Voters Return Ritter to Office

In a campaign season filled with negative political television ads and robocalls to voters, incumbent State Rep. Betsy Ritter wanted to hear the concerns of her Waterford and southern Montville constituency face-to-face.

"I knocked on at least 3,000 doors, at least, maybe more." she said. "One part I really value as state representative is that you can really reach a lot of people. I enjoy that." 

By 8:20 p.m on Election Day last Tuesday, Ritter grew cautiously optimistic. 

She said, "You sit there and slowly do the math. I felt good about them as I saw the results come in but you never know until it's over."

Ritter, who will serve her fourth term for the 38th District, began her political career in Waterford first as Registrar of Voters in 1990, then Town Treasurer for five years and then two terms as Tax Collector beginning in 1998. 

Sallie Ritchie, Director of Senior Services, worked with Ritter when she served as Tax Collector. Ritchie said Ritter was instrumental in pointing out some of the tax breaks available to senior citizens such as the Circuit Breaker Program - which is now called the Elderly Homeowners Program - state veteran benefits and an additional local option for veteran benefits.

"It's a tricky thing," Ritchie said, "to be a tax collector and watching out for people and making sure people get their fair share. She's a very fair and straight-forward person."

Mark Burnham, the town's current tax collector, worked closely with Ritter after she was first elected as state representative 11 years ago. "She was very helpful to me in a lot of ways to get me started. She stayed long enough to prepare the next year's budget so I didn't have to," he said. " I remember calling her several times that month for help."

Burnham also stated Ritter sponsored a bill that corrected some of the problems in the language in the state laws that apply to tax collection. "Any time you can clear up the language in the state law, sure, it's a big help," he said. "They're written in English but they're really not."

This term, Ritter's No. 1 priority is the state budget. "If that's not our overwhelming priority this year, I'll be very disappointed," she said. "The biggest challenge is for us to build a state that supports job creation and growth and economic stability, not just for immediate benefit but to take us into the future."

Tony Siragusa, Ritter's Republican challenger for state representative said, "it appears they're going to have their governor, they're going to have their House and Senate. They should be able to do everything to help people."