2019 Westport Election Results: Democrats Win P&Z, Bd Of Ed Seats

WESTPORT, CT — UPDATE: Democrats Youn Su Chao and Lee Goldstein won seats on the Westport Board of Education Tuesday, as did fellow Democrat Paul Lebowitz on the Planning and Zoning Commission, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State's office.

Incumbent Board of Education member Vik Muktavaram, a Republican, retained his position on the board.

Joining Lebowitz on the P&Z are Republicans Catherine Walsh, Chip Stephens and Jon Olefson.

In the contested district races for the nonpartisan Representative Town Meeting, the winners are the following (winners are in bold):

District 1
Kristin Mott Purcell
Richard Jaffe
Matthew Mandell
Chris Tait
TJ Elgin

District 3
Arline P. Gertzoff
Ross Burkhardt
Jimmy Izzo
Amy Kaplan
Mark Friedman

District 4
Chris Pulichino
Noah Hammond
Andrew J. Colabella
Kristan Hamlin
Jeffrey N. Wieser

District 5
Peter A. Gold
Greg Kraut
Dick Lowenstein
Karen A. Kramer
Nicole Klein

District 6
Candace Dohn Banks
Cathy Talmadge
Chas Durkin
Seth Braunstein
Jessica Bram

District 7
Ellen Lautenberg Hendel
Jack Klinge
Lauren Karpf
Brandi Briggs
Lisa Parrell Gray

District 9
Lauren Soloff
Velma E. Heller
Kristin Schneeman
Sal Liccione
Albert T. Strazza

Patch will continue to update Orange's election results. Check back for more details.

Original story: The votes are now being counted as Westport residents wait to see who came out on top for seats on the Board of Finance, Board of Education, Planning and Zoning Commission and Representative Town Meeting. The First Selectman and Board of Selectmen posts were not up for election this year.

Polls closed at 8 p.m., but voters who are in line before 8 p.m. were able to vote even after the deadline passed.

In Westport, four seats were up on the Board of Finance, and two Democrats and two Republicans were in the running: Democrats Nancie Dupier and Sheri Gordon versus Republicans James A. Foster and Jay DesMarteau. All were elected.

Return to Patch for results as they come in. To sign up for Westport breaking news alerts and more, click here.

For the Board of Education, Democrats Youn Su Chao and Lee Goldstein ran against Republicans Liz Heyer and Vik Muktavaram. Three seats were up for grabs.

On the Board of Assessment Appeals, Republican Garson F. Heller Jr. was unopposed. Additionally, the three candidates for the Zoning Board of Appeals are essentially running unopposed because voters will elect three. They are Democrat James Ezzes, and Republicans Thomas B. Hood Jr. and Liz Wong.

For the four available seats on the Planning and Zoning Commission, six candidates were running. Democratic candidate Paul Lebowitz and Coalition for Westport party candidate Joseph Strickland Jr. ran against Republicans Jon Olefson, Al Gratrix Jr., Chip Stephens and Catherine Walsh. Olefson, Gratrix, Stephens and Walsh also were endorsed by the Save Westport Now party.

On the nonpartisan Representative Town Meeting, all 36 seats were up for election; voters select up to four candidates from each of Westport's nine districts:

District 1

Kristin Mott Purcell

Richard Jaffe

Matthew Mandell

Chris Tait

TJ Elgin

District 2 (All four will be elected)

Christine Meiers Schatz

Jay Keenan

Harris Falk

Louis M. Mall

District 3

Arline P. Gertzoff

Ross Burkhardt

Jimmy Izzo

Amy Kaplan

Mark Friedman

District 4

Chris Pulichino

Noah Hammond

Andrew J. Colabella

Kristan Hamlin

Jeffrey N. Wieser

District 5

Peter A. Gold

Greg Kraut

Dick Lowenstein

Karen A. Kramer

Nicole Klein

District 6

Candace Dohn Banks

Cathy Talmadge

Chas Durkin

Seth Braunstein

Jessica Bram

District 7

Ellen Lautenberg Hendel

Jack Klinge

Lauren Karpf

Brandi Briggs

Lisa Parrell Gray

District 8 (All four will be elected)

Carla L. Rea

Stephen Shackelford

Wendy G. Batteau

Lisa Newman

District 9

Lauren Soloff

Velma E. Heller

Kristin Schneeman

Sal Liccione

Albert T. Strazza