Democratic mayoral candidate Chris Anderson sounded like the victor in the election Tuesday, in spite of not winning, himself, as Democrats thunderously celebrated apparently winning a majority on the City Council and a majority of the Board of Education seats up for election this year.
Democrats won the Council elections in wards 2, 3 and 4, apparently giving them an 8 to 7 majority on the Council. If confirmed by official results, it would be the first time that the Democrats have held a majority on the Council in four years.
Republicans won the Council elections in wards 1 and 5.
Despite Republican incumbent Mayor Erin Stewart winning re-election, as widely expected, the loss by Republicans in this year’s elections in other offices is being seen by Democrats and others as a rebuke of the Republicans’ policies.
For his part, Anderson hinted strongly Tuesday night that he would consider building on his performance in this years election to run for mayor again.
Under the new system for electing Council members, approved in a city Charter change last year, each of the five Council districts in the city, commonly called “wards”, elect three Council members to the fifteen member Council. No more than two members elected can be from one party. So, in each of the five wards won by either the Democrats or Republicans party this year, a member from the opposite major party was also elected.
In Ward 1, unofficial results show that Democrats Nate Simpson and Republicans Sharon Saavedra and Alden Russell won the three seats up for election to represent the ward on the Council.
Ward 2, unofficial results show Democrats Lori McAdam and Wilma Barbosa-Holley and Republican Jerrell Hargraves won the three seats up for election to represent the ward on the Council.
In Ward 3, unofficial results show that Democrats Candyce Scott and Iris Sanchez and Republican Jason Gibson won the three seats up for election to represent the ward on the Council.
In Ward 4, unofficial results show Democrat Neil Connors, Democrat John McNamara and Republican Robert Smedley won the three seats up for election to represent the ward on the Council, for a 2 to 1 Democratic win in Ward 4.
In Ward 5, unofficial results show Democrat Francisco Santiago and Republicans Willie Pabon and Matthew Malinowski won the three seats up for election to represent the ward on the Council
Meanwhile, Democrats also won three of the five seats up for election on the Board of Education, the maximum number for one party to win under city Charter rules. Unofficial results appear to show that Democrats Joan Pina, Joey Listro and Sal Escobales and Republicans Anthony Kane and Jose Rivera won the five seat up for election on the ten member Board of Education.
The Board of Education has four year terms. Republicans won three Board seats in the 2021 elections, and so they had the opportunity to win an outright majority on the ten member Board. The Democrats’ victory dashed those hopes and leaves the Board with a 5 to 5 party split for at least two more years.
In other offices, Democrats we happy with how well their candidates performed, including Democratic city treasurer candidate Tim Yanchak, who came very close to unseating the Republican incumbent, Daniel Salerno. Democrats also won the majority on the Board of Assessment Appeals.
With the new Council elected, with very different membership, decisions are now ahead on who will lead the Democratic and Republican caucuses. Those decisions are expected to be made by the first meeting of the new Council on November 15th.
Editor’s note: John McNamara is a contributing writer for the New Britain Progressive, but was not an author of this article.
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