Community Corner

Stamford Democrats Sweep Board of Finance, Board of Ed.

Stamford's Democratic Party will now occupy six important positions in Stamford's political landscape.

The Stamford Democratic Party's candidates David Martin, Mary Lou Rinaldi, and John Louizos have secured seats on the Board of Finance while Gary Klein, Julia Wade, and Jackie Heftman have secured seats on the Board of Education in tonight's election.

Gary Klein, who had considerable support from local teacher unions in his bid for the Board of Education, secured the majority vote with 8,227 votes across 20 districts. Julia Wade came in second with 7,205 votes, and Jackie Heftman followed with 6,698.

In the Board of Finance race, Mary Lou Rinaldi won the majority with 7,665 votes, followed by David Martin with 7,635, and John Louizos with 6,630. As such, Democrats claim victory over Joe Tarzia, whom they focused much of their campaign strategies against.

Find out what's happening in Stamfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Scott Mirkin(R), Tarzia's replacement on the Board of Finance throught 2011 and the target of harsh criticism from the Stamford Professional Firefighters Association, was able to gain more votes than Independent candidates Joe Tarzia, Bob Kolenberg, and Cynthia Reeder, but was still unable to secure a permanent place on the Board of Finance.

The Stamford Republican Party would have more luck in their bids for the Board of Representatives, thanks to the victorious Ralph F. Loglisci (R-13) and Demetrios Frazis (R-16).

Find out what's happening in Stamfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Stamford's Registrar of Voters reported that 13,431 Stamford voters, which is 23% of its total registered votership, participated in Tuesday's municipal election across 20 active districts. The total number of registered voters in Stamford is 13,431.

"This is not very good, this is probably the worst I've ever seen," Democratic Registrar of Voters head Alice Fortunato told Patch.

Those working in the Stamford Office of the Registrar seem to agree that this election's low turnout may be due to the low-profile nature of the offices up for new officials.

"There's no town clerk or mayoral election," Fortunato said.

Election participation was highest in Scofield region of North Stamford, where 1,181 residents voted. While Scofield had the largest number of participants, Stamford's Shippan region had the highest percentage of participants, with 31%, of its 3,279 voters went to the polls.


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