State Sen. Joe Crisco, a Democrat, was re-elected to his 17th District seat Tuesday, defeating Naugatuck Deputy Mayor Tamath Rossi in a rematch of the 2008 contest.
Unofficial results, with some absentee ballots still uncounted, showed Crisco beating Rossi by more than 3,700 votes.
At her headquarters in Naugatuck, a crestfallen Rossi said she was “extremely upset and disappointed about the direction we’re going in this district.”
She said she hoped the results would be a wake-up call for Crisco “that the 17th District needs action, and it needs it today.”
Rossi thanked her supporters and said she would stay active in local issues.
“Last time around in ’08, there were a lot of tears, and I don’t have any to shed tonight,” Rossi said.
Crisco, elected to a 10th term, said “We’re going to have a $13 billion deficit, and the question is how to achieve a balanced budget without destroying people. How can we cut spending without killing the safety net?”
The Mood At Campaign Headquarters
Local Democratic leaders and volunteers gathered at Ansonia’s Democratic headquarters on Tuesday night to watch the election results trickle in. In order to beat the official announcement from Town Hall, several volunteers camped out at each of Ansonia’s eight polling locations and brought back results as soon as they were available.
The first news came from Ward 4 at 8:25: A Democratic sweep for all the races.
Within an hour, all three of the candidates at headquarters were able to declare victory: Crisco won out over Republican Tamath Rossi. Linda Gentile, incumbent state representative for the 104th district, beat her opponent Mary Porter in every ward. And Clifford Hoyle, who has served as judge probate since 1976 and ran unopposed, happily inaugurated another term.
Gentile was able to celebrate with her three grandchildren, who repeatedly hoisted campaign signs and chanted “Gentile! Gentile!” As the results kept coming, the rest of the crowd got just as enthusiastic.
Background
Rossi is a paralegal and the owner of the Rossi Title Co.
After losing to Crisco two years ago, she spent most of the interim laying the groundwork for this year’s campaign. She said earlier this week that she and her campaign had knocked on the doors of most of the voters in her district.
Rossi also earned some key newspaper endorsements, including the Republican-American in Waterbury.
A Connecticut native, Rossi lives in Naugatuck with her husband and three children.
Crisco, who lives in Woodbridge, was elected to the seat in 1992 and is a member of the Democratic leadership in the state Senate. He’s chairman of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee.
