Related links
WEST HARTFORD -
The most contentious race for school board in recent years proved anticlimactic Tuesday night as Democrats decisively swept the top three spots, with Republican incumbent Lib Brassil Spinella taking the fourth available board seat, according to unofficial results.
In West Hartford Council Race, Slifka Retains Mayor's Post
The wins for Democratic candidates Clare Kindall, Naogan Ma and Elin Katz mean that the party retains a 5-2 majority on the board, an outcome that became clear just 12 minutes after polls closed.
"Jesus," muttered Justin Clark, the GOP party chairman and a council candidate, after vote totals were reported from the Norfeldt district. He was sipping a can of Coors Light a few minutes later.
Republicans had crammed into a vacant office on Ellsworth Road, hoping to celebrate. Instead, 18-year-old GOP board candidate Andrew Bannon-Guasp snacked on a turkey sandwich and conferred with Brassil Spinella and her sister, Republican candidate Ellen Brassil, about when to call Democrats with their congratulations.
Bannon-Guasp, the lowest vote-getter, said he was saddened. That morning, the Trinity College freshman read the Book of Job as he studied for a paper on Biblical tradition.
"And I will be going back to the Bible tonight," Bannon-Guasp said.
Republicans tried to surge on the topic of redistricting and the state's racial-imbalance law, which they argued is a threat to neighborhood schools if the district is forced to take sweeping action to correct racial isolation at two elementary magnet schools.
Democrats, they said, did not have the backbone to "defend" schools and fight the law in court.
Those statements vexed Democratic candidates, who said the mere mention of redistricting — a subject that pitted neighbor-against-neighbor in 1994, when the board proposed one such plan — amounted to fear-mongering. Democrats campaigned on maintaining class sizes and preserving academic programs amid sour budget times.
Kindall, an incumbent and assistant state attorney general, said Tuesday night she was "thrilled to pieces."
"I think that this is a great day for clean politics and for substance," said Kindall, who secured her second term. "We ran on substantive issues and all the things Democratic leadership had accomplished."
In West Hartford Council Race, Slifka Retains Mayor's Post
The wins for Democratic candidates Clare Kindall, Naogan Ma and Elin Katz mean that the party retains a 5-2 majority on the board, an outcome that became clear just 12 minutes after polls closed.
"Jesus," muttered Justin Clark, the GOP party chairman and a council candidate, after vote totals were reported from the Norfeldt district. He was sipping a can of Coors Light a few minutes later.
Republicans had crammed into a vacant office on Ellsworth Road, hoping to celebrate. Instead, 18-year-old GOP board candidate Andrew Bannon-Guasp snacked on a turkey sandwich and conferred with Brassil Spinella and her sister, Republican candidate Ellen Brassil, about when to call Democrats with their congratulations.
Bannon-Guasp, the lowest vote-getter, said he was saddened. That morning, the Trinity College freshman read the Book of Job as he studied for a paper on Biblical tradition.
"And I will be going back to the Bible tonight," Bannon-Guasp said.
Republicans tried to surge on the topic of redistricting and the state's racial-imbalance law, which they argued is a threat to neighborhood schools if the district is forced to take sweeping action to correct racial isolation at two elementary magnet schools.
Democrats, they said, did not have the backbone to "defend" schools and fight the law in court.
Those statements vexed Democratic candidates, who said the mere mention of redistricting — a subject that pitted neighbor-against-neighbor in 1994, when the board proposed one such plan — amounted to fear-mongering. Democrats campaigned on maintaining class sizes and preserving academic programs amid sour budget times.
Kindall, an incumbent and assistant state attorney general, said Tuesday night she was "thrilled to pieces."
"I think that this is a great day for clean politics and for substance," said Kindall, who secured her second term. "We ran on substantive issues and all the things Democratic leadership had accomplished."
