Late Tuesday night – or early Wednesday morning – when the official local election results came in, they showed that Republicans had taken every race in the 111th District, though some statewide results had already been finalized by concession.
For local Republican candidates Rep. John Frey and Probate Judge Joseph Egan, the election was a success, despite big losses at the state level notably by Linda McMahon and Dan Debicella.
A total of 16,366 people voted in Ridgefield, which is 64 percent of the registered voters. For a mid-term election, this is above average.
Frey and Egan are both longtime incumbents – Frey has had the state congressional seat for 12 years, and Egan has been probate judge for 20.
Frey finished the election night with 7,140 votes to his Democratic opponent Joseph Heyman's 3,217.
"It is an incredible honor Ridgefield has bestowed on me," Frey said at the Republican headquarters as the numbers were still coming in. "It's an affirmation of what I've done."
He realizes, though, there is a lot to do.
"We're facing two really difficult years budget-wise," Frey said. "We can't think of anything right now besides pulling up our sleeves and getting started."
Heyman said earlier in the day that he was proud of all the work he and his campaign members had done.
"Win or lose, this was a campaign victory," he said outside Scotts Ridge Middle School – the District Two polling place – late afternoon. "It's the best campaign I've ever been a part of."
Egan's race against Newtown's Tim Holian proved to be a similar affair – the years under Egan's belt as probate judge were more than the Holian campaign could overcome.
"I've said that qualifications and experience should make a difference," Egan said, also at the Republican headquarters after the polls closed, "and they did."
The difference this year in the probate judge race was that Ridgefield – Egan's previous jurisdiction – had been slated to join Bethel, Newtown and Redding as one district.
"The first thing will be to get everything organized," he said of taking on the new responsibility in a new office in Bethel. "With the courts opening Jan. 5, we'll have to start moving soon and talking to the clerks, but we'll be ready."
Egan won the vote over Holian 7,438 to 2,737.
Ridgefield Democrat George Jepsen declared his victory over Martha Dean in the statewide race for Attorney General. However, like all other Democrats in Ridgefield, Jepsen had only 4,343 votes to Dean's 5,575 in the 111th District.
Nationally, Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives but did not do the same in the Senate – John Boehner will be the new Speaker of the House.
In Ridgefield, Tom Foley's Republican camp beat out Democrat Dan Malloy's with 6,102 votes to Malloy's 4,181 for the gubernatorial seat. Because of a ballot shortage in Bridgeport earlier Tuesday, though, their hotly contested race remained undecided in the wee hours of Wednesday, though Malloy seemed to have taken the lead.
In Ridgefield, the following election results were posted a little after midnight:
Governor and Lt. Governor
Foley and Boughton (R): 6,102
Malloy and Wyman (D): 4,181
Marsh and Booker (I): 78
United States Senator
Linda E. McMahon (R): 5,675
Richard Blumenthal (D): 4,573
Dr. John Mertens (CL): 51
Warren B. Mosler (I): 108
Rep. In Congress
Dan Debicella (R): 5,576
Jim Himes (D): 4,783
State Senator
Toni Boucher (R): 6,547
John Hartwell (D): 3,678
State Representative
John H. Frey (R): 7,140
Joseph Heyman (D): 3,217
Sec. of the State
Jerry Ferrell, Jr. (R): 5,576
Denise Merrill (D): 4,191
S. Michael DeRosa (G): 74
Ken Mosher (L): 87
Michael J. Telesca (I): 102
Treasurer
Jeff Wright (R): 5,718
Denise L. Napier (D): 4,091
S. David Blue (G): 57
Andrew Grant White (I): 141
Comptroller
Jack Orchulli (R): 5,652
Kevin Lembo (D): 3,902
Colin D. Bennett (G): 66
Joshua Katz (L): 121
Hugh Dolan (I): 141
Attorney General
Martha Dean (R): 5,575
George Jepsen (D): 4,343
Stephen E.D. Fournier (G, I): 165
Judge of Probate
Joseph A. Egan, Jr.: 7,438
Timothy J. Holian: 2,737
Registrar of Voters
Hope S. Wise (R): 5,683
Cynthia A. Bruno (D): 4,276
