Kokoruda Declared Winner In Tuesday's Special Election For 101st District House Seat (With Videos)

With all districts reporting, Republican Noreen Kokoruda has been declared the winner in the race for the 101st District House seat.

Kokoruda, celebrating Tuesday evening at the home of Madison Republican Town Committee Chairman Tom Banisch, said she was not sure when she would be sworn in, but that she was ready to get started.

She credited State Rep. Vinny Candelora, R-86th District representing North Branford, East Haven, and Wallingford, with convincing her to run. She said she looked forward to working with him, the other legislators, and Gov. Dannel Malloy to address the state budget deficit and other issues.

Kokoruda will represent Madison and North Guilford

Candelora was at the Banisch home Tuesday evening, along with other town Republicans and members of Kokoruda's family, including her husband Dan Kokoruda and her sister Ann Swaller.

Kokoruda will represent Madison and North Guilford after she is sworn in for her new position. Madison and Guilford were among 18 cities and towns in the state that participated in special elections today. At stake were nine seats, including six for the state House of Representatives and three for the state Senate.

To find out how candidates fared in the other races, you can read this story from ctmirror.org.

Democrat Joan Walker concedes in phone call to Kokoruda

Voters in Madison turned out at a steady clip Tuesday for the town’s special election for the election. Kokoruda ran against Democrat Joan Walker for the seat that was vacated by Deb Heinrich after she took a position in Governor Dannel Malloy’s administration. Kokoruda said she received a gracious congratulatory phone call from Walker shortly after the results were announced.

Tuesday afternoon, as officials at town hall tallied results from hundreds of absentee ballots that had been turned in as of last Friday afternoon, registered voters showed up throughout the sunny, but cold and windy day, at the town’s two polling places, the Surf Club for the south end of town and Brown School for the north end of town.

When asked, voters on Tuesday said they chose their candidate either because they had a personal connection with their preferred candidate or that they were familiar with the candidate through the work they have done in town. Kokoruda is a selectman and Walker serves on the town's Economic Development Commission.

Most voters said they showed up to vote in the special election not only to support a specific candidate, but also because they felt it was important to exercise their constitutional right to cast a vote. One town resident, Tanya Salnikova, who used to live in the former Soviet Union, said her ability to vote freely is something that often brings tears to her eyes just before she casts her vote. 

Election results, by the numbers