New Haven Independent

With this win, DaRos, 66, enters his fifth term in office. He was beaming as he spoke to some 125 people who filled the Italian American Hall on Hamre Lane. Shortly after 10 p.m. Opie came by to shake his hand and wish him well. (photo above) Both men are long-time Stony Creek neighbors, both born in the Creek.

“I want to keep going forward,” DaRos told the Eagle in an interview. His first priority is proceeding with a new senior center, a plan he has had in mind for awhile.

The Democrats also kept their majority on the Representative Town Meeting and the Branford Board of Education. There will either be 21 or 20 Democrats depending upon a race in the fifth district. If the Democrats win that race they will again have an overwhelming majority of 21-9.

The Republicans put up some well known names for RTM seats. They included Attorney Robin Sandler, who served as Opie’s town counsel, former RTM members Ron DeFord and Kyle Nelson and former Branford Education Association president Peter Anaclerio. All lost. The only one who won was James Cosgrove, a grandson of Dan Cosgrove, once the Boss of Branford . The senior Cosgrove started out as a Democrat. His grandson did not.

Frank Carrano, the current chair of the Board of Education and John Prins won re-election to the board as did democratic newcomers Susan Wharfe and Mario Sabatini.

However, there were a couple of squeakers that might require a recount, one on the RTM and another on the Board of Education.

In the first tally, Democrat Scott Thayer of the fifth district lost to Richard Goodwin, a Republican, by one vote, 399 to 400. By when the absentee ballots were counted, Thayer had 410 and Goodwin, 408. Marianne Kelly, who was again overwhelmingly elected town clerk on the democratic line, said there may well be a recount in this race.

On the Board of Education side, Republican incumbent Attorney Peter Berdon appears to have lost to Republican newcomer Joanne M. Borrus by 15 votes. With the absentee ballots tallied, she garnered 851 to his 836. He was running for a full six-year term.

At Republican headquarters, the mood was easygoing and convivial as the crowd awaited election results. Approximately 100 people filled GOP headquarters on Montowese Street. Many children attended the gathering.

The crowd grew silent as the results were posted. It was apparent early on that the DaRos—Walsh team had beaten Opie and Denhardt.

“It’s deja vu all over again. We gave the voters someone else to vote for,” Opie said, smiling. “We ran a damn good campaign, an amicable one. The RTC worked as a team for the first time. They rolled up their sleeves. Everyone was willing to pitch in. We had impact. DaRos even used our themes — [such as] no building until Tabor Drive is settled. We gained some ground. Some of our ideas moved forward. We are not conscious objectors, but the voice of reason.”

Despite sunny skies and decent weather, voters did not flock to the polls in the high numbers as they did for the three-way selectman’s race in 2007. That race pitted Unk against Opie against incumbent Cheryl Morris. She ran as an Independent. There are a total of 18,804 registered voters in the town. Of that total 6,348 are Democrats, 2,803 were Republicans and 9,621 are unaffiliated. Only about 30 percent of the voters turned out for today’s race.

Voting was “steady but not heavy,” as Chris Collins, the Third District’s moderator in Short Beach, put it. There are 1,992 registered voters in the Third District. By 5 p.m. today 518 had voted. That number picked up as folks returned from their jobs. Typically the Third District draws between 47 and 50 percent of its voters.

According to preliminary estimates, DaRos pulled in 66 percent of the vote, beating Opie 4,098 to Opie’s 2099.

This marks the third time in a row that Opie has run and lost for first selectman since he served in that position from 2003 to 2005.

Overall this was a low-keyed campaign and the fund raising for each side reflected that. DaRos and Walsh set up an election committee; Opie and Denhardt did not. Their fundraising came directly from the Republican party.

According to campaign finance reports through Oct 20, DaRos’s election committee raised $32,008, spent $12,778 and had $19,228 left as of Oct 21. Through October 28, the Democratic Town Committee also collected funds. It raised $11,715, spent $6,988 and had left $4,727, according to official election filings.

The Branford Republican Town Committee raised $15,681 through October 26, spent $10,780 and had $4,901 left.

Sally Bahner contributed reporting.
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