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11/14/2022 04:37 PMMADISON
Residents were casting their votes for more than just candidates this election with three questions on the ballot, one for the State concerning early voting and two town-specific questions concerning the Town Charter.
In the two town-specific questions, voters overwhelmingly approved both measures. The first question, which would change the term length for members of the Board of Selectmen from two years to four years, received 5,035 votes in favor of the change and 3m654 against. The second ballot question asked voters to weigh in on all potential Town Charter changes, and voters approved the measure by a wider margin of support, 5,285 in favor and 2,774 opposed.
Madison voters also soundly approve the State’s proposal for a Constitutional amendment to allow early voting, approving the measure by a 5,930 to 3,150 tally.
In the candidate races, incumbent Democratic State Senator Christine Cohen garnered more votes for the 12th State Senate District over her Republican Challenger Paul Crisci. Cohen received 5,688 votes to Crisci’s 4,095. State Sentate District 12 encompasses Branford, North Branford, Durham, Guilford, Killingworth, and Madison, and district-wide, Cohen received 27,319 to Crisci’s 21,562.
Incumbent Democrat State Representative for the 101st District, John-Michael Parker also prevailed against Republican challenger John Rasimas. In Madison, Parker tallied 5,694 votes while Rasimas received 4,135. District 101 is comprised of Durham and Madison, and district-wide, Parker received 6,982 votes to Rasimas’ 5,589.
Rasimas said he was expecting an uphill battle against the incumbent and did better than expected in several areas, but ultimately fell short.
“We thought it would be an uphill battle and that’s what it really came down to, I believe,” said Rasimas. “I think we did everything right. We knew that it was uphill and thought we could get to within a few hundred votes. We knew we would lose South Madison, Polson, by about 250 votes, and we came in right around that. We thought we would win Durham, and we did that. Our whole strategy was North Madison, Brown, and we just thought we were going to do better there. So, I guess that’s the one place I can point to that was a little disappointing, or I should say unexpected.”
Rasimas said he will need some time to decompress from the exhaustive nature of the campaign before he decides if another run is in his political future.
“We’ll see. I’m going to stay involved one way or the other,” Rasimas said.
Rasimas also complimented his opponent and campaign, citing the lack of rancor that characterized some of the State level races in Connecticut.
“Honestly, I felt that he’s a nice guy. I don’t believe in his politics, we differ significantly, and I thought I had pointed out those differences,” said Rasimas. “There was a big contrast between, but I think he’s a nice guy.”
Parker said he was pleased with the win.
“I feel great about the campaign. It felt like it was a really engaged process. I worked really hard, and I know my opponent worked really hard, so that means we really talked to folks across the community and engaged them in the issues and our values and what this race was all about,” Parker said.
“We also had a pretty good turnout for a midterm, especially at a time when people might, with good reason, be feeling politically exhausted. I feel grateful about being able to continue to serve the community.”
Parker also praised the tone of this election cycle.
“I want to underline my thanks to all of the supporters that worked with us. We had an awesome volunteer effort, especially for a mid-term. I want to reiterate my thanks to John Rasimas for a really hard fought, passionate, but ultimately respectful campaign. John was friendly, respectful, and civil. I know that is something that isn’t easy to do when you’re coming in against an incumbent, especially when people are telling you, you’ve got to ‘attack, attack, attack’. I’m grateful that I had a chance to campaign with him.”