Thomas Breen photo
Frank Redente, Jr. (second from left) at the polls with supporters on Tuesday.
Allan Appel photo
Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola (right): "It was a good fight. The people spoke."
A 12-year Fair Haven incumbent has officially lost his seat on the Board of Alders, while a 12-year Morris Cove alder hung onto his seat by a thread in a race that came down to absentee ballots.
Frank Redente, a violence interrupter and political newcomer, handily defeated incumbent alder Ernie Santiago in Fair Haven’s Ward 15 with about twice the number of votes.
By the end of the day Redente received 203 in-person votes, while Santiago received 108 (not counting the 22 absentee ballots submitted by residents of the ward, which have not yet been tallied.)
When the results came in, Redente reflected, “I’m grateful to be surrounded by such great people who truly care about Fair Haven. Grateful that they believe in me, that they put in so much time.”
Ernie Santiago (right): "They ran a better race and they won. We did our best."
Santiago, who has served six two-year terms on the Board of Alders and who received the support of the Unite Here unions as well as a number of fellow alders, is not running in the November general election.
“We gave it a shot,” Santiago said over the phone. “They ran a better race and they won. We did our best.”
“I have a two-year vacation to regroup and see what happens,” Santiago added. “I had 12 good years. … I’m not leaving with my head down, I’m leaving with my head up.”
He wished Redente “the best of luck.”
No other candidates have filed to run in November in Ward 15. That means that, when Santiago finishes out his term this year, Redente will step into the role on Jan. 1.
The Ward 15 polling place at 197 Chatham St. was the site of some drama on Tuesday. By the evening, police were called in to ensure that campaign volunteers remained at least 75 feet away from the polling place’s entrance, as required by law.
Ward 15’s polling place was one of the more active polling places around town on Tuesday, with Redente and Santiago and their respective supporters setting up tables and tents and handing out campaign lit at every corner of the intersection of Chatham and Rowe. A number of high-profile elected officials, including Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers and Finance Committee Vice-Chair and Hill Alder Ron Hurt, joined Santiago for part of the day in trying to help the incumbent win reelection. So did organizers from the local labor advocacy group New Haven Rising and Yale’s UNITE HERE unions, which came out in support of Santiago. Despite that organized push, Redente won.
Morris Cove challenger Susan Campion.
Meanwhile, in Morris Cove’s Ward 18, 12-year alder Sal DeCola won in-person votes against challenger Susan Campion by a razor-thin margin. He emerged as the clear victor after absentee ballots were counted later in the night.
Like Santiago, DeCola has served six terms on the Board and received canvassing support from the Unite Here Yale unions.
Among in-person voters at Nathan Hale School, DeCola earned 329 votes, while Campion won 321 votes.
That eight-vote margin broadened after the counting of 44 absentee ballots in the race, 35 of which went to DeCola and 9 of which went to Campion.
That means that DeCola won with a total of 364 votes to Campion’s 330.
“It was a good fight. The people spoke. Everything was aboveboard. No negativity. A lot of people worked very hard for this,” DeCola told the Independent on Tuesday night.
“We ran a tremendous campaign. It was grassroots. We didn’t have all the support of the unions,” Campion said. “The sad thing is that people really found hope and they really believed in change.”
Campion said she looks forward to “having a wonderful rest,” adding, “We made some tremendous, tremendous friends and supporters.”
Another potential new face on the Board of Alders got one step closer to representing Newhallville’s Ward 20 on Tuesday.
Brittiany Mabery-Niblack won the alder primary in a landslide against her opponent, Addie Kimbrough, with nearly 78 percent of in-person votes. The two candidates will face off again in November’s general election.
Mabery-Niblack, a new homeowner, medical administrative assistant at Yale, and organizer with New Haven Rising, received 205 of in-person votes on Tuesday.
Kimbrough, a community garden founder and Shepard Street advocate, received 59 votes.
Absentee ballots have not yet been tallied, but with only 17 absentee voters in the ward, Mabery-Niblack is the definitive winner.
Mabery-Niblack will replace Devin Avshalom-Smith, who decided not to run again this year, on the Board of Alders.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work these past few months,” said Mabery-Niblack. “I am going to continue to fight for affordable housing, good union jobs, and youth opportunities. I am going to continue to empower.”
She added, “My kids are very, very excited. I am giving them something to model after: if they put their mind to something, they can achieve anything. If they want to empower the people that they love, the people that they grow up with, they can do it.”
“I’ll still be on the ballot in November,” Kimbrough said.
Three incumbent alders who faced challengers held onto their seats by comfortable margins that outstripped the number of absentee ballots to be tallied.
In Westville’s Ward 25, incumbent Adam Marchand received 581 in-person votes to challenger Dennis Serfilippi’s 230 votes.
Since Serfilippi is not registered to run in the November general election, Marchand is confirmed to remain the ward’s alder.
In the Annex’s Ward 17, incumbent Sal Punzo won with 166 votes to challenger Camille Ansley’s 53 votes.
And in Dixwell’s Ward 22, incumbent Jeanette Morrison won with 186 votes to challenger Anthony Gernitano’s 34 votes.
The Ward 17 and Ward 22 candidates will face off again in November.
Lisa Reisman and Thomas Breen contributed to this report.
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