Attorney George Temple won the Republican’s nomination for First Selectman after a marathon Oxford GOP caucus at Town Hall.
Temple received 111 votes. David Yish received 96.
“I’m very proud to be a Republican, and I very happily accept the Republican party’s endorsement,” Temple said.
“We have a lot of work to do, when we take on the Democratic opponent. He is not an easy opponent, I know that. He’s an individual who has been around,” Temple said of Joseph Calabrese, who Oxford Democrats are scheduled to formally nominate for First Selectman on July 25.
Yish is a current member of the Board of Selectmen. He walked into the nominating convention with the endorsement of the Oxford Town Republican Committee.
However, the nominating convention was open to all registered Republicans in town, not just the members of the town committee.
The Republican caucus started at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall. The vote tally wasn’t completed until about 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Yish was disappointed but upbeat.
“I’m proud of the effort by my supporters,” he said, pointing out he only became a candidate last Thursday.
Yish said he and his running mate, Lila Ferrillo, will decide in the next couple of days whether they will force a Republican primary.
William Neary, chairman of the Republican Town Committee, predicted there will be a primary.
“There are a lot more Republicans in town than were here tonight,” he said.
First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers, a Democrat, is not seeking a third term in office.
Here is the list of candidates who won Republican endorsements:
First Selectman:
George Temple
Selectman:
Jeff Haney
Tax Collector:
Sharon Lee Scinto
Town Treasurer:
Michael F. Angelini, Sr.
Board of Finance:
Victor E. Girardi
Joseph D. Rasberry
Richard Burke
Board of Education:
Gerard Carbonaro
Rose McKinnon
Edward P. Spruck, Jr.
John B. Lavin
Board of Assessment Appeals:
Dana A. Flach
Edward Carver
Planning and Zoning Commission:
Tanya Carver
Wayne Charles Watt
Jeffrey Paul Luff
Zoning Board of Appeals:
Marc R. Hovhannissian
Jeff Holmes
Rocky Trungadi
