Nov 8, 2007
Tesei is town's new first selectman
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It’s the dawning of the Peter Tesei era in Greenwich after a resounding victory at the polls Tuesday in the race for first selectman.
The outgoing Republican chairman of the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) easily defeated his Democratic challenger, Frank Farricker, by a 66% to 34% margin. In unofficial counts Tuesday night, Mr. Tesei captured all 12 districts and had 7,479 votes to Mr. Farricker’s 3,888.
“For the first time I’ll tell you I am no longer cautiously optimistic,” a victorious Mr. Tesei said to loud cheers from town Republicans at the Milbrook Club.
In his speech, Mr. Tesei pledged his focus would remain on preserving and enhancing the town. He said his goal is to make a great town even better.
“For voters who placed your trust and confidence in me to be your first selectman of Greenwich, I am honored and humbled to serve you,” Mr. Tesei said. “To those who did not support me I look forward to serving you too and earning your trust and confidence over the next two years.”
He later added, “The voters of Greenwich have spoken and over the course of my administration I ask them to keep speaking.”
It wasn’t all bad news for town Democrats though. Lin Lavery won her race handily as well, besting sitting Republican Selectman Peter Crumbine with 6,054 votes to his 5,207, an 8% margin of victory in her first political campaign. Ms. Lavery had heavy support from town Democrats and Republicans and as her victory became clear through the results flying in shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. there were loud cheers for every piece of good news for her. As the top three vote getters, Ms. Lavery Mr. Tesei and Mr. Crumbine will be sworn in on Dec. 1.
“Thank you to the people of Greenwich who were listening when we said we need a strong Democrat on the board,” Ms. Lavery said once her victory was official. “I’m going to make a difference. I’m a leader who can make a difference. You showed faith in me by voting for me and I thank you for it.”
Ms. Lavery said she would continue to listen to the residents and her door at Town Hall would always be open in the spirit of Penny Monahan, the three-term Democratic selectwoman she is succeeding. After her victory speech, Ms. Lavery told the
Post the broad-based support from town made her even more eager to get to work. She promised to create teams and task forces to address the town’s big issues.
Mr. Farricker was gracious and in good spirits in his concession speech, joking when his cell phone rang during his speech that it was probably Mr. Tesei calling to concede.
“Look we didn’t win,” Mr. Farricker told his supporters. “It’s happened once or twice to Democrats in Greenwich I’ve heard. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever about this race, though. We have really brought out the kind of issues that haven’t been brought out in this town for a long, long time. This is a fantastic town. We all know how great it is and we all know the challenges that are in front of Greenwich.”
Mr. Farricker said he hoped and prayed that Mr. Tesei had two great years as first selectman but, he emphasized, just two.
“We all need to rally together and make sure this town runs great,” Mr. Farricker said.
Other than a rest after months of daily campaigning, Mr. Farricker didn’t know what was next for him other than continuing on as a member of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Ms. Lavery said he wasn’t “off the hook yet” and said he would help her take on the critical issues in town.
The races for Representative Town Meeting (RTM), Board of Education and BET were also decided Tuesday night. The elections for BET and the Board of Education were all non-competitive with exactly enough Republicans and Democrats running to completely fill both boards. Democrats Natalie Queen and Jonathan Cohen were elected to their first term on the Board of Education. Republican Marianna Ponns Cohen was also elected to her first term on the board along with incumbent Michael Bodson, who was re-elected.
On the BET, incumbent Republicans Robert Stone, Leslie Tarkington, Stephen Walko, Arthur Norton and Michael Mason were all re-elected along with newcomer James Campbell. Democrats Edward Krumeich II, Nancy Barton, William Finger and Larry Simon were all re-elected to the BET and Democrats Jeff Ramer and William Kelly were approved by voters for their first terms.
In the wake of a second straight domination at the polls, following 2005’s landslide re-election for James Lash, Republican Town Committee Chairman John Raben said he was a feeling a combination of exhaustion and excitement after the party focused on Election Day for so many months.
“I’m looking forward to Peter being first selectman,” he said. “I think he’s going to hit the ground running and do a good job.”
Mr. Raben added, “I think it’ll be a smooth transition from Jim Lash to Peter.”
Mr. Raben said he hopes that Mr. Tesei decides to run for re-election in two years, something two of the campaign’s top officials were quick to echo.
“I’ve been waiting for this night for weeks,” said Patti DeFelice, Mr. Tesei’s campaign manager. “He’s so polished and knowledgeable. I’m so proud to be part of his campaign.”
“We’ve received an incredible amount of support from Democrats, unaffiliated, Republicans, different age groups — it’s quite humbling,” said Alan Gilbert, Mr. Tesei’s campaign finance chairman.
It was a bittersweet night for James Himes, outgoing chairman of the Democratic Town Committee (DTC). While he had Ms. Lavery’s victory to savor and Mr. Farricker’s defeat to contemplate, he also had his own future very much in mind. After four years at the helm of the DTC, this was the last time Mr. Himes will oversee a town campaign before he begins one of his own, for Congress. He challenges Republican Congressman Christopher Shays next year.
“I’m very, very gratified with where the DTC is now,” Mr. Himes said. “We’re jammed to capacity here tonight. We have Democrats elected tonight who are incomparable in quality. We used to struggle to fill a room in Town Hall and now we almost fill the Town Hall meeting room.”
Mr. Himes said while the Democrats didn’t get “everything they wanted” he knew what a hard task it was going to be for Mr. Farricker to win.
“It’s very difficult to do in this town where the registration numbers favor Republicans two to one, but nonetheless, far better than usual, the Democrats have fought one terrific fight,” Mr. Himes said to a round of applause from the DTC faithful. “I don’t think there’s been a campaign in a very, very long time that’s been as gracious, as issue oriented and as exciting as this one.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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