After Primary Win, Osborne Sets Sights On House Seat

SIMSBURY, CT — Local attorney Melissa Osborne upset the party-endorsed hopeful Tuesday night in the Democratic primary for the 16th House seat in Simsbury.

According to the Connecticut Secretary of the State's Office, Osborne defeated Simsbury selectman and Democratically-endorsed hopeful Eric Wellman in the primary, 1,088-1,053.

The margin of victory for Osborne, 54, was slim, with the New York native getting 50.82 percent of the town's four voting precincts and local Democratic voters giving Wellman 49.18 percent of the vote. Simsbury is the lone town in the 16th House District.

Out of 6,600 eligible Democratic voters in town, 2,141 showed up, making for a 32.4 percent turnout.

Now, attention turns to the November mid-term elections, where Osborne will be taking on a candidate her primary opponent once defeated for town office.

Osborne could not immediately be reached for comment after the numbers were finalized Tuesday night.

After the voters were counted, Wellman said he conceded the race to Osborne and wished her well.

"I did concede and I spoke with my opponent," Wellman said Tuesday night, adding he wasn't going to seek a recount. "But I'm not going to ask the town to spend that kinds of money on that."

The numbers indicate an automatic recount will not happen, as the vote difference — 35 — represents 1.6 percent of votes cast. For an automatic recount, that percentage must be 0.5 percent, according to state law.

Osborne is now slated to face off in November against Republican-nominated House hopeful Mike Paine.

Incumbent state Rep. John Hampton, D-Simsbury, is not seeking another term. He had endorsed Osborne in this primary instead of the party-endorsed hopeful.

Wellman said that endorsement played a major role in the outcome.

"John Hampton's support for Melissa went a long way," Wellman said.

Osborne is the mother of four and has practiced law for 24 years.

She has also served Simsbury with stints on the zoning commission, charter revision commission and clean energy task force.

Osborne graduated high school from Emma Willard School in Troy, N.Y., Hunter College/CUNY and New York Law School before embarking on a career in law.

Politically, she has run for state Senate three times in 2014, 2018 and 2020, losing to incumbent state Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, each time in 8th Senate District.

Tuesday's primary victory marks her first winning election effort for a state or local office.

In the runup to the primary, Osborne criticized Wellman, accusing him of flip-flopping on issues relative to his declarations of him being fiscally conservative.

She also accused Wellman of being more beholden to his corporate employers rather than the people of the district.

Wellman, however, has served the town in other capacities.

In 2017, Wellman defeated Paine in Simsbury's first selectman race, something Wellman pointed to regarding his electability this year.

Wellman, 39, was Simsbury's first selectman from 2017-21.

A year ago, Wellman declined to seek another term as Simsbury's top official to focus on a new job and his young family.

A graduate of Syracuse University with a broadcast journalism background, he later earned an MBA at Case Western Reserve University.

Wellman is currently an efficiency expert working for Anthem, now called Elevance Health, in a role where his job is to find business efficiencies. He also has his own consulting practice called Renrock Consulting LLC.

Wellman said while he wished Osborne luck in November, he stopped short of committing Tuesday night to working on her campaign.

As for the outcome, he said he wasn't surprised, saying his door-knocking efforts showed support for both.

"Candidly, I'm not surprised," Wellman said of his loss. "I knew it was going to be close."

For the statewide primary election results, including the Democratic primary in the Town of Simsbury, click on this link.