By Anna Bedell
Election night looked different depending on the venue. Democrats were at their headquarters on Farmington Avenue in a store front near Stop & Shop and Republicans were ensconced at Chippanee Golf Club.
The first stop for the evening was at the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) Headquarters, located in the Bristol Plaza on Rt. 6, between 5 Below and the Dollar Tree.
DTC Chair Morris “Rippy” Patton was there with volunteers, after a long day of tirelessly supporting their candidates.
“I’m here because the issues in this year’s election are too important for anyone to not be here,” said Patton. “I’m a father raising daughters, pro future rights are on the ballot, so I’m here to make sure that they’re protected or to my part.”
Patton said it wasn’t just about women’s rights, it is also about human rights that are at risk.
“They’re trying to take voting rights, they’re trying to take away a woman’s right to choose,” he continued. “Anything that I can do to be part of protecting what we’ve already worked so hard to have, when you didn’t start off with rights.”
Minorities didn’t start off with rights, Patton said.
“There were hundreds of years of effort that it took to get these rights here and the fact that they’re on the ballot now, Republicans are trying to get them away,” he said with conviction. “I can’t sit home idle.”
Mary Fortier, the candidate for the 77th District, was there during the evening with her supporters, as she reflected on the day’s voting.
“I do think there was a good turnout, I’m hoping that means good things,” said Fortier.
‘
Among the volunteers was Matt Houston, who explained how the party uses technology to link up to campaigns with real time data, that helps volunteers to use their time more effectively.
“For the first time ever, we got some of these fancy real-time status boards up as part of a wider initiative to modernize processes within the Democratic Party,” said Houston. “On election nights in the past, using paper boards for everything, makes it hard to track, it saps a lot of people’s time because we’re having to make phone calls all over the state.”
The data showed that by 3 p.m., the turnout was at 39 percent, he said.
“Folks are telling me in busy election years, 35 percent turnout is good,” said Houston. “By about 9:00p.m., we should have a good idea, because that’s when we’ll have the reports from the polls.”
The second stop was at the Republican event that was held in the banquet hall of the Chippanee Golf Club, located on Marsh Road.
The Republican Town Committee (RTC) Chair Richard Kilby was the man who spent months organizing the event.
“The majority of the places were fantastic, my places were very small, like South Side,” said Kilby who believes the turnout this year was larger than previous years.
In his view, the main concerns for people in Bristol are inflation and the cost of living, especially for seniors, he said.
“I think the future is very bright for Bristol, we are coming together, we are unified now,” he continued. “Mayor Jeff Caggiano built the Republican Party here in Bristol, thank God, we’re just trying to continue and grow.”
Republican candidate for the 78th District Joe Hoxha shared his view on voter turnout.
“It has been great in areas where we needed to be high,” said Hoxha. “I’ve heard that it hasn’t been good for the cities, that the cities have had low turnout. So usually a good sign for Republican statewide candidates, we’re pretty optimistic.”
Hoxha estimated there were about 200 people who showed up for the evening event.
As the preliminary results were read aloud, Mayor Jeff Caggiano reflected on the impact of these results.
“I think it was a very good night for Bristol Republicans, we are clearly looking like we are having some pretty resounding victories,” said Caggiano. “In a statewide election, we tend to focus locally first, and then we’ll see what happens on the on the bigger picture, the statewide picture, in the national picture later, but locally, things look pretty good.”
“This is what we’ve seen in the Republican Party over the last two or three years,” he continued. “I see a lot of new faces too, which is really interesting to me, people are coming on board and catching on the wave a little bit, which is a good thing.”
The one thing that was disappointing for the mayor were the early numbers, which according to him were not reported yet, however, they showed that a four-year-term for mayor is not likely.
“Bristol voters, they’re tough, they don’t want to give more time or power to people,” said Caggiano.
The atmosphere was electric. The large crowd continued to cheer after each result read, went in the Republican’s favor.
State Senator Henri Martin was among the Republicans celebrating with his family and supporters.
His 36-year-old son Joe proudly shared why his father decided to go into politics in the first place.
“He was tired of sitting on the sidelines and watching everyone else do it,” said Martin. “He didn’t start until maybe 10 years ago, all the kids have grown up, he just wants to get back.”
“You know, he wants to throw his hat in the ring and he likes it,” he continued. “He likes going to the events, he likes supporting the veterans.”
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access eight (8) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access eight (8) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.