Westport RTC Endorses Tooker, Moore For Board of Selectmen

WESTPORT, CT — Members of the Westport Republican Town Committee met Tuesday night to officially endorse Republican candidates for this year's municipal elections.

According to a news release, those receiving the RTC's unanimous endorsement include:

• Current Westport Second Selectwoman Jen Tooker for First Selectman
• Westport Board of Finance Vice Chairwoman Andrea Moore for Second Selectman
• Robert Harrington, Dorie Hordon and current Board of Education Vice Chair Karen Kleine for Board of Education
• Michael Keller for Board of Finance
• Former Westport Planning and Zoning Commission member Jack Whittle for Planning and Zoning Commission
• Current Board of Assessment Appeals member Joe Sledge for re-election to the Board of Assessment Appeals

"We are absolutely delighted with our strong slate of candidates led by our current second selectwoman, Tooker," RTC Nominating Committee Chair Jim Foster said in a news release.

Foster said he was "convinced Westport's future will remain bright" with experienced leaders like Tooker and Moore on the Board of Selectmen, as well as the "passionate advocacy" of Kleine, Harrington and Hordon for the local school community on the Board of Education.

He also acknowledged the "excellent addition" of Keller to the Board of Finance, Whittle's "unparalleled expertise" on the Planning and Zoning Commission and Sledge's "knowledge and thoughtfulness" on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

"Our candidates understand the challenges and opportunities facing Westport," Foster said, "and they are the best prepared, most qualified public servants to lead us forward."

The following bios for each candidate were also provided by the Westport RTC:

JENNIFER TOOKER – Candidate for First Selectman

Jennifer Tooker is the current Second Selectwoman of Westport, a position she has held since her election in 2017. She has previously served as a member of the Westport Board of Finance, the Westport Board of Education, and the Westport Conservation Commission. As Second Selectwoman, Tooker has worked on several key initiatives. She launched Westport Together, an alliance between the Town, Westport Public Schools and local non-profits to promote the positive development of our youth.

Tooker also created and hosts Westport Means Business - a series of events that brings together local business owners and entrepreneurs to establish connections, exchange ideas and promote Westport as the best town in which to start and grow a successful business. Most recently, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, First Selectman Jim Marpe appointed Tooker as Chair of the ReOpen Westport Advisory Team in May 2020. This team is tasked with helping Westport businesses open and operate safely during the global pandemic.

Prior to her public service, Tooker had a 22-year career as an executive with Gen Re, during which time she held various leadership and management positions in the U.S. and European reinsurance markets. Tooker received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and International Studies from the University of Notre Dame. She is married to Mo Tooker and they have three children; Jack, Riley and Nicole.

ANDREA MOORE – Candidate for Second Selectman

Andrea Moore is the current Vice Chairwoman of the Westport Board of Finance. She was elected to the Board in 2017 and was selected by her fellow Board members as Vice Chair in 2019. She also serves on the Board of Finance’s Audit subcommittee.

Prior to this, Moore was an elected member of Westport's Representative Town Meeting (RTM), representing District 9 and served on several key committees, including the Education, Public Protection, and the Library and Museum Committees. Moore has had a 15+ year career in the financial services industry, holding positions in institutional equity sales, equity research and investment banking with some of the world’s leading firms, including UBS, BT Deutsche Bank and Salomon Brothers. She is also an active volunteer in the community and has served on the boards of several local non-profit organizations, including Staples Tuition Grants, the Saugatuck Elementary PTA, the Westport Weston Family YMCA, and the National Charity League, Westport Chapter.

Moore is a life long Westporter and a Staples High School graduate. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is married to Dave Moore and has three daughters; Tessa, Janna and Ella.

KAREN KLEINE - Board of Education

Karen Kleine grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Westport for over 20 years. Her three children all attended Westport Public Schools.

