Throughout today you can get voting updates, news and interviews from Cheshire on this CDTC Live Blog.


Unofficial results are in. Cheshire winners for Town Council

District 1 - David Veleber 801, Michael Ecke 787 (pending recount)
District 2 - Tom Ruocco 845, Derek Gromko 783
District 3 - Jeffrey Falk 772, Don Walsh 704.
District 4 - Peter Talbot 1,013, Thomas Selmont 669.
​
Town Council At-Large (Top 5 win seats)
Rob Oris 3391 (winner)
Paul Bowman 3389 (winner)
Patti Flynn-Harris 3356 (winner)
Tim Slocum 3244 (winner)
Sylvia Nichols 3199 (winner)

Kim Cangiano 2959, Jim Jinks 2862, James Sima 2807, Ron Gagliardi 2677, Jim McKenney 2636


​6:30 p.m. UPDATE - Voter turnout is still slow at some poling sites.

At 5:30 p.m., Highland School had 664 votes and that is only about 28 percent of the voters in District 2.

At Cheshire High, where voter turnout has been the most brisk and coinsistent all day, at 6:10 p.m. the voter count was an even 1,300.

The voting has actually picked up a bit at Norton School. At 5 p.m. the voter tally at that site was an even 1,000.

ArtsPlace was at 645 at 5:30 p.m.

THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF TIME TO GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

4:30 p.m. UPDATE - The question from both sides of the aisle in Cheshire at this time is who is staying home and why? While voter turnout has been consistent at Cheshire High and at ArtsPlace, it still has been relatively light at other poling sites. At this stage it will be interesting to see if voter turnout can pick up and at least get to 30-35 percent turnout town wide by 8 p.m.
​Turnout is picking up a bit at Norton School. At 4:20 there were 910 votes at Norton School, an increase of 220 since 2 p.m.


1:45 p.m. UPDATE - Voting has been steady at Artsplace with about 60 votes an hour. As of 1:45 p.m. there were 436 votes tallied.

1 p.m. UPDATE - Except for Cheshire High, the District 1 poling site, voter turnout continues to be light across town.

At Norton School, no one was in line at noon with the voter tally at 555 for that poling site. The number did increase to 602 at 12:45 p.m. at Norton.

At Chapman School, one of the District 2 poling sites, the moderator there said voter turnout was slow but steady early in the morning. At noon, with no one in line to vote at Chapman at that time, the voter tally was at 359.

At Highland School at noon, another District 2 poling site, there were three people voting and no one in line. The voter tally was 365 at noon. The moderator there said by noon about 12-14 percent of the voters in that District had come out to vote.

Voting was very light at Cheshire High at 12:30 p.m. But the moderator there said most of the morning voter turnout was so heavy that three additional voting booths were set up. As of 12:40 p.m., 683 voted at Cheshire High. 

11 a.m. UPDATE- Like Chapman, voter turnout at the Cheshire High poling site was steady but light. As of 10 a.m. 384 overall votes were tallied at Cheshire High. Voter turnout was also a bit light at Highland.

9 a.m. UPDATE - It's early but as of 8 a.m. voter turnout in Cheshire has been lighter than usual compared to the local election in 2015.
As a comparison, this morning at 7:45 at the poling site at Norton School 125 people had voted. In 2015 at 8 a.m. at Norton 167 people voted.
In 2016 for the presidential election 761 people had voted at Noron at 8:15 a.m.
At Chapman voter turnout was steady but slow. At 8 a.m. 80 people had voted at CHapman.
One local politician believes less than 30 percent of the voters in Cheshire will come out to vote.

​CHESHIRE - For years women have been very active in politics in Cheshire, they have held many town government positions and made an impact in the future of the town.

At this stage of the 21st Century you would think all the gender barriers would have been broken.

But Cheshire Democrat Jo-Ann Vitarelli is making history.

Cheshire Town Clerk Laura Brennan recently did some research for this political blogger and confirmed Vitarelli is making history this local election cycle as the first woman campaigning for Cheshire Constable.

