It's Official: Fox Comes Out on Top in Special Election [Update]

[Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect official election results and additional responses from candidates.]

In a to fill Carlo Leone's vacant seat after he won the 27th district State Senate race in February, Democrat Dan Fox defeated Republican Charles Pia, Jr. and three other candidates in the race to become the 148th District's state representative.

Official results, according to the Democratic Registrar of Voters Office, show that Fox received 709 votes, or 39 percent, while Pia received 450 votes, or 25 percent. Mallozzi came in third with 422 votes (23 percent) followed by Thomas with 240 votes (13 percent) and Maurer with 14 votes.  

Fox gave his victory speech — an excerpt can be viewed at the right — at around 8:30 p.m. and used the majority of that time to thank his family, friends and colleagues as well as his opponents.

"I’ve said from the beginning that having five names on the ballot was a nightmare, but having five names on the ballot I think was interesting from a community’s perspective because it provided an opportunity for so many more of us to hopefully get engaged in the conversation about the issues that are affecting our neighborhoods than we normally would have," he said.

Fox addressed an enthusiastic crowd at Stamford Democrat Headquarters on High Ridge Road that included Leone, Sen. Andrew McDonald and Jim Diamond, chair of the Stamford Democratic City Committee. 

"Dan was a fantastic candidate and he engaged with voters," Diamond told Patch. "He's bright, energetic and has a great future ahead of him. He's the hardest working candidate I've ever seen and he's the kind of state representative that Stamford and the Democratic Party are used to sending up to Hartford to represent us. I think it also reflects well on the popularity that the governor's plans for getting us out of our fiscal difficulty has with voters."

Pia wrote in an email to Patch that his first polictical campaign would not be his last. "We ran a good campaign and had a pretty good Republican turnout for a special election," he wrote. "Unfortunately, we had two conservatives on the ticket and that hurt us. We congratulate Dan Fox on a well run campaign and a great victory."

Independent candidate Thomas, who made a pledge during her campaign to oppose and vote against any efforts to increase taxes and encouraged her opponents to do the same, released a statement Tuesday evening following the results.

"If the Republicans had given me the endorsement I sought, along with the Independent Party commitment of endorsement I had secured, we would have sent an even stronger message to Hartford," she wrote. "The special election results showed that the message of stopping the massive tax hikes under the unified support under one candidate would have won the day."  

The 148th District is comprised of Glenbrook and the Cove. At total of 17.75 percent of registered voters in the district cast their ballots on Tuesday.