Chester Municipal Election Results
Chester voters re-elected Democrat Lauren Gister to a fourth term as first selectman in the Nov. 2 municipal elections. She earned 682 votes. Initially unopposed, Joe Cohen was a write-in candidate, earning 116 votes for the office of first selectman.
Voter turnout was 31.71 percent, with 904 people casting a ballot and 2,850 registered voters in Chester as of Election Day, according to Town Clerk Debra Calamari. There were 64 votes cast by absentee ballot.
Democrat Charlene Janecek was re-elected to the Board of Selectmen, earning 649 votes, as was Republican Tommy “Tom” Englert with 237 votes.
In several unopposed races, Democrat Kathryn Hair was elected town clerk with 729 votes; Joe Cohen, a write-in candidate, was elected town treasurer with 17 votes; and Madaline Meyer, who was cross endorsed by Democrats and Republicans, was re-elected tax collector. Meyer received 643 votes on the Democratic party line and 218 votes on the Republican party line.
On the Board of Finance, Democrat Michael Joplin with 617 votes and Republican John O’Hare with 372 votes were seated to fill a vacancy for four years. Democrat Andrew Gardner was seated for a full term with 648 votes. Democrat Michael Jordan was seated with 581 votes to fill a vacancy as an alternate for a four-year term.
For the Chester Board of Education, Democrat Maria Scherber with 670 votes and Democrat Rebecca Greenberg-Ellis with 673 votes were re-elected. Democrat Jan Taigen was also seated on the Board of Education with 667 votes.
On the Board of Assessment Appeals, Democrat Sarah Germini was seated for a full term with 629 votes, as was Republican Kris Pollock who earned 245 votes.
For a full term on the Planning & Zoning Commission, Democrat Elaine Fitzgibbons with 670 votes, Democrat Keith Scherber with 596 votes, and Republican Steven Merola with 411 votes will be seated.
Democrat Shubert Koong, having earned 665 votes, will be seated to fill a vacancy for a four-year term on the commission. Patricia Bisacky of the Common Ground Party, having earned 363 votes, will be seated as an alternate on the commission.
For the Zoning Board of Appeals, Democrat John DeLaura with 660 votes and Democrat Michael Peck with 649 votes will be seated for full year terms. Democrat Victor Fetter with 674 votes will be seated for a two-year term to fill a vacancy on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Democrat Seth Cohen with 660 votes will be seated to serve as an alternate on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
For Library Trustees, Democrats Sandy Senior-Dauer with 656 votes and Karin Badger with 649 votes were elected to serve.
For the Region 4 Board of Education, Democrat Lori Ann Clymas was seated with 676 votes to serve a full term. Democrat Laurence “Lol” Fearon was sated with 698 votes to fill a vacancy for two-years.
Chester voters also overwhelmingly voted to support the appropriation and financing of a $952,053 school security project at John Winthrop Middle School with 446 voting “Yes” and 279 voting “No.” Voters in Deep River and Essex also voted in favor of the project.