“The simple and honest reason that I am running is to have a Democratic name on the ballot for voters to choose from on Election Day,” Vitarelli said. “(Current Constable) Ron Gagliardi is running as a Town Council At-Large candidate and it was important for me to have a Democratic presence on the ballot for Constable.”

Currently, the list is a long one of the Democratic women making an impact on local government. Among them are Democratic Town Council incumbent Patti Flynn-Harris and Democratic Board of Education members Kathryn Fabiani (candidate for re-election), Cathy Hellreich, Marlena Soble, Anne Harrigan, Neeta Vatti.  Flynn-Harris is seeking re-election as a Town Council At-Large candidate. Also throwing her hat into the ring this election cycle is Democratic Town Council At-Large candidate Kim Cangiano. And of course there is former Cheshire Town Councilor and now U.S. Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty who is working hard for our town and district.

Cheshire Democratic Town Council candidate Gagliardi is convinced Vitarelli has the qualities to be a successful Constable.

When it comes to being a Constable, Gagliardi, who has served several terms as Cheshire Constable, said if you are a Constable in a town that does not have a police department Constables can make arrests. In a town like Cheshire, which has its own police department, Gagliardi said, "Constables basically only serve legal papers."

“Regarding having a woman serving as a Constable, I am a raging feminist, I was a member of the Cheshire Democratic Women's Club for a while, so I think it's fantastic that Jo-Ann is a candidate for Constable,” Gagliardi said. “I think it's cool that the first woman in Cheshire history to ‘run’ for the position of Constable is Jo-Ann Vitarelli.
“I think she has a cheery demeanor and is now and always has been a hard worker for the Cheshire Democratic Town Committee and for the Cheshire Democratic Womens' Club. I am sure she would serve as a Constable with the same level of dedication.”
 

​Saturday (Nov. 4) is going to be a busy day for Cheshire Democratic candidates highlighted by a rally with Cheshire resident U.S. Senator Chris Murphy.

Cheshire Democratic candidates will kick off their day by holding a stationary parade in front of Cheshire Town Hall on Route 10 from 10 a.m. to noon. Motorists are urged to honk their horns as they drive by and show their support as candidates show off their campaign signs and wave to passing motorists.

Following the event in front of Town Hall, Senator Chris Murphy will hold a Get-Out-The-Vote rally at Cheshire Democratic Headquarters at 1101 South Main Street (Route 10) starting at 1 p.m.

“We are looking forward to Senator Chris Murphy’s appearance at the rally,” Cheshire Democratic Town Committee chairwomen Judy Villa said. “The rally will be highlighted by his motivational speech in an effort to fire us up.
“He will stress the importance of every Cheshire voter to come out and vote on Election Day (Tuesday). We are so grateful for his support.”

Election Day is TODAY and it is important to stress the importance of Cheshire voters going to their polling sites and cast their vote.

The Cheshire Democratic Town Committee urges everyone in town to exercise your right to vote and participate in this important local election.

More than ever the upcoming election will affect Cheshire’s immediate future with an impact on many issues including economic development, education and the town budget. Your vote will help decide and mold what kind of town we reside in and what kind of town our children will reside in. You can be sure the 2017 Cheshire local election will impact our town for many years to come.

There are nearly 5,000 registered Democrat voters in Cheshire but the CDTC urges every registered citizen aged 18 to 118 (or older) to vote.
While voting party lines is a determining factor for many voters when casting their vote, realistically all voters - Democrats, Republicans, Unaffiliateds - should always be as informed as possible before casting that vote.

I urge you to research each and every Democratic candidate running for Town Council, Board of Education, Planning and Zoning and all other positions and you will be impressed with their vitality and strength of arguments on every issue. In addition to items like economic development and education, very high on the list of all Democrats is the importance of fiscal responsibility.

Each Cheshire Democratic candidate has a strong background. Read their bios and connect with them at  www.Cheshiredem.org and Facebook at  www.facebook.com/cheshirectdemocrats .

Cheshire, make a difference and vote this year. Your Voice, Your Vote, Your Future.