Municipal Elections Tuesday, November 3rd in Chester, Deep River, and Essex

By Charles Stannard

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd. The polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Here is a town-by-town breakdown of election information. Sample ballots can be found at the bottom of the article.

Chester
A total of 2,563 registered voters are eligible to participate in the town election, including 944 Democrats, 513 Republicans, 1,088 unaffiliated voters, and 18 voters registered with other political parties. Voters will elect a three member board of selectmen from the competing candidates, Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh, Democratic challenger Chuck Della Rocco, Republican candidate Ton Englert, and Democrat Lawrence Sypher. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town hall on Route 154.

Voters will also elect four members of the board of finance, a finance board alternate, a member of the Region 4 Board of Education, a member of the board of assessment appeals, four members of the Chester Board of Education, four members of the planning and zoning commission, three planning and zon ing commission alternates, two members of the zoning board of appeals, two ZBA alternates, four members of the inland-wetlands commission, four members of the water pollution control authority, and two library trustees.

Three town hall positions are uncontested, with Town Clerk Debra Calamari, Tax Collector Madaline Meyer, and Town Treasurer Elizabeth Netsch endorsed for new terms by both political parties. Along with Democrats and Republicans, the Chester Common Ground Party, a new group calling for a non-partisan approach to town government, is running candidates for board of finance, Chester Board of Education, planning and zoning commission, PZC alternate, zoning board of appeals, and inland-wetlands commission.

Deep River
A total of 3,176 registered voters are eligible to participarte in the town election, including 1,073 Democrats, 602 Republicans, 1,494 unaffiliated voters, and seven voters registered with other political parties. Democratic First Selectman Richard Smith is uncontested for an 11th term, the first time Smith has run completely uncontested since 1999. Three candidates are competing for two other seats on the board of selectmen, including Democrat Arthur Thompspn, Republican David Oliveria, and incumbent Deep River Independent Party Selectman Russell Marth. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Deep River Public Library polling place.

There are contests for three other town hall positions for the first time in more than a decade. Democrat Nancy Talbot and Republican Amy Winchell are competing for the open town clerk position, Democrat Lisa Bibbiani and Republican John Townsend are competing for the open tax collector position, and Democrat John Dickson Jr. is challenging incumbent Republican Town Treasurer Thomas Lindner.

Voters will also elect three members of the board of finance, a member of the Region 4 Board of Education, two members of the Deep River Board of Education, two members of the board of assessment appeals, and four library trustees.

Essex
A total of 4,572 registered voters are eligible to participate in the town election, including 1,459 Democrats, 1,287 Republicans, 1,819 unaffiliated voters, and seven voters registered with other political parties. Voters will elect a three-member board of selectmen from the competing candidates, Democratic First Selectman Phil Miller, Republican nominee Joel Marzi, Democratic Selectman Norman Needleman, and Republican Selectman Vin Pacileo. There is also a contest for the open position of tax collector between Democrat Megan Dwyer Haskins and Republican Mark Pratt. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at town hall.

Voters will also elect two members of the board of finance, two members of the Region 4 Board of Education, and two members of the Essex Board of Education. Incumbent Town Clerk Frances Nolin and Town Treasurer Robert Dixon are uncontested for new terms, as is incumbent board of assessment appeals member Anne Dougherty.

Links:
Chester sample ballot in PDF format
Deep River sample ballot in PDF format
Essex sample ballot in PDF format