Republicans Clinch November 2011 Elections in Haddam

In some towns, it’s the high schools; in Haddam, citizens vote at fire houses. One would wager that some heated races happen in this small town political scene. In reality, not really. . .

When Patch asked candidate Kristin Battistoni at the Higganum Fire House, “Has it been a dirty race?” she smiled and said, “It’s a small town. Everybody’s friendly.”

First-time candidate Kristin Battistoni won the job of town Tax Collector. “This is my first political venture, and I was a little nervous, just waiting for the results.” Battistoni wasn’t running against an incumbent; both she and her Democratic rival, Maryellen Prill, were new candidates.

“I have five-year-old twins and they just started kindergarten, so I’m trying to get back into the work force and do something good for my town.” Her background in anthropology prepared her for the Tax Collector position by “Working with the public. You’re just collecting and keeping things organized (in this position).”

If she hadn’t won, would Battistoni run again? Cannily, she responded, “I’ll just see what the future holds.” She laughs, “I wouldn’t be soured on politics; it’s my first go-round.”

Robin Munster, winner of the uncontested vote for Treasurer, was relaxing at the Republicans’ after party at Dino’s Pizza Restaurant: “It was a good election; everybody worked hard. It shows: our numbers showed that we worked hard to get out the vote and get our party in and get the people we wanted in – and we did it.  We had a very good success."

“I’m just happy; we worked hard for the past two years and I’m happy that we’re able to continue on the work we’ve been doing for the town and I have great hopes for our town.”

In District 3 (Haddam Neck), poll worker Sue Olsen said, “We have 276 registered voters, and 101 of them voted,” which is about an average voter turnout. The main thing is, “We want to pick people who are going to run our town properly.”

Previously on the Haddam Planning and Zoning Commission, eight-year resident Paul DeStefano, the Republican contender, was last night’s winning First Selectman candidate. At the victory party, DeStefano opined, “The campaign was good.  It was very strenuous because of the storm and because of a lot of last-minute issues that came up that we had to deal with, so it was a lot of work. We had a great team; everybody pulled together through some really tough last two or three weeks.

“We’ve come a long way in the past ten years. We’ve got a lot done in a very short period of time, because I’ve got a lot on the table that needs to be finished up.”

At any rate, “I’m very pleased with this; I’m glad to see the numbers the way they are because all of our teams have worked SO hard these past two years, so it’s a really good affirmation that we are on the right track, and that we are going to bring the progress to the people that we said we were going to do.” Incidentally, Paul DeStefano is unrelated to John DeStefano (prominent Connecticut politician): “We’re just friends.”

Ultimately, Haddam’s new First Selectman is “Looking forward to a good solid two years ahead of us. We’ve got a lot to do, we’ve made some good progress, and this is a good base to start to build from.“