Thirty unaffiliated voters switched to the Republican Party since July, according to Linda Crowe, the Republican Registrar of Voters.
We’ll find out today (Tuesday, Sept. 13) whether those new Republicans will make a difference in the GOP primary pitting George Temple against David Yish.
The primary will determine who gets the Republican line for First Selectman in the November general election.
Oxford Republican voters are also deciding which Republicans will be candidates for Selectman.
Temple’s running mate is Jeff Haney, who is is trying for a Selectman seat, while Yish’s running mate is Lila Ferrillo, who also wants to be a Selectman.
Voting is open to any registered Republican in Oxford.
Voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Quaker Farms School at 30 Great Oak Road.
MONEY!
Team Yish has raised more money — about double — than Team Temple, according to the last round of campaign finance disclosures filed in Oxford Town Hall.
From Aug. 9 to Aug. 30, “Yish/Ferrillo ’11” raised $3,000 from individual contributors..
(A caveat — a copy of Temple’s campaign donations obtained from Oxford Town Hall Monday appeared to be missing information.)
Temple’s campaign Monday was unable to give a total dollar amount the campaign may have raised prior to July 1.
However, Temple’s campaign e‑mailed a complete report to the Valley Indy Tuesday morning, showing Temple raised $1,730 between July 1 and Sept. 2.
That’s on top of the $6,895 Temple raised prior to July 1. The candidate first expressed a desire to run back in March.
Yish’s campaign had $2,273 on hand at the end of the last reporting cycle.
Meanwhile, Temple’s campaign had $5,787.39 on hand as of Sept. 2.
Notable donations to Team Yish include:
- Andrew Ferrillo, Lila’s husband, $500
- Republican Town Committee Chairman William Neary, $100
- Former Republican Selectman David Haversat, $150
- State Rep. David Labriola, $100
- Former Republican Town Committee chairman Thomas Kelly, $225
- Republican Town Committee member Richard Burke, $150
Notable contributors to Team Temple include:
- Ed Carver, co-founder of Keep Oxford Green, $700
- Oxford resident Jeff Olson, $550
- James Hard, vice-president of Kamisky Transport, LLC, $550
- Former First Selectman August Palmer, $200
- Oxford High School wrestling coach Gerard Carbonaro, $330
Interest High?
Temple, an attorney, bested Yish during after a Republican caucus in July. The vote then was 111 for Temple, 96 for Yish, a current member of the Board of Selectman.
Yish and Ferrillo then gathered enough signatures to force the primary.
The newly-registered Republicans brings the total number of GOP’ers in Oxford to 2,582.
While not unusual, the 30 new voters could be an indication of high interest in the primary, the Republican Registrar of Voters said.
“It means we’re going to be in for a long day. It’s going to be well attended I hope,” Crowe said.
Yish said he believes turnout will be solid.
“A fair number have switched. I’m heartened by that. I’m bringing more people to the party,” Yish said.
He said he’ll continue campaigning door-to-door and on the phone until the polls close.
“Hopefully, they’re my people,” Ferrillo said of the new Republicans.
Messages seeking comment were left Monday with Temple and Haney. As of 6:40 p.m. Monday (Sept. 12), they had not returned the calls.
The Democrats have already announced they’ll run Joseph Calabrese for First Selectman and David McKane for the Board of Selectmen.
