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10/25/2017 08:00 AMThe Essex state and municipal election to be held Tuesday, Nov. 7 will bring some familiar faces to the local government races.
The ballot for Essex isn’t as large as those for some other local towns. The races between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are almost all full of singular candidates representing each party, with the exception of a sole Democrat vying to stay on the Board of Assessment Appeals and three currently sitting officials who garnered endorsements from both parties.
Democratic candidates are entered first on the ballot with Republican and write-ins below. A total of 11 positions will be decided.
For first selectman, three-term incumbent Norman Needleman (D) is being challenged Vincent Pacileo III, a former selectman and current Board of Finance member.
The current Board of Selectmen members, Stacia Libby (D) and Bruce Glowac (R) are both unchallenged this year, but one of them still could lose his or her place on the three-seat board to the losing first selectman candidate, should he receive more votes than either Libby or Glowac.
Current town clerk and former Board of Selectmen member Joel Forzi (R) has gained the endorsement of both parties and so is running unchallenged.
Seeking his second four-year term as town treasurer, James Frances (D) is being challenged by Bruce MacMillan (R), business owner and former Connecticut Republican Town Committee Chair for Essex.
Tax Collector Megan Dwyer Haskins is unchallenged and has gained the support of both parties to return to the role.
The Board of Finance could have some interesting results with two of the six, six-year positions open in a three-person race. Keith Crehan (D), the current Board of Finance chair, received cross-endorsements from both parties, while Ethan Goller (D) and Philip Beckman (R) each step in as candidates for the available ballot slots. Goller has served on the Essex Board of Finance while Beckman previously ran for the Board of Selectmen in 2013.
Current Essex Board of Education secretary Loretta McCluskey (D) is seeking to return to the board at the end of her six-year term and is being challenged by Essex resident Judie McCann.
The three-member Board of Assessment Appeals has one seat open and current chair Mark Bombaci (D) is uncontested.
Region #4 Board of Education has one seat available. Current Essex Board of Education Vice Chair Don Fitton (R) is running against Kathryn Sandmann.
District 33’s judge of probate vacancy is being sought by Essex attorney Jeannine Lewis (D) and Anselmo Delia (R), an attorney from Clinton. The probate court for District 33 is located in Old Saybrook and serves nine towns, including Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Haddam, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Saybrook. and Westbrook
Polls are open on Tuesday, Nov. 7 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Essex Town Hall, 29 West Avenue. For more information, call the Registrars of Voters at 860-767-4340 ext. 142. Voter registration can be done online at www.essexct.gov/registrars-of-voters where absentee ballots can also be downloaded.
Find information on all of the candidates including all political letters to the editor at Zip06.com/election.