Wilms claims victory in 142nd State House District

This blog will update throughout the day and evening

11:07 p.m. update: Democrat Andy Garfunkel has conceded in the race for the 142nd District State Rep seat, giving Republican Fred Wilms the victory in his bid to replace fellow GOPer Larry Cafero, who held the eat for 22 years.

2014 NORWALK ELECTION RESULTS 11X17

Democrat Jim Himes has retained his 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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10:52 p.m. UPDATED with statewide race Norwalk totals: Republican Fred Wilms, the former Norwalk Board of Estimate and Taxation chairman and a senior vice president at Webster Bank, is claiming victory in his 142^nd District state House race against Democrat Andy Garfunkel. Wilms has an unofficial total of 3,238 votes, while Garfunkel drew 3,036, a difference of 202 votes.

Those numbers do not include the section of New Canaan included in the 142^nd, an area that skews Republican, nor does it include as many as 400 absentee ballots, Garfunkel said.

The results may not be in until “the wee hours” of Wednesday morning, he said.

Any question about incumbent Republican Gail Lavielle’s popularity in the 143^rd District, comprising parts of Norwalk, Wilton and Westport, were answered as the two-term House member scored 2,020 votes in Norwalk Democratic challenger Keith Rodgerson’s 1,357. Wilton is a stronghold for the incumbent.

In the Judge of Probate race, incumbent Republican Anthony DePanfilis pulled 11,382 votes in Norwalk to Darnell Crosland’s 8,755, or 56 to 43 percent. The district also include Wilton, which leans heavily Republican.

State Sen. Bob Duff easily beat back a challenge by Norwalk Planning Board member Bill Dunne, who conceded. Duff, whose 25^th District includes Darien, got 67.6 percent of the vote, or 13,924, to Dunne’s 32.3 percent, or 6,661.

In the 137^th State House District, Democratic incumbent Chris Perone won a sixth term by outpolling Republican candidate Art Scialabba, who ran a token “campaign,” 3,753 to 1,746. In the 140^th, Bruce Morris was unopposed and pulled 3,077 votes. Terri Wood, unopposed in the 141^st, covering Rowayton and Darien, polled 1,108 votes.

Incumbent Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy outpolled Republican Tom Foley in Norwalk, 12,035-8,873, in a race that may have turned more who voters could more easily tolerate than who they wanted to lead the state. In a small, unscientific, random sampling of voters leaving the polling places, NoN found Foley voters saying they just wanted a change, and some Malloy voters saying thy just couldn’t stand Foley.

Foley outpolled Malloy on parts of the 142^nd and 143^rd districts, but didn’t come close in 137 or 140, and lost by a narrow margin in 141.

In the U.S. Rep. race, Jim Himes breezed through every district, posting 12,868 votes to Dan Debicella’s 7,789. Earlier, Debicella said the race would be decided in Norwalk and Stamford.

Norwalk stuck with incumbents in the comptroller, treasurer, secretary of the state and attorney general races, and gave thumbs up to the one ballot question to allow the General Assembly to make new rules regarding how and when Connecticut votes. The vote was 9,606 to 8,146.

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9:18 p.m.: Former Norwalk BET Chairman Fred Wilms is claiming victory over former Town Clerk Andy Garfunkel in the race to fill the 142^nd District House seat being vacated by Larry Cafero. Wilms’ victory would keep the seat in the Republican column. The district includes parts of Norwalk and New Canaan.

Unofficially, Gail Lavielle will win re-election in the state 143^rd District. Sen. Bob Duff has beaten Bill Dunne, who has conceded, to retain his seat in the 25^th state Senate District. Anthony DePanfilis toppled Darnel Crosland to retain his probate judge seat.

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7:45 p.m.: It was not a good day to be a poll worker at the Nathan Hale School.

This was the first state midterm election since redistricting – not including the primary – and many voters showed up at the wrong place, said Nathan Hale poll moderator Liz Lyons. People were not happy.

“I just tried to be professional, smiled at them, and said ‘Please contact your state legislators.’”

Everything is on the city website, she said. “Some of the candidates sent things out telling people where to vote. Did they send them to the right places?”

The city used to send voters information on where to vote, but it got too expensive, she said. “The city hasn’t sent out information on where to vote for four years,” she said.

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Gov. Dannel Malloy won the backing of the state teachers’ union, but not necessarily of the teachers.

One woman at West Rocks, who declined to give her name voted for Foley because, she said, “I’m a teacher, and I don’t like what Dan Malloy did with teachers. … Pensions, funding, making promises he didn’t keep. The Connecticut Educators Association took a vote among members, and members voted not to endorse anyone, but they (CEA) decided to endorse Dan Malloy. It was controversial.

She said she wrote in Emily Wilson for state rep, rather than pick Fred Wilms or Andy Garfunkel, because, “I think she got shafted in the primary.” Her choice for judge: Anthony DePanfilis. “I think he’s good for Norwalk, good for families.”

Two voters, both unaffiliated, had differing views at West Rocks. Once said he voted Republican down the line because he was fed up with the “Democratic apparatus” and how things were going in the state. Another voted “pretty much” straight Democratic ticket, primarily for environmental reasons.

At Wolfpit, One voter said he picked Foley because he felt we needed to try “something different,” while a woman voted the Democratic ticket and cited, among her reasons, the need to maintain the newly passed gun laws.

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6 p.m. Norwalk poll update: A surge in voting raised the total number of votes cast so far to 17,740, ahead of the 15,993 at the same time in 2010.