Kleine has served on the Westport Board of Education for eight years and is currently Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Policy Committee, a member of the Finance and Facilities Committee and holds regional BOE positions with CABE (the CT BOE) and Cooperative Educational Services, where we send some of our students who cannot learn in a traditional learning environment.

In addition to the BOE, Kleine is president of the Westport Women's Club and serves on the Board of the Friends of the Senior Center. Past Board positions include TEAM Westport and ABC.

ROBERT HARRINGTON - Board of Education

Robert Harrington has lived in Westport for more than 10 years. He is married to Claire Harrington and has four children, including a Staples High School graduate and three daughters currently attending Staples.

Harrington has worked in finance for over 20 years in London, Geneva and New York, focusing on technology. He has been an active member of the Westport community and a vocal campaigner for protecting the Westport Public Schools budget, fully restoring Coleytown Middle School during the mold crisis, and advocating for COVID-19 vaccinations for Westport's teachers. Born in the U.K., Harrington recently became a U.S. citizen.

DORIE HORDON - Board of Education

Dorie Hordon has served on the Westport PTA for many years and just completed her tenure as PTA Council Co-President. She was previously president of the Bedford Middle School PTA and a member of the Executive Board at Greens Farms Elementary. She has a professional background as an educator, having taught in the lower school of the Spence School in New York for six years. She currently works as a local coordinator for Cultural Care, where she helps place and manage au pairs from foreign countries with area families. She is also an active volunteer as a member of Temple Israel.

Prior to entering education, Hordon held various roles over the course of several years at JPMorgan Chase. Hordon has a Master's in Education from Bank Street College and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the College of Wooster. She has lived in Westport for 14 years with her husband Rob and their three sons. Theo and Nate are both students at Staples, and Josh attends Greens Farms Elementary.

MICHAEL KELLER - Board of Finance

Mike Keller is a partner with the Boston-based law firm of Morrison Mahoney LLP and leads their Bridgeport office with a focus on civil litigation defense. Keller attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for his undergraduate degree in political science before continuing directly to law school on a full academic scholarship at Widener University School of Law in Delaware.

After law school, he and his now wife, Courtney, lived in Philadelphia and then Boston, but traveled to Westport often to visit family and fell in love with the town. In 2015, they moved to Westport to start a family of their own. Their oldest son is a rising third grader at Coleytown Elementary School, and his younger brother is starting kindergarten at CES in the fall.

JACK WHITTLE - Planning and Zoning Commission

Jack Whittle grew up in Westport attending Westport schools, and after graduating Staples High School in 1981, he went on college at the University of Colorado (BA in Political Science, 1985) and then law school at Syracuse University (JD, 1988). He began his career in law as a litigator at the Wilson Elser law firm in New York City and continued to practice in that area at Mudge Rose before shifting focus to M&A and regulatory work in the insurance area at the New York City offices of LeBoeuf Lamb.

Since 2009, Whittle has worked at Odyssey Re in Stamford, where he is Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. Whittle and his wife Corrine have raised their family in Westport, with the last of their children graduating from Staples in 2021. Whittle previously served on the Planning and Zoning Commission for five years, being elected in 2011 along with Chip Stephens, Cathy Walsh and Al Gratrix and then re-elected in 2015.

JOSEPH SLEDGE - Board of Assessment Appeals

Joseph Sledge is currently the Chair of the Westport Republican Town Committee, a position he has held since 2019. Sledge currently serves our community as a member of the Board of Assessment Appeals, has served on the Westport Historic District Commission and as a Director of the Westport Transit District.

Sledge worked in investment management business for 42 years and retired as a partner of an investment advisor and principal investor of a national real estate investment management firm. He and his spouse, Darcy, have resided in Westport for over 30 years and have two children, Kyle and Christopher, both of whom attended Westport Public Schools.

Sledge has served as a director of The Community Preservation Corporation, The Real Estate Board of New York, Inc., The Urban Land Institute and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy and MBA from the University of Houston.