A Republican primary for Ansonia’s Board of Education candidates and the Fourth Ward Aldermen’s race and is scheduled for Sept. 12.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For the school board primary, all eligible Ansonia Republicans can vote. For the Fourth Ward Aldermen’s race, you must be a registered Republican and live in the Fourth Ward.
Where Do I Vote?
Polling locations will be:
- First Ward: Ansonia Armory, 5 State St. (school board primary)
- Second Ward: Ansonia Armory, 5 State St. (school board primary)
- Third Ward: Holy Rosary Church, 3 Father Salemi Drive (school board primary)
- Fourth Ward: Ansonia Middle School Gym, 115 Howard Ave. (school board and Fourth Ward primaries)
- Fifth Ward: Ansonia Middle School Gym, 115 Howard Ave. (school board primary)
- Sixth Ward: Prendergast School, 59 Finney St. (school board primary)
- Seventh Ward: Mead School, 75 Ford St. (school board primary)
Not sure whether you’re a registered Republican, or what ward you live in? Click here to look up your registration on the Secretary of the State’s website.
Also, the Ansonia Registrars of Voters can be reached at 203 – 736-5970.
Click here for the registrars’ website. Click here for a link directly to an absentee ballot application.
Why Is There A Primary?
A primary is a rarity for local offices in the Valley. Usually, Democrats and Republicans hold nominating conventions in July at which the parties’ town committees endorse a slate of candidates to face off in the November general election.
A primary — an election among one party’s registered voters — happens when someone not endorsed by the town committee challenges the candidates who were endorsed for a spot among the party’s candidates on the ballot.
The “challenger” has to gather a certain number of signatures, depending on the office, among the party’s registered voters to force a primary.
For the Ansonia Republicans, there will be primaries for the party’s endorsement for its Board of Education candidates and Fourth Ward Aldermen’s candidates.
Board Of Education
For the Board of Education, the Republican Town Committee endorsed two incumbents, Aretta Kotalis and Vinnie Scarlata, at its nominating convention July 20.
But they are being challenged in the Sept. 12 primary by another Republican, Tracey Ann DeLibero. So there are three GOP candidates vying for two open GOP spots.
The two candidates who receive the most votes Sept. 12 will get their names on the Republican line on the ballot during the Nov. 7 general election.
Again, all registered Republicans in Ansonia are eligible to cast votes in the primary for the Board of Education because they are citywide offices.
Fourth Ward Aldermen
Only Republican residents of the Fourth Ward are allowed to vote in the Fourth Ward Republican primary.
In the Fourth Ward Aldermen’s race, Fourth Ward Republican Town Committee members endorsed incumbent Richard Kaslaitis and Edward Norman.
They did not endorse incumbent Martin Dempsey, who was appointed a year ago to fill a vacancy.
But Dempsey collected enough signatures to get on the primary ballot Sept. 12.
The two Fourth Aldermen candidates with the most votes Sept. 12 will appear on the party’s ballot line in November.
SAMPLE BALLOTS
This is what the ballots will look like in the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh wards:
Ansonia Polls Rep‑1,2,3,5,6,7 by The Valley Indy on Scribd
This is what the ballot will look like in the Fourth Ward:
Ansonia Polls Ward 4 by The Valley Indy on Scribd
Petitioning Candidacies
Some of the Republican candidates are also running as petitioning candidates — meaning they’ve gathered enough signatures from voters to appear as a petitioning candidate on the Nov. 7 general election ballot, even if they lose the Republican primary.
DeLibero — who was not endorsed by the city GOP’s leaders at their convention in July — has qualified for the Sept. 12 primary and has registered as a petitioning candidate for Board of Education in the Nov. 7 general election.
That means if she loses the primary, her name will still appear on the ballot in the Nov. 7 municipal election — just not under the coveted Republican party line.
The same goes for Dempsey, Kaslaitis, and Norman, the candidates in the Fourth Ward Aldermen’s primary race.
The Valley Indy e‑mailed Tina Prakash, a spokesperson for the Secretary of the State’s office, asking whether candidates can register to run in a party primary and as petitioning candidates.
Yes, Prakash said.