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6:12 p.m. – Just in: Two Hartford polling locations will remain open until 8:30 p.m. to make up for glitch.

Superior Court Judge Carl Schuman ordered Hartford officials to keep two of the polling places where voters experienced problems open for an additional half hour until 8:30 p.m.

In addition, Schuman ordered an investigation into why the voter checklists were not available at possibly 10 of the 24 polling locations in Hartford. Schuman ordered only 2 of those 10 polling locations to remain open for an additional half hour because of the testimony offered by two witnesses who were there at Bachelder School and the United Methodist Church.

Attorney’s Gregg Adler and John Gale testified they witnessed voters unable to vote due to the actions of the election officials in those locations.  (Read the complete story by clicking the link)

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Voters at Ponus Ridge School seemed to mirror what was going on statewide – a mixed bag for the major parties

One voter at Ponus , who declined to give his name, cited “social policies” for his straight Democratic-ticket vote. He said he doesn’t always do that, but that is the case this time around.

Tammy Zarenbski split her ticket, leaving no doubt about her preference for the state’s chief executive. “I love him. I love what he’s doing for the state,” she said. But for state rep, she chose Fred Wilms, the Republican, based, she said on his flyers.

Another voter, an independent who only gave his first name – Nick – said he voted for Malloy because he “beats the alternative.” He also voted for Andy Garfunkel for state rep.

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Republican 4^th District House candidate Dan Debicella, who is trying to unseat Democratic incumbent Jim Himes, was greeting voter this afternoon at Fox Run Elementary in the 142nd District.

“The key to this election is Norwalk and Stamford. Bridgeport will vote for Himes, the suburbs will vote for me. So I’ll be bouncing between two towns for the rest of the day. Talking to people going in, the people mostly have their minds made up.” But independents, he said, were breaking toward the Republicans. “The question will be how good the Democratic turnout is,” he said. “Did Obama help?”

Debicella said the race is close because of the mood in the country. “People are unhappy with Hartford and D.C. But it’s an uphill battle. Incumbents have an 80 to 90 percent re-election rate.” Still, he said, his last poll showed he trailed Himes by just 2 percentage points, 44 to 42.

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Things were bustling this afternoon at Fox Run Elementary in West Norwalk, the 142^nd District that featured what many figure to be the closest local race between state rep candidates Fred Wilms (R) and Andy Garfunkel (D). Here’s what a few voters had to say:

Emmanuel Owolo: “Andy Garfunkel is a very nice man He doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat … He wants to help everybody, and that’s the way I see him. I love guys like that.”

Greg Ferine: He said he voted for Foley for governor because “It’s time for change.” That’s also the reason he voted a straight Republican ticket, as did his wife, Cece.

Beverly Viele: “I voted all Republicans, but I didn’t vote for Foley – or Malloy. … I can’t stand Foley,” she said, and planned to vote for Malloy until the president came to Connecticut and the two rallied in Bridgeport. “That clinched it for me. I couldn’t vote for him either,” she said. She voted for Joe Visconti as a protest vote.

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4 p.m. voting update: According to the Norwalk Registrar of Voters Office, 14,181 votes were cast a of 4 p.m. in 2010 – the last midterm election – 15,820 votes had been cast by 4 p.m. And, in 2012 – the presidential election – 24,029 voters had been to the polls by 4 p.m.

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 Hearst’s CT Politics reports Tom Foley set to fight Hartford voting extension, says “Foley says Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is trying to pull another fast one…”

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After Early Confusion at Hartford’s Polls, Malloy Campaign Heads to Court; Obama Calls WNPR by Christine Stuart, CT News Junkie:

A bizarre sequence of events began early Tuesday when the polls opened in Hartford without voter lists available to workers at some of the city’s polling 24 locations. In some cases people were reportedly turned away while others signed affidavits to verify their identities in order to vote without being checked off the voter list. People were unable to vote in some locations for as much as an hour and a half. As a result of the confusion, Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s campaign filed an Election Day lawsuit to ask a judge to extend voting for one hour this evening in Hartford to accommodate those who may have been turned away from the polls this morning. (Click link to read more)

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Update from the Norwalk Registrar’s office: As of noon, 9,092 Norwalkers had cast their ballots, about 1,100 fewer than at the same time in 2010. That is in spite of increased voter enrollment for this mid-term election. Their are 43,610 residents eligible  to vote today; in 2010, there were 42,791. In 2012, the number of registered voters for the presidential election was 44,549.

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As of 10 a.m., 5,963 votes had been cast across Norwalk’s 12 polling locations, according to the Registrar of Voters office. In the 2010 midterms elections, prior to redistricting, 6,610 voters had cast ballots by 10 a.m. In 2012, 12,392 people had gone to the polls.

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CT New Junkie report by Christine Stuart: Confusion in Hartford Has Malloy Campaign Heading To Court To Keep City’s Polls Open … Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s campaign will go to court Tuesday to ask a judge to extend voting hours in Hartford to accommodate voters who may have been turned away from the polls this morning.  Some polling places in Hartford opened at 6 a.m. without a voter list. State Rep. Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said that he was told by Garey E. Coleman, the Democratic Deputy registrar of voters, that the printer the registrars’ office uses to print its voter lists failed Monday night and there was no backup available.  (Click link to read more)

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There are 43,610 Norwalk voters registered to cast ballot in this election, according to the Registrar of Voters office. Turnout today is expected to be around 55 percent.