Report by Paula Antolini, February 7, 2023, 9:57PM EDT
Congratulations to Republican Dan Carter for winning the Special Election for Bethel First Selectman tonight. Bethel residents are looking forward to Carter’s new perspective on current Bethel issues and how he will handle them.
According to the Bethel Registrar Tim Beeble, Dan won every district for in-person votes. They are “adding in Absentees now but it won’t change the outcome,” he said.
Unofficial results: The race was not close. Final results were Rich Straiton 1567 votes to Dan Carter 2218 votes.
View results below as Tim Beeble describes it:
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(The polls were open from 6am to 8pm.)
As of 10 AM, 5.1% had voted in person in today’s Special Election. This compares to 6.1% having voted by 10 AM in 2021.
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At halftime at the Special Election. 1,462 voters had cast a ballot. The percent turnout continued to ramp up. As of 1:00 PM today, we had 11.5% voter turnout. In the 2021 Municipal Election, we had 13.7% turnout as of 1:00 PM.
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As of 3pm, 2,066 voters had cast a ballot in person which is 16.3% of the registered voters. The polls had less than 5 hours before closing.
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As of 5:00 PM, 2,908 voters cast a ballot in-person or by absentee ballot. This reflects a 22.9% voter turnout. The polls would be open for 2.5 more hours.
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The 7:00 PM voter turnout report: 3,428 ballots cast in person and by absentee, representing a 27% turnout. Polls would close at 8:00 pm.
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Dan Carter will fill the remaining term as First Selectman until November 2023, a position that Matt Knickerbocker vacated last September 2022, to take a managerial position in Wilton, CT.
Carter will be sworn in as First Selectman tomorrow morning.
Dan stated, “On the job at 9:00am tomorrow! Thank you to all who voted for the future of Bethel today.”
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Final Official Results / February 8, 2023 / from Bethel Registrar of Voters:
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