She explained that a petitioning candidacy can act as essentially an insurance policy for a candidate to ensure they’ll still be on the ballot somewhere even if they lose the primary.
“A candidate can qualify for both the primary and the general election under the same party, regardless of whether the candidate qualifies as an endorsed or petitioning primary candidate,” she said. “Should the candidate win the primary, the petition for the general election would then become invalid.”
Meanwhile, there are a number of petitioning candidates in this year’s Nov. 7 election who are not primary candidates Sept. 12.
They are:
- Harry Danley Jr. for Second Ward Alderman (he said he is an independent)
- Raymond Knott for Fourth Ward Alderman (a Republican)
- Joan Radin for Fifth Ward Alderman, a Republican incumbent who did not receive her party’s official endorsement this year
- Andrew Tkacs for Seventh Ward Alderman (a Republican)
In addition, Scarlata, the incumbent school board member who is in a primary Sept. 12, is also running as a petitioning candidate for Seventh Ward Alderman in the Nov. 7 general election.
So, depending on the outcome of the Sept. 12 primary, Scarlata’s name may appear twice on the Nov. 7 election ballot — as a Republican-endorsed candidate for Board of Education and as a petitioning candidate for Seventh Ward Alderman.
If elected as an Alderman in November, Scarlata has said he’d probably give up his school board seat.
GOP Infighting
This year’s Republican primary is the latest escalation in a years-long rift within the city’s GOP. There is a faction aligned to Mayor David Cassetti on one side and a bloc of Aldermen aligned to Board of Alderman President Phil Tripp on the other.
Click here for some background on in-fighting within the Republican party since Cassetti swept the GOP to power in the city four years ago.
And click here to read every story and guest column the Valley Indy has published about this year’s election in Ansonia.
A full list of candidates for all offices is at the bottom of this story.
ANSONIA 2017 MUNICIPAL ELECTION CANDIDATES AS OF Aug 9, 2017
The results of the Sept. 12 primary could alter this list, obviously.
MAYOR
Republican: David S. Cassetti
Democrat: Tarek M. Raslan
TOWN AND CITY CLERK
Republican: Janet Vitarius Waugh
Democrat: Elizabeth Shortell Lynch
TREASURER
Republican: Judy Larkin Nicolari
Democrat: David A. Knapp
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Republican: Aretta Kotalis, Vincent G. Scarlata
Democrat: Fran DiGiorgi, Joseph A. Jeanette Jr.
Petitioning: Tracey Ann DeLibero
Primary: Tracey Ann DeLibero
CITY SHERIFFS
Republican: Peter Gujski, Daniel A. King, William J. Zwack
Democrat: Sean P. Rowley, Louis R. Macero
ALDERMAN FIRST WARD
Republican: Randolph F. Carroll, Charles Stowe
Democrat: James J. Malloy, Edward J. Adamowski
ALDERMAN SECOND WARD
Republican: Philip M. Tripp, Lorie R. Vaccaro
Democrat: Shain D. Edmonds, Daniel M. Bachert
Petitioning: Harry R. Danley Jr.
ALDERMAN THIRD WARD
Republican: Joseph Cassetti, Domenico Filippone
Democrat: Gary F. Farrar Jr., Jason R. St. Jacques
ALDERMAN FOURTH WARD
Republican: Edward C. Norman, Richard J. Kaslaitis III
Democrat: No candidates
Petitioning: Edward C. Norman, Richard J. Kaslaitis III, Raymond Knott, Martin John Dempsey II
Primary: Martin John Dempsey II
ALDERMAN FIFTH WARD
Republican: Joseph A. Jaumann, Chicago Rivers
Democrat: Seanna Raslan
Petitioning: Joan Radin
ALDERMAN SIXTH WARD
Republican: Kevin C. O’Brien, Joshua A. Shuart
Democrat: Carol L. Knapp, James D. Hubbard
ALDERMAN SEVENTH WARD
Republican: Frank DeLibero, David B. Blackwell Jr.
Democrat: Kevin M. Blake, Fred T. Williams
Petitioning: Vincent G. Scarlata, Andrew K. Tkacs
