Stratford Election Results 2019: GOP Keeps Council Majority

STRATFORD, CT — The results are in, and Stratford voters have chosen who will represent them on the Town Council, Board of Education and more.

The Town Council retained its Republican majority, according to preliminary vote totals provided by Democratic Registrar of Voters Rick Marcone, although Second District incumbent Republican Ron Tichy lost his seat to Democrat challenger Kaitlyn Shake, with Shake receiving 503 votes to Tichy's 434.

In the third District, Democrat Wali Kadeem did not seek reelection. His seat went to Democrat Paul Tavaras, who received 589 votes to Victor Ayala Jr.'s 108.

Incumbents Republican Chris Pia (First District), Democrat Gregg Cann (Fifth District), Republican Ken Poisson (Sixth District), Republican Bill Perillo (Seventh District), Republican and Council Chair Jim Connor (Eighth District) and Republican Laura Dancho (Tenth District) all appear to have retained their seats.

Incumbents Democrat David Harden (Fourth District) and Republican Bill O'Brien (Ninth District) were unopposed.

Seats on the Board of Education went to Republican Andrea Corcoran with 4,920 votes, Republican Amy Wiltsie with 4,830 and Democrat Janice Cupee with 4,771, according to preliminary results. Democrat Michael Suntag and Republican Alan Llewelyn received 4,552 and 4,316 votes, respectively. This will change the makeup of the board from two Republicans and five Democrats to three Republicans and four Democrats.

Council and school board candidates will be sworn in Dec. 9, the second Monday of December, according to Marcone, while land use board members will take their seats the first week of January.

Most Stratford voters interviewed Tuesday cited a sense of civic duty as the reason they came out to the polls, as opposed to a specific candidate or issue.

"I voted every election since I was 18 years old," said Mark Genest, who cast his ballot at Stratford High School. "... If you don't put your 2 cents, then you can't complain."

Two separate voters at different polling places said they were voting in part to show their support for a friend who was running for the Zoning Commission, while another voter cited concerns about President Donald Trump and the Republican party as her reason for voting.

For unofficial results for all Stratford races as reported by the Connecticut Secretary of the State's website, see below: