Like many others around the state and nation, Andrea Stillman has been taking stock of the historic nature of last week’s election of Barack Obama to the presidency.
“I really could not believe it,” she said. “Seeing those numbers tallied, it was overwhelming. There was an overall euphoria, and a feeling that this was long overdue.”
The tide of people voting the Democratic ticket only buoyed Stillman’s already sound reelection bid to the 20th State Senate seat she has occupied since 2004.
Stillman defeated her fellow Waterford resident, Republican attorney Tom Simones, 28,704 to 13,084, while Libertarian candidate Marc Guttman received 733 votes.
Simones, who was making his first stab at public office, made a final push for votes, buying advertising on cable television and even putting his face on signs that sprouted up around the district.
But Stillman, who also served in the State House before she earned a Senate seat, attributed her victory to the voters’ concern over economic woes that have gripped the region and the country.
“There are so many families out that are worrying,” she said. “People are quite concerned about what the future is going to be like.”
Stillman also said voters are worried about rising health care costs, and the price of prescription drugs.
Stillman will return to a General Assembly that saw gains in the Democratic majority in both the upper and lower house.
The Democrats gained one seat in the Senate, for a 24-12 margin over the GOP.
In the House the Democrats increased their seats by five, and will have 112 members when the new session convenes in January.
The Democrats maintained their dominance in the local House and Senate seats, as Christopher Coutu, from the 47th district in Norwich, was the only Republican to dislodge an incumbent.
Democrat Betsy Ritter, who represents Waterford in the 38th State House district, ran unopposed.
Stillman said the massive interest in the presidential election trickled down to her race and she expects the same energy will be evident when legislature opens for business.
“People wanted a change,” she said. “We have difficult problems to address.”
Stillman also hopes the enthusiasm of this election will sustain an interest in politics.
“It seemed like more people were involved,” she said. “We’ve had apathy for too long.”
The Blue Wave
Stillman’s victory in the 20th was part of what commentators called “a tsunami,” that saw Connecticut, once one of the ancestral homes of the Republican party, affirm, nationally, the Democratic Party.
Many local Democrats filed in to The Radisson hotel in New London to join in the victory party thrown by U.S. Representative Joe Courtney.
Word came shortly after 9 p.m. to those in the Radisson ballroom that Courtney won reelection in a romp over Republican Sean Sullivan, the former sub base commander.
Courtney swept the district, even defeating Sullivan in his hometown of Ledyard.
The win, while expected, was nevertheless sweet for Courtney’s supporters, who two years ago had to sweat out a re-count against Rob Simmons, in what was the closest Congressional race in the country.
After Courtney gave his concession speech, the campaign’s communications director Brian Farber informed the crowd that 4th District Rep. Christopher Shays, the lone New England Republican in the House, conceded to challenger Jim Himes.
So complete was the defeat of the GOP in New England, that Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain won only one county in the region, Piscataquis County in Maine.
Geographically, the closest House Republican to New London County is Peter King, who represents a district on Long Island.
By Stephen Chupaska
Senior Staff Writer