Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti cruised to a re-election victory over Democratic challenger Michele Bialek Tuesday to win a 13th term leading the city.
Laurett defeated Bialek by a vote of 6,829 to 2,560. Write-in candidate Timothy Bristol garnered 17 votes.
Of Shelton’s 23,034 registered voters, 9,468, or about 41 percent, cast ballots Tuesday.
Lauretti was first elected mayor in 1991, and has served an unbroken string of two-year terms ever since.
Republicans dominated in contests for other elected boards and commissions as well, winning majorities on the Board of Aldermen, Board of Education, Planning and Zoning Commission, and Board of Apportionment and Taxation.
In a short victory speech, Lauretti characterized the victory as a win for taxpayers, noting that in recent years he has avoided layoffs and given city workers pay increases, all without a single tax increase.
“The hard-working, taxpaying people of this community are getting another break, because they deserve it,” Lauretti told Republicans gathered at a downtown Howe Avenue storefront to tabulate the election results phoned in from the Republican Registrar of Voters.
Shelton Democrats gathered at Liquid Lunch, a restaurant Bialek owns on Research Drive, to wait for results.
But they were disappointed about 8:53 p.m. when Bialek’s campaign manager, Erica Schwarz, delivered some bad news.
“We didn’t make it,” Schwarz said. “Michele didn’t pull it off this time.”
Despite the loss, Bialek thanked supporters for their work.
“I look at everybody’s face, everybodies face, that’s here and the amount of passion and drive and honesty and true love for this city is in each and every one of your faces, every one of your faces, and it’s beautiful,” she said.
After congratulating Lauretti on the phone Bialek said “It would’ve been nice to see a little bit better of a showing.”
Bialek garnered about 400 more votes than the Dems’ mayoral candidate in 2013.
“We’re growing (and) the feeling that I have is optimism because I know that change takes time and I have time,” Bialek said.
Lauretti called Shelton’s financial achievements an “anomaly” for being virtually unique among cities and towns in the state.
“These are very telling statistics, because I don’t know anyone else in Connecticut who is doing it,” he said.
Lauretti refused to debate his two opponents in the race. As he arrived at campaign headquarters to wait for the election results, he said there wasn’t anything to debate because he believes city voters didn’t have any complaints.
“We haven’t raised taxes in five years. In fact, we lowered them one year,” he said.
Lauretti also referred to Shelton’s reputation as having one of Connecticut’s best municipal economic development records, and said that city residents can look forward to more of that in his 13th term.
Four new developments have already been approved for the downtown business district: new mixed-use, residential and commercial buildings on Howe Avenue to replace buildings that burned in a dramatic nighttime fire in January 2014, a new building to replace the Kyle’s Corner structure that collapsed several years ago, another mixed-use, residential-commercial building to replace the former Rolflite Building, and a 69-unit condominium development on Canal Street.
Republicans retained their 7 – 1 seat majority on the Board of Aldermen.
Jack Finn, the lone Democrat from Ward 1, held on by a 140-vote margin to claim victory over Republican David Gidwani.
Newcomer Jim Capra, a Republican, was elected in Ward 4, replacing John Papa, who is retiring from the Board of Aldermen.
Insurgent Republicans who challenged the party-endorsed candidates created some drama for the Board of Education contest, but the town committee favorites won.
John Francino-Quinn, an incumbent Republican, was defeated, while Democrat David Gioiello was elected for the first time to the school board.
All of the successful Democrats received fewer votes than some of the unsuccessful Republicans, but they were elected by a provision guaranteeing minority party representation on the board.
Bristol, whose independent write-in run for the mayor’s office announced his presence on the Shelton political scene with a splash, posted a Facebook message late Tuesday saying he’d remain in the public eye.
“I was serious about this campaign, and I did not take it lightly. Now that this campaign is over I will continue to lobby for my positions to be heard,” Bristol wrote. “I am not going away, by any means. You will see me again.”
Bristol’s post is embedded below.
As the race for mayor of Shelton draws to a close, and the votes are counted. I look back and consider how, it has been…
Posted by Timothy Bristol on Tuesday, 3 November 2015
OFFICIAL results are below. An X denotes a winner.
Mayor
Michele Bialek D – 2,560
Mark Lauretti R – 6,829 X
Timothy Bristol (write-in) – 17
Treasurer
Paul Papadimitriou D – 2,731
Raymond O’Leary R – 6,087 X
Board of Aldermen
First Ward
John “Jack” Finn D – 1,498 X
Denese Deeds D – 791
Anthony Simonetti R – 1,526 X
David Gidwani R – 1,354
Second Ward
Linda Robak D – 885
Eric McPherson R – 1,267 X
Stanley Kudej R – 1,253 X
Third Ward
Steven Guralnick D – 753
John Anglace R – 1,651 X
Lynne Farrell R – 1,652 X
Fourth Ward
Joseph Liscinsky Jr. D – 897
Noreen McGorty R – 1,765 X
Jim Capra R – 1,502 X
Board of Education
Faith Hack D – 4,204 X
Kate Kutash D – 4,706 X
Arlene Liscinsky D – 4,800 X
Adam Robinson D – 3,711
David Gioiello D – 3,883 X
Win Oppel R – 5,479 X
Mark Holden R – 5,741 X
John Francino-Quinn R – 3,914
Kathy Yolish R – 5,635 X
Thomas Minotti R – 5,188 X
Darlisa Ritter R – 5,658 X
Anne Gaydos R – 5,120
John Boyko R – 4,126
Planning and Zoning Commission
Nancy Dickal D – 3,581
Elaine Matto D – 4,396 X
Thomas McGorty R – 6,268 X
Virginia Harger R – 5,926 X
PZC Alternate
Frank Osak D – 4,929 X
Ned Miller R – 6,628 X
Board of Apportionment and Taxation
Joseph Knapik D – 4,306 X
Louis Dagostine D – 4,682 X
Adam Heller D – 4,314 X
John Belden Jr. R – 7,178 X
Karen Battistelli R – 6,482 X
Cris Balamaci R – 6,354 X
Library Board
Jean Cayer D – 4,343 X
Patricia Walker D – 4,116
Stephen Bellis R – 5,841 X
