice president, United States senator, representatives to U.S. Congress, state senator, state representative, registrar of voters and two referendum questions.

In Middletown, five-term Democratic incumbent Paul Doyle is being challenged by Republican Earle Roberts in the 9th State Senate District.

Doyle currently serves as Senate Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, as well as Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Ranking Member of the Regulation Review Committee. Prior to his election to the state senate, Doyle served in the State House of Representative from the 28th District.

Roberts is a former member of Middletown’s Common Council and served on the South Fire District commission.

• To read about the U.S. Senate race in Connecticut and the five congressional races, see this related story: Connecticut Election 2016: What You Need to Know

In the 13th Senatorial District, Democrat Danté Bartolomeo is seeking a third term and faces Republican Len Suzio.

Bartolomeo is currently Senate Co-Chair of both the legislature’s Committee on Children and the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, and is a member of the Appropriations and Education committees.

Suzio is a former state senator and currently is a member of the state’s Victim Advocate Advisory Board. He also served on the Meriden Board of Education for 14 years.

In the 33rd State House District, longtime Democratic incumbent Joseph C. Serra is being challenged by Republican Linda Szynkowicz.

Serra, who was first elected to the General Assembly in 1992, is currently a chair of the legislature’s Aging Committee and serves on the legislature's Judiciary, Transportation and Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committees. He was Deputy Director of Public Works in Middletown for 37 years before retiring in 1996.

Szynkowicz is currently a member of the Middletown Board of Education.

In the 100th State House District, four-term incumbent Democrat Matt Lesser is being challenged by Republican Anthony R.J. Moran.

Lesser is co-chair of the General Assembly’s Banking Committee and also co-chairs a subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee and serves on the Government Administration & Elections Committee.

Moran is a student at Middlesex Community College where he is studying criminal justice and aspires to become an Animal Control Officer. He is currently a member of the Republican Town Committee and a Justice of the Peace.

Democrat Elizabeth N.W. Santangelo and Republican David Bauer are the candidates for registrar of voters.

The candidates for president and vice president are Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, Libertarians Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, and Green Party Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka.

For United States Senate the candidates are Richard Blumenthal, Democrat, Dan Carter, Republican, Richard Lion, Libertarian, and Jeffrey Russell, Green Party.

For United States Congress the choice is between Democratic incumbent Rosa DeLauro and Angel Cadena, a Republican, in the 3rd Congressional District. In the 1st Congressional District, the candidates are Democratic incumbent John B. Larson, Republican Matthew M. Corey and Green Party candidate S. Michael DeRosa.

Voters in Middletown will also be asked to vote on two referendum questions. Residents will be asked to vote Yes or No on the following questions:

• Question 1: "Shall the $4,255,000 appropriation and bond and obligation authorization for the planning, design, acquisition, construction, extension and replacement of water and sewer mains in the Columbus Avenue, Mazzotta Place, Erin Street Extension and Berlin Street area of the City, pursuant to the ordinance adopted by the Common Council on August 1, 2016, be approved?"
• Question 2: "Shall the $12,100,000 appropriation and bond and obligation authorization for the planning, acquisition, engineering and installation of radio communication upgrades for the City's Central Communication Department, pursuant to the ordinance adopted by the Common Council on August 22, 2016, be approved?"

For the explanatory text for the ballot questions, click here.

Click here to view the entire Middletown sample ballot.

If you want to know where to vote on Election Day click this link which is from the CT Secretary of State’s Office.